Reason and freedom: The best of friends?

Today I published a new article on The Conversation website. This one is entitled: Steven Pinker lauds reason, but people need freedom – this might not end well. I hope it's of interest! SMJ    

Is psychosis associated with being more receptive to bullshit?

Crickey, here's a paper to start your week with. A new paper, published today in Frontiers in Psychology, reports that the more psychotic-like experiences you have, the more receptive you are to bullshit. Apparently 'bullshit' is a technical term. You are probably going to want to know how science measures "bullshit receptivity". It turns out it is …

Sam Harris on AI

I just came across a video of Sam Harris being interviewed in the jungle about his views on AI. https://youtu.be/LYed1XhsWtc?t=2s For those of you who have a bit more time, you can see him give a slighter longer and more nuanced rendition of his views here: https://www.ted.com/talks/sam_harris_can_we_build_ai_without_losing_control_over_it He also takes part in a panel discussion …

When should I write numbers as words?

Hey, I need some help. I don't know when to write numbers as numerals (e.g., '3') and when to write them as words (e.g., 'three'). Ok, let's figure this out. It turns out that many organisations, such as the American Psychological Association (APA), have guidance for their members.  We can run through some of this. Cool. What's the …

The cause of the night

The cause of the night is the Earth turning its back on the sun, but the reason for the night is Chopin. I like to think this is what the Starman is listening to.

The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer: Book review and analysis

The Shock of the Fall. Nathan Filer.  2014. 320pp. ISBN: 978-0007491452 Review by Simon McCarthy-Jones   We bury our dead six feet down, but their memory lies in a shallower grave. Memories inflated with guilt rise irresistibly. They bob against the surface of our mind. They will not be pushed down. They must be let …

Nordic noir

Something seems to have gone slightly wrong with the Danish translation of my "The concept of schizophrenia is coming to an end" article, at least according to the Google auto-translate of it back into English. This is some serious Nordic noir...

Book review: Emily’s Voices by Emily Knoll

Emily’s Voices. Emily Knoll. 2017. 207pp. ISBN: 978-1-9998638-0-7 Book review by Simon McCarthy-Jones Emily’s Voices is a memoir by Emily Knoll. The title refers to the voices that this eloquent young author hears, which others cannot. To me, the book appears to have four aims. The first is to communicate what the often misunderstood phenomenon …

Book review: Asylum by Greg Ralls

Asylum. Greg Ralls. 2017. 110pp. ISBN: 978-0-648-13850-1 Asylum, the second memoir by the Australian engineer, husband, author, father, and recipient of a schizophrenia diagnosis, Greg Ralls, advertises itself as the story of his detention in an UK immigration removal centre. This event does indeed form a key part of the book and the author makes …

Living deliberately in the age of social networking sites

Here's a new blog/article from me, originally published in The Conversation. It was also picked up by Scientific American and the Daily Mail. SMJ