Political Ponerology - Book Review of the Pseudo Science of Pathological Leaders

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IP is over the quota

Often victims become bullies, as research shows, and perhaps the worst offenders on society are those who've been damaged themselves, and want revenge. We know that revenge is a very strong psychological motivator indeed. Victims who have actually been abused or convince themselves they've been abused, even though their own failures have brought them down, are perhaps the most dangerous of all in our society.

There is an interesting book on this topic, one you may wish to read if you want to get a victim's hateful diatribes and revengeful take on pathological behavior. The author makes the unbelievable and incoherent ascertain that four percent of population is unable to discern right from wrong using the conscience because they have none to start with. Indeed, the victim is a polish gentleman who dealt with NAZI rule, and then Stalin after the war.

The victim with all his hateful rage came up with "theories" attempting to purport them as facts, that certain bloodlines of elites contained the gene set allowing them to operate in society without conscience. Thus, giving them the advantage of life and actions without guilt - which is why they often rise to the top of society leaving broken dreams, destruction, debris, and even death in their wakes. This victim, uses his so-called pseudo science to persuade the reader of these ascertains.

Why did I even bother to read this book? An individual who considers himself a non-acquaintance of mine after an online email discussion recommended it to me. The book goes into theories of evil, and claims to be scientific, it's not really, but it is very interesting - the name of the book is:

"Political Ponerology: A Science on The Nature of Evil adjusted for Political Purposes," by Andrzej Lobaczewki - edited by Laura Knight-Jadczyk, New Leaf Distribution, (2007), pages 239, ISBN: 978-189-72442-58.

This book is completely interesting, but it goes on to become a political hit piece no better than Mein Koff in my opinion, as it attacks a former American President George W. Bush. The author and particularly the editor will not come to the realization that Stalin was a communist and Hitler was a socialist as they attack the US president's personal character. Indeed, I felt sorry for the author that his life became a hateful revenge mission to attack our leaders, but I was really taken aback by the evil cunning nature of how this book used Lobaczewki's work as a political hit piece.

Worse, it's amazing that the editor of this book does not dare trash our current sitting president who is by all definitions a socialist leaning and thinking leader. Indeed, due to the low approval ratings of President Bush towards the end of his second term, I do not doubt the book was popular and re-kindled Lebaczewki's pseudo-science. The reality is there is absolutely NO empirical evidence whatsoever to back up the claims in this book, even though it claims to be scientific.

Did, I enjoy this book? Yes, I thought it was comical in a way, as it reflected the sick mind of a victim tormented and unable to come to terms with his own evil thoughts, or the evil which had ruined his life experience. Thus, he was a damaged and driven soul. But, I do believe that this book is dangerous, as it is that of what ignites conspiracy theory.

Would I buy this book again? Oh, certainly no. Would I read it for free if available? Only chapter II, so please consider all this, and please be careful what you read and why, and be wise enough to look at the true motivation of such authors as they cry foul.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 21,600 articles was a lot of work - because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off..

Your Caveman Brain

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IP is over the quota

Why are you so afraid of one-in-a-million events like shark attacks, child abductions or dying in a plane crash? Why are you so willing to believe elaborate scenarios about possible future climatic events from the same people who can't even accurately predict tomorrow's weather? Have you ever stopped to realize that so many of the near hysterical "Pop" fears you too were once alarmed by--fears like BSE, acid rain, dangerous silicon breast implants, road rage, SARS or avian flu--miraculously disappeared at one point only to be replaced by others which have now or will soon disappear in the same mysterious manner? Why are you so afraid? In a nutshell, it's because of your caveman brain.

Consider this: Psychological testing has proven that you have a brain that somehow believes a piece of fudge shaped like dog poo really is dog poo. You have a brain that will use the first available number suggested to it to make an estimate about something that has absolutely nothing to do with that number. You have a brain that concludes that elaborate predictions about the future are more likely to come true than simple ones. You have a brain that concludes that the things easier to recall are more likely to happen again. And, most importantly, you have a brain that is constantly being subjected to the machinations of self-interested parties and fear merchants who have a vested interest in keeping you afraid.

As Daniel Gardner explains in his book The Science of Fear, when it comes to evolutionary psychology, try to picture the development of the human brain by equating the past 2,000,000 years of human development to a 201 page book. Two hundred pages would cover the entire time our species spent being nomadic hunter-gatherers in the Old Stone Age. The last page would cover our time in agrarian society, a period which began a mere 12,000 years ago (the first settlement only appeared about 4,600 years ago). The last paragraphs of that final page would cover the last two centuries of the world we now live in. We are cavemen.

Now take a look around you. How could a cave woman, at a lower but yet decisive level of her brain, not be frightened by everything she sees in this strange and complex world of ours? Her head was designed for wandering the savannah, not for dealing with most of what bombards her here. That is why her gut remains the dominant decision-making force. And that is the force that skews our perception of the world around us. The gut reacts instinctively and lightening fast and living in the lightning-fast time we do, the head just can't keep up, or it can't get through. That is the reason why we now live in a nation of worriers, in a society obsessed with risk. It doesn't matter that our head is trying to tell us we live in a much safer and healthier time than previous generations ever enjoyed, our gut blocks this out and only fixates on what it sees to be the contrary on the evening news. It lies in wait in anxious anticipation for the next fear to cling to, real or imaginary. Needless to say, Gut never has to wait for very long.

There are many complex psychological mechanisms in play during this ongoing conflict between Gut and Head. Three that can be singled out here are:

The availability heuristic. If examples of something can be easily recalled, Gut tells us that it must be common. If there is a brutal murder in City X, Gut convinces you that you too are at high risk because you can easily recall this. After all, you "saw" it on TV. It makes no difference that Head is trying to tell you how tiny the odds are of you being in danger. And memory is biased; the more recent, emotional, and vivid events are, the more likely they are to be remembered and therefore, according to Gut, more likely to happen.

Confirmation bias. Once a fear is in place, we screen what we see and hear in a biased way that ensures our fears are "proven" justified. Gut doesn't want to be confused by reasonable arguments or reassuring statistics to the contrary. Gut is bad with numbers. It likes a good story.

Group polarization. When people who share fears get together in groups, they become more convinced that their fears are right and they become even more extreme in their views. Once a fear goes mainstream, so-to-speak, the distortion about what should be frightening and what shouldn't be becomes insurmountable. We are social animals and what others think matters to us. That's why we don't need reasons for believing in risks and issues that "everybody knows" are true. We don't want them.

Seen in this context, we delude ourselves when we think that we evaluate evidence and make decisions about risks by calculating rationally. Experts are wrong to think they can ease fears about a risk simply by getting the facts out. Gut doesn't listen to reason. And experts, as we shall see, can't be trusted.

We overestimate the likelihood of being killed by the things that make the evening news and underestimate those that don't. It doesn't matter that disease related to smoking or obesity kills much higher numbers than catastrophic events, accidents, terrorism and murder. Gut sees these again and again on TV (or in other media), becomes obsessed with stories related to them and thus indirectly contributes to what then turns into a feedback loop of fear. Our skewed perception is easy to explain once we understand that Gut is in control while Head is asleep at the wheel. Head can't wipe out intuition. It can't change how we feel. And how we feel is the essential part of the calculation here: Fear sells. Gut feeling buys.

Is there anything sinister or conspiratorial about selling fear? Not really. After all, self-interest is the natural state of humankind. The news industry and new media make no secret about their desire to make money, nor need they. And it doesn't stop here. Fear is also a fantastic marketing tool for companies, consultants, politicians, bureaucrats, scientists, activists and NGOs, all of them in competition with one another, fighting for influence and sales with fear. For example, it is a standard practice for companies selling cleaning products or alarm systems to heighten your awareness about the risks you take by not using their products. What politician has not jumped at the opportunity to overplay a real or imaginary danger concerning an issue his political opponent has failed to address? Law enforcement and security officials are naturally adverse to risking their funding by playing down security risks to you. Scientists need funding too and well, no problem, no funding. NGOs and other groups have political agendas to promote. Would they hesitate to spread fear if this helped them achieve their goals?

What can Head do to help alleviate this skewed perception problem of ours? Not much, really. Many of the issues facing us today are so complex that we as individuals are not in the position to properly understand them. Being that we simply don't have enough time or energy to research them ourselves, we must rely on experts to do this for us. And these experts are generally biased, most likely belonging to one of the various groups mentioned above. And we are often just as biased as the experts are. Strangely, displaying fear about particular issues has become a form of expressing cultural identity or making a political statement. I find it amusing that peering into the future and imagining what can go wrong has become something of a parlor game for intellectuals, for instance. And sadly, another problem is that questioning things that "everybody knows to be true" requires a lot of effort and stamina that many of us simply do not have.

So why are you so afraid? Your caveman brain wouldn't have it any other way. It's just too bad that too many of your inner caveman's risk-perception buttons are being pressed by someone else.

Originally from California's Central San Joaquin Valley and washed ashore on the coast of old West Berlin, Charles Larson is a freelance writer well versed in German and German culture. For more info, feel free to visit his website at EnglishPro & Co.

Nine Insights for successful and happy life, City: Mitchell Earl Gibson, MD

If the momentum of the analog light energy logic and, for the purposes of this paper, in the interests of clarity, the effect of the crystals should be prismamainen, such as the truth; -classified as a rainbow of colorful reduction to human behaviour. It is a cognitive filter, in which Dr. Mitchell Gibson is articulated and his Earl, one of the nine Insights, Happy and successful life.

These characteristics collected by Dr. Gibson has seen a wide range of customers in the course of his professional engulfing thousands of people. His "nine Insights," a simple, speedy processing, he shall inform the Assembly of his insight then follow exemplifying a fascinating way; take as an example of the history, culture and his own personal experience with the community providing his erat demonstrandum (QED).

-In the case of The insolvency of the Dr. Gibson and his Humility Save FX hereby readers intelligence. When you do this, he is not his readers, and its own values, pontificating He simply explains what he has seen and he believes. This makes the invite and Celine nine Insightsan the read. For example, her "Insight number seven: when the dreams I talk to you a list," was particularly interesting, because of his examples are used to justify his point of view. He wrote in Paul McCartney dreamed his song yesterday, Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and dreamed of the plot, Mr. Hyde, and the people who have made millions of dollars off, the two problems, which are solutions, while at the same time in sleep mode with a strange case.

Many people, philosophers, scientists and historians, to name only a few groups are written by the dream-state. As well as each of us has had their own experiences in dreams; This is the most radical views. However, most of the original insight "on a regular basis to donate a small share of the wealth-helps to prevent chaos in the life of a collection of energy." In a way, that this was due to the "rhythm and resonates in my mind, is that one of the obvious, but at the same time, the unperceived. I'll give you a hint: it is the money of energy.

For more information about who you are, is not mentioned in this review, the configuration tool and how Dr. Mitchell Gibson in the collection of the money into the Earl, I recommend reading the personal chaos in the nine Insights, Happy and successful life. I made my recommendation is now semantically arithmetically as Dr. Gibson currently agree, as the tenth insight, "read this book."

Barbara c. Miller is a book reviewer for the review in the Pacific. Visit http://www.pacificbookreview.com/for for more information.

Psychological Abnormalities Considered - Book Review

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When it comes to psychology what's that famous line; What is Normal Anyway? Indeed, it's hard to say if anyone is completely normal, and with that said, who'd want to be of normal psychology anyway. And surely no one wants to be considered abnormal, and if they did, they probably already are you see? In any case, because abnormality in psychology is such a fascinating topic, perhaps you'd like to learn more on the topic.

Well, if this sounds good to you, then there is a pretty straight forward and easy book to read on the topic even for a layman like me, someone outside of the field of psychology. Okay so, the book I'd like to recommend to you is a book I personally own, and its well worth taking a gander at, and reading through when you have the time. The name of the book is;

"Casebook in Abnormal Psychology" (second edition) by Timothy A Brown and David H. Barlow, Wadsworth - Thompson Learning Book Publishers, Pacific Grove, CA, (2001), 334 pages, ISBN: 0-534-36316-4.

This book is an excellent overview of several abnormal psychology conditions and issues, some of the most common in fact. I was originally upset, and concerned to read in the introduction the following statement: "All of the cases in this book are based on actual clinical histories and treatment outcomes although the patient names and identifying characteristics (i.e. demographics such as age, occupation, martial/family history) have been changed." This bothered me because I believe those factors are very important.

And yet, as I read through this book, I began to realize that perhaps that wasn't so important as to understanding the basic principles of abnormal psychology or at least the types of abnormalities described in this book. Things like PTSD for instance, as that can happen to anyone, of any age it appears. Indeed, you should have this book as a reference and everyone should know a little bit about psychology anyway. Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes it's hard work to write 22,000 articles; http://www.bloggingcontent.net/

Book Review - Next Stop, Reloville By Peter T Kilborn

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IP is over the quota

Relocation always brings challenges and Peter Kilborn writes a journalistic account of a special segment of people who move: families who are required to move in order to keep their jobs or maintain career growth. They earn high incomes by most standards - $100,000 - $400,000 - and their companies move them lavishly. One company even flew the wife's mother to babysit with the children while the couple went on a househunting trip.

These families represent middle and upper management. None was described as a CEO but some were VPs of mid-sized companies. Some worked in cubicles.

Author Kilborn focuses on the impact of moving on family dynamics. His approach is typical of contemporary journalism: focus on a handful of families in depth and chronicle every aspect of their lives that might remotely relate to moving. Thus we have children who start over in school, wives who volunteer, husbands who are away from home for long periods. We see variations from one family to the next but as I read, their stories blended together.

Kilborn notes the pressure to conform. For instance, these families need to buy homes with high resale value, so they tend to seek new homes in new neighborhoods. As a result, older neighborhoods fall into decline.

We see how some families try to escape the pressures. One family was thrilled to find a home outside a homeowners association. Surprisingly few get divorced; one woman is shown in front of her new antique store, which she opened after divorcing her mobile husband and remarrying.

This book describes a small, privileged sliver of corporate America. And, although the book's subtitle refers to a "new" rootless professional class, I don't think it's all that new. I remember when IBM used to stand for "I've Been Moved." If anything, I'm hearing that companies are cutting back because spouses now enter the picture.

And that's my major quibble with this book. Are all members of this corporate America male and married? The book finds one young single woman who talks about the difficulties of getting a boyfriend. But I've known single and divorced women over 40 who reported enormous problems fitting into this mobile class. One woman moved into a nice neighborhood; after all, she earned a good salary and she could easily afford a big house. Her female neighbors were threatened at first. They actually worried she would chase their husbands (as if she had time or inclination).

The book doesn't address other issues, such as relocating professionals who are gay, non-Christian, or of another race. In these Relovilles, will these people stand out? Will they be ostracized? Or are these towns so filled with corporate execs who have higher tolerance than longer-dwelling residents of these small towns?

Ultimately I'm not sure what we are supposed to learn from this book. Wisely, the author chooses not to draw lessons and move to the self-help genre. Perhaps the ultimate lesson is to choose a career where you are self-employed or where you just don't have to move. You might sacrifice the big pay checks (or not), but you will gain the most valuable commodity: time. And if you do choose this path, nobody can say Kilborn didn't warn you.

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., has written a book about relocation. This book deals with the stresses and psychological challenges common to a variety of people who relocate - not just corporate families. This book includes challenges of being single, moving on a shoestring, and finding new friends. Download immediately at http://www.relocationstrategy.com/

Cathy offers one-to-one consulting for career moves that involve relocation. Subscribe to the 12-session Midlife Career Strategy ecourse to learn more about these services.
http://www.midlifecareerchoice.com/

Understanding Freakonomics Better - Random Decisions Are Not Random

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IP is over the quota

Freakonomics by Steven Levitt takes a look at interaction between different people and the way they take their decisions. He believes people never take random decisions, they follow certain rules (which may be self imposed, not necessarily external) and most of the time they try to get something or people related to them or for themselves. The rules by which the humans take their decisions may include moral, social or economic incentives or benefits.

Striking a Balance

There are three possible outcomes for any (dis)incentive schemes - if these are very weak or strong, the desired result will not occur. Even if they occur, they may come with some extra baggage of ill will among the subjects. The decisions will be happily adopted by the people if we can strike a balance between a strong incentive and a weak incentive.

Everyone Gets the Difficult Answer Right

Another interesting aspect of the incentives is cheating - which is defined as getting more benefit for less (than justified) effort invested in the work. Let's talk about the schools where the teachers are punished or rewarded according to the performance of their students. Teachers cheat through many means available to them to ensure they get the incentives. They correct the toughest answer for all the students which they are likely to have gotten wrong. The result is - a disproportionately high number of students get the toughest answer right and other easier answers wrong (mostly). They may also correct the answers written by the dumbest students, who are likely to be wrong most of the time in the teacher's perception.

We Need To Think Like Cheaters

Steven Levitt says if we have to catch the cheaters, we need to think the way they do. We need to find out what kind of cheating would bring most benefit for them, though they do tend to use easier techniques also even if they bring lesser returns. The high stakes testing was introduced in 1996, and the authorities detected suspicious changes in the marks obtained by some students over a year.

Was The Student Cheating?

So the question is, can we be sure the teachers were cheating by helping their students or not? It can be safely said the teachers only help their students if the results affect their own financial status, otherwise they don't. Steven Levitt says if the performance of the student falls after one year, they were probably cheating. Another possibility may be that the moment the student left his comfort zone, his performance slipped.

The author Prasoon Kumar works for http://www.uread.com/ which is the leading online bookstore that offers all the current and all time great titles at never before prices. Follow the unusual approach of analyzing life through Economics followed by Steven Levitt. Grab your copy of Freakonomics at huge discount only at http://www.uread.com/book/freakonomics/9780141019017

Book Review - Refuse To Choose By Barbara Sher

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AppId is over the quota

Have you always wondered why you get bored easily, never stick to anything for long periods of time, quickly lose interest in things or change your mind about what you want to do and end up doing nothing? Good news: according to Barbara Sher's book you might just be a 'scanner'.

Summary

Barbara Sher brings us closer to a type of person who, just as described above, doesn't follow the traditional 'find out what you want, get a career and follow it with might and passion for the rest of your life' scheme.

More in details

The subtitle of this book is 'A Revolutionary Programme for Doing All That You Love' and alludes to the fact that scanners often find themselves arguing about not being able to choose one thing and stick with it. Barbara suggests otherwise: Refuse to choose.

The author identifies seven types of scanners, divided into two groups: cyclical scanners and sequential scanners. The first 3 belong to the cyclical scanners:
Double Agent: These are people who have fantasies of being two people, one who does the right thing and another who is free to live their dreams.Sybil: This is someone who has many areas of interest and they return to these over and over but rarely finish anything.Plate Spinner: They are energized by having many things going on at the same time, they love solving problems but all of this leaves little time for any of their own projects.

The cyclical scanners know what their interests are, unlike the sequential scanners who always discover a completely new interest. The following six types belong to the sequential scanners:
Serial Specialist: They often excel at whatever field they are in, commit completely but then, often when on top of their game, quit and start something new.Serial Master: For these people, interests come and go, but the love of mastery always stays. Once they have mastered something, they go looking for a new project.Jack-of-all-Trades: Jacks enjoy learning for its own sake. They are usually not passionate about any one career but the love of learning something new and helping people.Wanderer: This is someone who loves random experiences and allow themselves to move toward whatever looks attractive and interesting.Sampler: These people look for a special kind of richness in their lives and find that there are very few ways to fill it.High-Speed Indecisive: They are maybe the most misunderstood of all Scanners as the get pulled away to something new sooner than any other, but not because they lost interest, rather because they see something more fascinating.

Besides the in-depth description of the different types of scanners, Barbara also shares many valuable tools and techniques that will make scanners lives easier.

About the author

Beside being an author of six self-help books Barbara Sher is also a motivational speaker, workshop leader, business owner and has collected much experience working as a counselor, working with many scanners. In addition to that she has appeared both on national and local radio and television, including shows like Oprah, Today, 60 Minutes and Good Morning America. She lives in New York City.

Recommendation

This is a great book if you feel that you might be a scanner, have lived your life wondering: Why is it that everyone finds their passion but I can't seem to find it, start and stop many projects or never finish anything?

In my work with clients I have found it extremely valuable to assist people in finding their freedom and passion through the realization that they achieve by reading this book.

Want to know more? Have a look at my blog.

Nathalie Himmelrich is the founder of 'Reach for the Sky Therapy' on Sydney's Northern Beaches and specialises in 'relationship related issues'. She is working with individuals and couples using techniques ranging from Counselling, Neuro Linguistic Programming to Journey Therapy. She supports clients in their personal growth in a supportive and professional environment.

Visit my website: http://www.reachforthesky.com.au/ or visit my blog: http://reachforthesky.wordpress.com/ and sign up for our newsletter today.