Peter Dickson

What to read this week: Poisonous People by Leanne ten Brinke If up to 20 per cent of us really do score highly on traits related to psychopathy, we are going to need all the help offered by a compelling new book. Start by admitting your own dark traits, finds S...

www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

Indifference To Others Isn't The Stoic Way what stance should we take towards those who are too preoccupied with indifferents?

open.substack.com/pub/gregoryb...

@nature.com rdcu.be/e8axL

A Psychiatrist Plays Whack a Mole with His Critics On March 2, psychiatrist Daniel Morehead published a piece in Psychiatric Times titled “On Some So-Called Toxic Effects of Psychiatric Medications.” He did so with input from psychiatrist Ronald Pies,...

open.substack.com/pub/madiname...

How to Critique Digital Images With Flusser’s Philosophy of Photography | TheCollector Flusser’s philosophy of photography offers an account of image-production technologies and their increasing presence in our lives.

www.thecollector.com/flussers-phi...

Making good choices when life gets messy – practical wisdom relies on human judgment, not rules The ancient Greek word phronesis means practical wisdom. It’s about choosing the right action at the right time for the right reasons, helping you apply the other virtues correctly.

theconversation.com/making-good-...

The Future DSM: Bold Redesign, Lingering Blind Spots | Psychiatric Times The future DSM revamp is coming, weaving social context, biomarkers, functioning and symptom dimensions into faster, evidence-based diagnosis.

In the March cover story for Psychiatric Times, I provide an overview of the proposed changes to the future DSM, accompanied by some personal commentary and suggestions of my own.

www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/the-fut...

What African philosophy says about our duties to oneself | Aeon Essays African philosophical values of harmony and vitality have much to offer our thinking about what we owe to ourselves

We can owe others morally good treatment, but what do we owe to ourselves? And is it even possible to owe something to yourself? Yes, argues the philosopher Thaddeus Metz in this Essay interweaving different strands of African philosophical traditions

The Philosophical Foundations of HiTOP A new paper examines the assumptions behind a new way of classifying mental illness

And here’s an accompanying substack post providing an overview of the discussion:

www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/the-philos...

Paper title: “Examining the Foundational Assumptions of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology” in Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology

A new paper from the HiTOP Revisions Workgroup (and yours truly) on the conceptual and philosophical underpinnings of the framework. Recommended reading for anyone interested in questions of classification and psychopathology!

Here’s the journal article: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

Disorder Drives One of Nature’s Most Complex Machines | Quanta Magazine Every second, hundreds to thousands of molecules move through thousands of nuclear pores in each of your cells. A new high-definition view reveals the machine in action.

Behold the inner channel of the nuclear pore complex in all its messy glory. New high-def microscopy is revealing its intricacies like never before. @yaseminsaplakoglu.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/disorder-dri...

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Do objects always appear smaller with distance? Not on cosmic scales! In our topsy-turvy universe, sometimes the farther away an object is, the bigger it seems to be

Cosmic magnification is one of the universe’s weirdest optical illusions | Scientific American share.google/Ztmz8SwHAyuJ...

Here’s how much practice you need to become the best in the world Are you a specialist or a generalist? The answer could reveal something about how well you learn and perfect a skill

Here’s how much practice you need to become the best in the world | Scientific American share.google/nRAYNBbKe9dh...

Astronomers spot one of the largest spinning structures in the universe This enormous chain of hundreds of galaxies—a cosmic filament—is twisting through space 400 million light-years away

Astronomers spot one of the largest spinning structures in the universe | Scientific American share.google/eL0TcinQPUCk...

Weird ‘Little Red Dots’ in space are something we’ve never seen Astronomers are racing to understand mysterious ancient objects that pepper James Webb Space Telescope images

What are JWST’s Little Red Dots? Astronomers may finally have an answer | Scientific American share.google/vGBcVrCYY0jm...

A bizarre type of black hole could solve three cosmic mysteries in one Black holes that turn matter into energy could explain dark energy and answer two other cosmic questions. Now, the challenge is to find them

www.newscientist.com/article/2515...

The bombshell results that demand a new theory of the universe Last year, our most detailed map of the universe yet suggested our understanding of dark energy has been wrong for decades. The shock result is reigniting the search for a better cosmic story

www.newscientist.com/article/2515...

A crisis in cosmology may mean hidden dimensions really exist Physicists are scrambling to understand why dark energy is weakening. In a surprising twist, we must now reconsider the possibility that our reality contains extra dimensions

www.newscientist.com/article/2515...

Why our brains tune things out and how to overcome it when you need to We often stop noticing things we’ve become too accustomed to, as a side effect of our brains protecting us from sensory overload. Columnist Helen Thomson shares the evidence-backed ways to learn how t...

www.newscientist.com/article/2515...

Notions of ‘Christendom’ often miss the mark – medieval Europe’s ideas about faith and power were not so simple There has never been a singular Christian perspective on how religion, power and politics ought to relate to each other – not even in medieval ‘Christendom.’

There has never been a singular Christian perspective on how religion, power and politics ought to relate to each other – not even in medieval “Christendom,” which many Christian Nationalists idealize as a time before separation of Church and State.

Rousseau's Social Contract in the Age of Online Communities | TheCollector The social contract theory developed by Rousseau completely changes our vision of online communities and our general will.

www.thecollector.com/rousseau-soc...

Plato and the Metaverse: The Allegory of the Cave 2.0 | TheCollector What happens when Plato’s cave meets the metaverse? Do we become trapped by shadows, shaped by avatars and algorithms?

www.thecollector.com/escape-plato...

Genetic factors drive the link between cognitive ability and socioeconomic status A new study of German twins suggests that the strong connection between a young adult's cognitive ability and their future socioeconomic status is largely driven by their genes, rather than shared family environments or random life events.

Genetic factors drive the link between cognitive ability and socioeconomic status

How Aristotle’s example can help public philosophy today | Aeon Essays Philosophy need not be arcane, argued Aristotle, as he led by example, writing treatises for peers and public alike

In honour of Aeon author @edithmayhall.bsky.social winning the 2026 Hellenic Prize, we’re re-sharing Her brilliant essay from the archive which explores how Aristotle broke with the traditional exclusivity of philosophical circles and wrote for the general public

Astrophysicists trace the origin of valuable metals in space, from colliding stars to merging galaxies Gold and platinum are found in space, created when two stars collide. Astrophysicists can even trace this process further back, to the merger of galaxies.

Where does gold in the universe come from?

Astrophysicists traced one source to a neutron-star collision triggered by a merger between galaxies – a cosmic chain reaction 8.5 billion years ago, observed just now.

Why we don’t really know what the public thinks about science Measuring trust isn’t enough. Furthering knowledge about the institutions and norms of science is the best way to build credibility.

Why we don’t really know what the public thinks about science www.nature.com/articles/d41...