Religious narratives and practices are almost universal. All such narratives share certain characteristics centered around a powerful deity, whether it is called God, Theos, Gott, Dieu, Allah, Elloheim, YHWH, or The Great Spirit, or even worshiping many gods like in the Hindu culture. There must be a universal need written in our nature to create…
Our country, which I was lucky to adopt for the last 55 years (trying to contribute and be useful like the rest of my fellow citizens), is enormous, privileged, and made up by diverse people regarding origin, ethnicity, and race — nevertheless, all sharing the blessings of our freedoms and the enormous benefits of its diversity.…
There was in the near-past a cartoon, sometimes shown before starting the main feature in a movie or on television, whereupon a coyote was forever chasing an animal known as the roadrunner through the Arizona desert. “Beep beep!” went the roadrunner. “Beep Beep” and the roadrunner was foiling the designs of the enemy forever. On…
Our exaggerated responses, both by the officials and the media, while self-serving with the created big hullabaloo, to terrorist acts are in fact aiding and abetting their intended goals. We human beings are logical; i.e., we correctly take logical actions to carry out decisions whether they are rational or not. On the other hand, we…
Let’s declare from the beginning: war is not inevitable. Switzerland and Sweden with their centuries of peace attest to that. Neither is it an organized faculty residing in our human nature. Instead, there exists latent propensities for readiness to defend our home/territory; or, to conquer and grab if the occasion is perceived appropriated — all embedded…
By Nicholas Pediaditakis, MD Are we humans going to make it? We could and we may. We have all the qualities for it. But, we should not take that for granted, even though, we have intellect, flexibility, the ability to think rationally, as well as given the proper circumstances, to cooperate towards common goals. On…
Last time I wrote about xenophobia – a nasty trait in us threatening our civilization even our presence on this earth. Now I want to write about Philoxenia – i.e. the eagerness to help and take care of “others.” Xenophobia, does not have to be with us, in fact, we have to get rid of…
The fear and often hatred and even violence towards our fellow humans that they are considered as “others” because of the color of their skin, or their habits, their religious faith, or their point of origin, appears to run deep and is a curse for the entire humanity. It may even, together with some other…
Currently research regarding the expression of violence, concentrates on the individual’s particular circuits and neuronal layouts, trying to ascertain with some success who is prone to it and how to predict it.(1) Nevertheless, important aspects on the subject in comprehending the expression of violent acts, are unaddressed. Studying individuals alone, in an effort to…
Why is difficult to know who we are. Yet there is currently an urgent need to address and deal with certain tribal aspects of our human nature. The existence of evolutionary roadblocks in knowing ourselves In the face of it, since the brain is just another biological organ, it is certainly subject to scientific scrutiny…
Chroniclers of the Soul 