Published in The Daily Banter, 29th April 2016: Why It’s Impossible To Not Actually Be A Cannibal. A dizzying number of publications recently ran a piece titled “Why It’s Impossible To Actually Be A Vegetarian”. Within it, philosopher Andrew Smith argued that because ecosystems tend to involve the transfer of matter from both plant to animal…
Video: The Illusion of Free Will & Mental Illness Stigma
Our path toward a more compassionate world for those suffering from mental illness can be illuminated by the light of acknowledging the illusory nature of free will.
Video: Why Are We Afraid of the Word “Patient” in Psychiatry?
“Consumer” and “client” have been increasingly used in psychiatry, but perhaps we will be better off by simply using “patient”.
Why Psychiatry Should Discard The Idea of Free Will
Published in Psychology Today, 30th March 2016: ‘Why Psychiatry Should Discard The Idea of Free Will’. Excerpt: “Consider the commonly used medical expressions “organic depression”, “rule out organic causes” and “non-organic psychosis”. What do these terms mean? Organic is defined as “relating to or derived from living matter” and, when used in relation to an illness, implies there is a…
The Illusion of Free Will and Mental Illness Stigma
Published in Psychology Today, 17th March 2016: ‘The Illusion of Free Will and Mental Illness Stigma’. Excerpt: “If the mind is truly free, it is only logical to extrapolate that illness of the mind must also be free; free to change on a whim, or at least free to change if one chose to do so. In a free and…
Intellectually Sterile Universities are Causing Idea Allergies
Published in The Daily Banter, 9th March 2016: ‘Intellectually Sterile Universities are Causing Idea Allergies’ Excerpt: “Have you heard of the Hygiene Hypothesis? It describes how our obsession with cleanliness and sterile homes may be causing the steep increase in allergies we’ve seen in recent decades… I see a parallel between the Hygiene Hypothesis and what is currently occurring…
Baby Asha: How You Can Support Her
Published in the Independent Australia, 26th February 2016: Baby Asha: How you can support her Excerpt: “Empathy can kindle the flames of compassion, but we require someone to thoughtfully and dispassionately fan those flames in the right direction. Left to our own devices in a third-world country, we would disproportionately give to an individual. Charities use…
Baby Asha Decision Sets Risky Precedent
Published in the Sydney Morning Herald, 22nd February 2016: Baby Asha Decision Sets Risky Precedent. Excerpt: “The problem here is the irrationality of empathy: the imaginative capacity to place ourselves in another’s situation. As psychologist Paul Bloom has said: “If you want to be good and do good, empathy is a poor guide”. Empathy favours an individual…
Don’t Let Veganism Make The Same Mistakes As Feminism
Published in The Daily Banter, 24th February 2016. Are you a feminist? Unfortunately, the number of people who respond ‘yes’ to this question is currently falling off a cliff. The belief that men and women should have equal opportunities represents one of the most direct routes towards a more humane society, yet the name for…
Nothing Lasts Forever: How an Atheist Copes With the Fear of Death
Published in Elephant Journal, 19th January 2016: ‘Nothing Lasts Forever: How an Atheist Copes With the Fear of Death’. Excerpt: “Death. Simply reading the word can arrest us in our place, causing an instant tingling of visceral unease. The certainty that our mortality will eventually be realized binds us not only in solidarity, but in…
Steve Stankevicius 