Being either a psychopath or a narcissist is rapidly falling out of favor as a mental illness among psychiatrists. The afflictions, if they are afflictions, are far too common.  (See blogs 1/18/13 and 6/16/14.)  Psychopaths, for example, thrive as CEO of corporations, politicians an

Barbara G. Walker, among her many talents, is a Biblical scholar, author of books like The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Man Made God.  Her latest essay, “Deconstructing Religion and Power,” draws  links between the origins of man and the rise of religion. (FFRF, Vo. 32, N

Every once in a while, my stockbroker and I have lunch.  We don’t necessarily do it to adjust my investments.  We get together to solve the world’s financial problems.  Right now, the world, according to my broker, looks glum.  He’s especially annoyed with Greece for not pay

The cliché is that “fact is stranger than fiction.” It isn’t, of course.  Fiction is unbounded by place, time, space and the laws of physics.  Yet when truth presses against the limits of reality, the effect can seem larger than fiction, overturning what we think we know.  M

In Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne imagined deep water submarines.  In I, Robot, Isaac Asimov dreamed of machines with personalities.  J. K. Rowling envisioned an invisibility cloak in Harry Potter.  Why take note of this?  Because, so often, fiction imagines po

A revered Buddhist monk long ago was asked what he would most regret about dying. After some thought, he answered he would miss watching clouds drift across the sky. His reply struck me as profound, nothing I might have said, though I have an answer if I am ever asked the question. I

Recently, I met with a financial planner to update arrangements for my final years. I must say, preparing to exit life requires more paperwork than coming into it. Happily, I passed inspection on all points but one: I’d left no instructions for the disposal of my ashes.  I admit, I

Before she died, I had a phone conversation with my stepmother who was 98 years-old at the time. I asked her how her day was going and she cheerfully replied she’d had a wonderful morning visiting her mother and father. She wasn’t lying. She was suffering from Alzheimer’s diseas

If there’s a child anywhere in the world who hasn’t attended a gathering where ghost stories were told, I’d like to meet that extraordinary youngster. Scaring ourselves with tales from the grave is a rite of passage and given the number of horror films that are popular, we seem

When I was a junior in high school, studying biology was a requirement. The material was interesting but one picture in our text always sent shivers down my spine. The photograph was of a toad hatching little toads from holes on its back. For me, the picture was repulsive. For my pube