Does Dexter Like His Coffee Black?

A skeptical friend sent me an interesting link this week. The headline makes the bold claim that a study suggests that people who like black coffee are more likely to be psychopaths. I’m sure you can guess my initial reaction: skepticism. So let’s look at the research. First, the choice of singling out black coffee […]

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New Research Suggests The Internet Makes Us Overconfident

When I saw the Washington Post headline “Internet searches are convincing us we’re smarter than we really are” in my Facebook feed yesterday, I was only a little bit skeptical. Most readers are probably aware that I have been studying self-esteem and narcissism for some time, particularly the aspect of overconfidence. Over confidence prevents learning […]

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You Probably Do NOT Have 4 Cones, What Else Is Wrong (or right) About the Goddamn Dress, and Some Fun Illusions

By now, you’ve either wondered just what color the dress is or you’re living under a rock in the middle of a deserted island with no internet and the first thing you chose to read when you were back online is my blog. Weird, but awesome. The last few days have seen a flurry of […]

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Is Your Fitbit Crap?

Let me cut to the chase: No. Full disclosure: I own a Fitbit Flex™. I haven’t worn it in months, but I do like the thing. It’s a long, boring, irrelevant story why I’m not wearing it, so I won’t get into that. Just know that I am sincere when I say that I like […]

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The Logic of Causal Conclusions: How we know that fire burns, fertilizer helps plants grow, and vaccines prevent disease

I usually cringe when I read a comment by a skeptic arguing that “correlation does not prove causation”. Of course, it’s true that correlation does not prove causation. It’s even true that correlation does not always imply causation. There are many great examples of spurious correlations which demonstrate clearly just how silly it is to […]

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