Listen Now

Many years ago while out jogging, I ran into a store because I had to pee badly. The person at the counter was a middle-aged woman with a thick southern accent and a smile on her face that would light up any room. I asked if they had a bathroom I could use, and the cheerful woman informed me that the bathroom was for customers only. I explained to her that I did not have my wallet on me, but otherwise I would be happy to buy something. Without dropping her smile, she said “I am sorry about tha. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

Even bad press gives candidates exposure, which can end up being more beneficial than harmful, and bad press won't cause die-hard Republicans (or Democrats) to abandon their candidate. But assuming we are talking about really bad press and politically-leaning moderates, the sunk cost fallacy can explain why bad press does not have as much of an effect on election outcomes as one would expect. We can see that this phenomenon applies to any candidate, from any political party, in any election.Your. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

In short, I can't give you a direct answer to your question without knowing specific examples of your arguments. But dismissing ideas based on one's race or sex rather than the ideas themselves is both fallacious and a prime example of prejudice. My own views on social issues that I hold as a social psychologist are data-driven, science-based, and sometimes in contrast with many of the statements and claims of groups advocating "social justice". We can take a look at some general guide. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

Disclaimer: I am a social psychologist and a researcher, not a clinical psychologist licensed to diagnose disorders. My expertise in this area is in understanding research, scientific consensus, and how disorders are defined and legitimized within the scientific community, not in diagnosing addiction.As usual, the answer to this question is far more complex than most people like to acknowledge. There exists a socially conservative, scientifically and sexually ignorant segment of the population w. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

When I was a child, my mom would often remind me to say my prayers before going to bed. The prayer was fairly secular as far as prayers go, besides the fact, of course, that I was directing my prayer to a god. The prayer was a list of all the good things in my life for which I was thankful. This exercise reminded me of the good things in my life and helped me to understand the concepts of gratitude and appreciation. Today, as a secular humanist, I no longer hold beliefs in any gods, and, underst. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

It has been estimated by the top researchers in the area of psychopathy that about 1 out of every 100 people are psychopaths (Viding, McCrory, & Seara-Cardoso, 2014). This means that statistically speaking, we all have at least one and maybe two psychopaths in our lives. More often than not, psychopaths function within the rules of society and go unnoticed. In fact, their unique traits often allow them to excel at business, in positions of leadership, in the military, and in many areas of life (. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

Let me begin by unpacking the question. The question implies that there is a simple relationship between the will and actions, when, in fact the relationship is actually quite complex. The question juxtaposes predictability with acting in one's best interest when, in fact, much of the human behavior that is predictable is against one's own best interest. The claim that our will is determined does not require our behavior to be predictable. Conversely, predictable behavior does not require our wi. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

According to a report by Stanford University, from the turn of this century to August 26, 2015, there have been 138 documented mass shootings in the United States resulting in 555 victim fatalities and a total of 1092 victims. To put that number in perspective, that is more than the total number of documented mass shootings in the entire second half of the 20th century. In this context, a mass shooting is defined by three or more shooting victims (not necessarily fatalities), not including the s. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

Since you are asking me, a scientist, I can tell you that I believe science literacy is extremely important, but there are those who will disagree. The United States is indeed a meting pot, not just of cultures, but of ideas and values. Some people value belief and faith far more than reason and science, meaning that the subjective state of personal well-being is more important than accepting a scientific fact that risks decreasing that personal well-being. Of course, being scientifically illite. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

Before I get to the heart of the question, I want to make the distinction between rationality and reason in the domain of argumentation (these terms have specialized meanings when referring to different topics). The two terms are often used interchangeably, and one could argue that the current usage of the terms have, for all practical purposes, made them synonymous. However, when exploring this area in detail, the distinction is an important one. Reason is defined as the "capacity for cons. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

In the 1994 movie Dumb and Dumber, Lloyd (Jim Carey) sells a dead bird (Petey) to a blind kid in a wheelchair. Clearly one would have to have psychopathic tendencies to find dead birds or handicap children funny, yet despite personal preferences and tastes for comedy, people who enjoyed this film overwhelmingly found this scene hilarious. More recently, jokes about Jared, the former pitchman for the Subway chain, have been flooding social media. Many of these jokes have to do with him getting ra. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

As a social psychologist, I study stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination using scientific methodology—a process that is designed to minimize bias regularly found in personal anecdotes that seem to fuel this movement. As a white male, I am protected from the most common forms of racial and sexual discrimination. So while my views may indeed be objective as an observer to and researcher of racial inequality, I cannot provide first-hand personal experience of such inequality, which to many peo. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

First, we need to understand that the belief in a literal Hell is not ubiquitous among religions. Even within Christianity, roughly 30% of Christian Americans don't believe in a literal Hell according to a 2007 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life / U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. Also, the answer to this question is very different if we are talking about the non-religious who never believed in Hell and the non-religious who used to believe in Hell. For those non-religious who never believed in . . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

Recently, the proposition that marriage can be between two men or two women has been a hot topic in social media, with people both for and against speaking out aggressively on the issue. If you are for the proposition, you would likely refer to the issue as "marriage equality," which implies fairness. If you are against the proposition, you might call it "gay marriage" or better yet, refer to your position positively as in the term "traditional marriage" (assuming, . . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

First I have to say how sorry I am for your loss. I can't imagine losing a child to suicide, let alone an only child. My deepest sympathies.Let's start by clearly stating the implied alternative hypothesis here. At the most generic level, we can hypothesize that the known laws of physics are being broken by some supernatural force related to your son's death. More specifically, we might create a narrative to make the hypothesis more emotionally appealing, such as your son is trying to communicat. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

I was about 22 years old, just graduated college, and moved to Boulder, Colorado to live "the good life." In the city of Boulder, there is a park called Chautauqua Park with very impressive rock formations known as the Flatirons. The Flatirons, as the name suggests, is a flat rock structure with about a 60-degree incline. While still in my invincibility phase, I thought it would be a good idea to climb the Flatirons—alone and without any equipment, experience, or common sense. About . . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

According to a 2014 Marketdata report, the weight-loss market in the United States was about $60 billion, with an estimated annual revenue of about $20 billion. To put this in perspective, that is about $63 per US citizen (infants included) spent each year on products and services that offer hope to those looking to lose weight. It's a huge market built on a complicate science that few people really understand—a breeding ground for pseudoscientific fads.A "fad" is defined as an inten. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

{date-time stamp}Friday, Jun 05, 2015 07:02 PM{/date-time stamp} This article was edited. There was a section that referred to an event that occurred a few years back. I erroneously used information that was only part of the story. I removed this section, and apologize to the 12 readers who accessed it before the change, and to the person whom it misrepresented. I promise to be more careful with all my research in the future, not just with science-related issues.This question can and should be e. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

Science tells us that the brain and the mind are different only in that the brain is the physical organ and the mind is a word we use to describe a function or product of the brain. The mind/brain relationship is not unique. For example, our voice is a result of our physical bodies—without our bodies, there would be no voice. The voice, like the mind, is a word we use to identify the immaterial product of a collection of physical systems in the body. Other possibilities surround the general th. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>

Before we attempt to answer this question, we need to unpack it. We will find a) that the question itself is flawed in the sense that it presupposes an outdated and incorrect causal view of heredity, b) the term "gay" can be redefined based on one's political views, c) there are flawed implications involved, and d) the science is often misunderstood. The Flaw in the Question, "Are People Born Gay?"The question is predicated on a simplistic view of causality. No more than 20 y. . . See the complete description at <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.thedrboshow.com/tools/qa/Bo/TheDrBoShow">The Dr. Bo Show</a>]]>