Content on Behavior (Page 5)
Emotional Health Matters
The ability to understand how emotions affect our and others’ decisions is a big part of spirituality.
Cognitive Science and My Emerging Rabbinate
Why are humans religious? As an aspiring rabbi, this is a central question of my life.
A Foot In the Door: How One Deed (Good or Bad) Leads to Another
Once we have set down a certain path, human nature makes it increasingly difficult to reverse course.
Yom Kippur Is Important. The Day After Is Even More So.
How can we hold onto the changes we strive for? Look for “bright spots.”
Our Defects Make Us Interesting
As the late British theoretical physicist Sir Charles Frank once said, “Crystals are like people: it is the defects in them that make them interesting.”
Jewish Ritual as a “Checklist Manifesto”
In many ways, ritual is a checklist, and offers a helpful structure that we can then build off of.
How to Make Shortcuts Work
If we want a shortcut to work for us, we need to put in the time.
Don’t Get Furious, Get Curious
When someone is being difficult or challenging, it’s very easy to get emotional and defensive. But that’s rarely constructive
Genetic Knowledge Explains. It Doesn’t Predict.
What can we really predict about human behavior in light of increasing knowledge from genetics?
Arguing about Values, Not Facts
The greatest distinction between facts and values is that facts don’t spur us to action. Values do.
Our Genes, Our Selves
As genetic technology continues to advance, what happens when we try to create or eliminate certain characteristics for our children? What are the potential unintended consequences with fiddling with our DNA? Should humans be “playing God”? Lisa Ortuno, a Sinai and Synapses Fellow, explores those questions through a series of interviews, asking several experts, “Are we more than our genes?”
Waking Up is Hard to Do
One wonderful metaphor for the shofar blast on Rosh Hashanah is that of an alarm clock, waking us up to the ways we have acted, and helping us to become the people we wish to be. But all too often, we are likely to hit the snooze button.