PsychTronics. Mind Hacks. The best psychology books of 2013. You Are Not So Smart. Study Hacks. On Sam Harris and Stephen Fry’s Meditation Debate February 19th, 2019 · 44 comments A few weeks ago, on his podcast, Sam Harris interviewed the actor and comedian Stephen Fry. Early in the episode, the conversation took a long detour into the topic of mindfulness meditation. Harris, of course, is a longtime proponent of this practice. He discusses it at length in his book, Waking Up, and now offers an app to help new adherents train the skill (I’ve heard it’s good). What sparked the diversion in the first place is when, early in the conversation, Fry expressed skepticism about meditation. Roughly speaking, his argument was the following: Harris’s response was to compare meditation to reading.
Fry, who is currently using and enjoying Harris’s meditation app, conceded, and the discussion shifted toward a new direction. I wonder, however, whether Fry should have persisted. Read more » Minimalism Grows… February 8th, 2019 · 31 comments Before I do, two quick notes: On to the publicity updates: Psychology studies relevant to everyday life from PsyBlog.