Guest Thinkers — April 22, 2010

TV Psychic Will Not Be Beheaded for Witchcraft After All

Admit it, skeptics, you were hoping this story was going to be about Uri Geller. I know I was. The Independent reports that Lebanese TV psychic Ali Sibat will not be put to death after all. Saudi Arabia sentenced Sibat to death by decapitation for witchcraft after he was apprehended in the kingdom during a pilgrimage to Mecca in 2008. Didn’t see that coming, did he?

This oddball story highlights a serious human rights issue. Saudi Arabia persecutes anyone whose lifestyle conflicts with its interpretation of Islam. Sibat is just one of scores of people prosecuted for witchcraft, sorcery and other “occult” offenses in Saudi Arabia every year.

Thanks to some diplomatic sleight of hand, Sibat’s life will be spared. No word on when, or if, the 49-year-old father of 5 will be allowed to go home.

Photo credit: Lindsay Beyerstein.

A pixelated image of a person in a white hoodie walking in the woods, with the person's face obscured by pixelation. The background features reddish handwritten text overlay.

Neuropsych

25 years since Columbine: We’re closer to decoding mass-shooter psychology

Public mass shooters almost always have worldviews shaped by the "3 Rs": rage, resentment, and revenge.

An edited image of elmo peeking out from a trash can, positioned among scattered multiple cartoon-like chat bubbles expressing humorous thoughts.

Thinking

Everyday Philosophy: “Is there anything wrong with trauma dumping?”

When does "oversharing" become an issue?

Bald man in casual attire sitting on a stool with a strategic diagram background in yellow.

Leadership

Adam Grant on how to identify and develop high-potential leaders

The ability to toggle between abstract and concrete thinking is a key differentiator of high-potential leaders.

A split image with a close-up of a blue eye on the left, and a classical painting of a woman resting her head on her arm on a sofa on the right.

Business

Want true success? Be more philosophical about “good” and “bad” failure.

Bob Dylan gave us the paradoxical gem "there's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all." He had a point.

Starts With A Bang

The idea that matter is mostly empty space is mostly wrong

Practically all of the matter we see and interact with is made of atoms, which are mostly empty space. Then why is reality so... solid?

Up Next

Surprising Science

Memories Move Us

New research finds that the movements of our bodies "influence the recollection of emotional memories, as well as the speed with which they are recalled."