I am sure homework didn’t used to be this hard. I have to describe my message in 3 phrases of no more than 15 words. The phrases should be comprehensive (cover everything I want to say) and mutually exclusive (no … Continued
Thinking: A Beginner’s Guide (Part 2)
Here continues the summary of my psychology course in Thinking. Week 1 (Causality) was covered last Tuesday. Week 2: Confirmation Bias I’m sure you’ll recognise this one: we make up our mind about something – whether we like somebody, whether … Continued
Thinking: A Beginner’s Guide (Part 1)
I am now halfway through my one semester at Yale, and for a while I’ve been promising some of my World Fellow colleagues a summary of my psychology class, called Thinking. Here is the first part. Part 2, which will … Continued
Which is Worse? Having a Crisis, or NOT Having a Crisis?
Recently Professor Robert Shiller, famous for having predicted the current global financial crisis, came to speak to the World Fellows. He casually mentioned in the course of his presentation that he had been asked to contribute an essay to a book … Continued
Reflections
While I am away in Monterey at the Blue Ocean Film Festival, I thought I would post some thoughts that I wrote in response to a request from our Personal and Professional Development guru, Professor David Berg. He asked that … Continued
Yale Tales No.6: Psychology and Sustainability
My series of video blogs from Yale has now been rechristened “Yale Tales”. Thanks to David Church for the suggestion. In the latest Yale Tale, I am at last settling into the routine of student life in New Haven. I’ve … Continued
World Fellows Night – Photos
13th September was one of the highlights of the semester, with all 16 of the Yale World Fellows on hand to talk about their countries, careers, and lives, to all and sundry. Unfortunately I was in the depths of my … Continued
Yale Video Blog No.5: In Conversation with Patrick Struebi
At last! In the second of my interviews with colleagues on the Yale World Fellows Program, I chat with Patrick Struebi, an entrepreneur from Zurich, Switzerland. Patrick and I have a lot in common. We both had “proper” jobs, only … Continued
Identity and Democracy
Wouldn’t you know it? At exactly the worst possible time, I have come down with a head cold / cough / ear infection, so am feeling quite heavily under the weather at the moment. But to keep the show on … Continued
Thoughts on Identity
Our first weekly seminar is on the subject of identity. Our prescribed reading is Amin Maalouf’s “Identity”, which focuses on the sometimes violent reactions that result when we feel that our identity is under attack from some quarter. This has … Continued









