Notes

Myth 10: When Dying, People Pass through a Universal Series of Psychological Stages (50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology)

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Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. These stages, often called the “Five Stages of Grief,” supposedly describe an invariant sequence of stages that all people pass through when dying (Kübler-Ross, 1969, 1974). These stages are widely accepted in medical, psychological, and nursing communities. They have permeated popular culture through movies and TV shows. In The … Read more

Myth 9: Old Age is Typically Associated with Increased Dissatisfaction and Senility (50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology)

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If you are told to picture someone who is lonely, depressed, unable to keep up with technology, dependent, forgetful, physically weak – you may imagine an older person. But many of these perceptions are false. Our impressions of the elderly are cystalized at a young age. In Snow White, one of the seven dwarves, “Grumpy”, … Read more

Myth 8: Most People Experience a Midlife Crisis in their 40s or Early 50s (50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology)

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The idea of the midlife crisis is so prevalent that there are internet sites and businesses that are built for the purpose of mitigating it. The Midlife Club and LifeLaunch through the Hudson institute are examples. We all know what a midlife crisis is through popular culture. In American Beauty (1999), Kevin Spacey quits his … Read more

Chapter 11: The Data Religion (Homo Deus)

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Dataism says that everything consists of data flows and the value of any phenomenon or entity is determined by its contribution to data processing. This is not a new idea. Since Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, scientists have seen organisms as biochemical algorithms. And since the Turing Machine, computer scientists have learned to assemble … Read more

Chapter 10: The Ocean of Consciousness (Homo Deus)

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The most interesting place in the world from a religious perspective is Silicon Valley, that’s where the promises of salvation through algorithms and genes are. There are two main techno religions, techno-humanism and data religion. Data religion argues that humans have finished their cosmic task and should now make way for new kinds of entities. … Read more

Chapter 9: The Great Decoupling (Homo Deus)

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Liberals promote free markets and democratic elections because they believe that individuals are unique and valuable, who’s free choices are the source of authority. In this century, we will see three practical developments that will nullify this belief. 1. Humans will lose military and economic usefulness. The economic and political system will not value them … Read more

Chapter 8: The Time Bomb in the Laboratory (Homo Deus)

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Liberalism is like any other religion; in that it is based on factual statements that aren’t scientifically sound. One belief is that voters and buyers do not make their decisions randomly, liberalism acknowledges the existence of external influences but thinks that people ultimately make up their own minds freely. Free Will is an Illusion But … Read more

Chapter 6: The Modern Covenant (Homo Deus)

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The deal of modernity is simple: it is the exchange of meaning for power. Throughout history, we have believed that we were part of a cosmic plan. This plan gave people’s lives meaning but placed strict limits on what they could do. Modern culture rejects this belief – the new belief is that life has … Read more

Chapter 5: The Odd Couple (Homo Deus)

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Science and religion are an odd couple. Ancient religious myths were helpful when they called people into action that was beneficial to them but were not objectively true. Modern science is a collective story, but it is not a myth – it is based on reality. Antibiotics will cure infections whether you believe in them … Read more