Category Archives: Blog
How Groups Become Extreme
In two recent op-eds in the Huffington Post (“Is Truth in Politics Possible? Is Truth Possible in Anything Human?” and “Absence of Truth: Why the Republican Candidates Can’t Get Anywhere Near the Truth”), I argued that historically there are at least four different kinds and meanings of “truth.” There are of course more than four. But four is enough for my purposes. Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Media + Politics, Philosophy + Systems, Psychology
Tagged election, philosophy, politics, republican, truth
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The War of Words: Are Certain People and Words So Reprehensible Such That They Should Be Ostracized?
The recent “reprehensible outburst” — if that’s what it really deserves to be called — by Rush Limbaugh towards Sandra Fluke has predictably set off a War of Words between conservatives and liberals.
Liberals, among whom I enthusiastically count myself, are completely — and in my view, rightly — disgusted not only by Rush Limbaugh’s choice of words, but his general behavior and demeanor. Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Media + Politics
Tagged conservatives, liberal, liberals, Rush Limbaugh
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Is This the Time Bomb From Which Rush Limbaugh Cannot Finally Escape?
I have been researching and consulting with regard to major crises of all kinds (criminal, natural disasters, financial, reputational, etc.) for 30 years. During this time, I have seen individuals and organizations of all types become trapped in the same disastrous pattern from which they rarely escape, or at least not completely unharmed. Continue reading
Is Truth in Politics Possible? Is Truth Possible in Anything Human?
Is truth possible in politics, let alone in anything done by humans? To respond adequately to this ponderous question not only requires a lifetime of study of science and philosophy, to mention only two of the many fields of knowledge that are relevant. Therefore, let me merely consider four of the primary means that humans have used historically to establish “truth.” Continue reading
Reality Wars: Measuring the Collective Mental Health of a Nation
As a nation, we are fighting several “reality wars” at once. These wars are not only political, but deeply psychological. As a result, our collective mental health as a nation is being severely challenged and tested. Since language is the primary means we use to describe and invent reality, the language a nation uses to frame and treat important issues is a measure, however imperfect, of its mental health. Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Media + Politics, Psychology
Tagged class warfare, politics, psychology, republican
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The Constant War Within: My Daily Struggle Between Reason and Unreason
Like many Americans, I suffer from a constant tug of war going on deep inside of me. On the one hand, I believe deeply in reason and scholarship. Why else would I have been a professor my entire life and currently be working on my 30th book? I also believe deeply in tolerance and forgiveness. On the other hand, I feel the constant surge of anger, and even hate, that pulses through me daily. It’s not politic to say that one hates certain ideas and people — I fervently wish it weren’t so — but in the spirit of honesty, which I prize, I can’t deny it. Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Media + Politics
Tagged hate, ideas, Republician, Rick Santorum, tug-of-war
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Quick! What’s My Disease?
During his time in office, President George W. Bush gave a new meaning to the awful disease known as IBS. I called it Irritable Bush Syndrome, the gross inability to “digest and pass the truth.” In the same spirit, let me “offer” the “list of diseases” that the current crop of Republican candidates suffers from. Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Media + Politics
Tagged George Bush, GOP, Mitt Romney, poltics, Republician
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Can This Political Marriage Be Saved? Should It?
The view that “politics is akin to a marriage” is a casual, if not an often-expressed, sentiment. Unfortunately, almost no one takes the metaphor seriously and thus uses it to do a serious evaluation of the state of health of American politics. If we did, we would soon conclude that the “marriage” between the two major political parties is headed towards divorce, if it is not already there but for the working out of the final terms of the divorce settlement and the formal signing of the papers. Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Media + Politics
Tagged communication, divorce, marriage, politics, republican
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Colleges and Universities Are Ill-Prepared for Crises
When my colleagues and I first started doing surveys of the crisis preparedness of major colleges and universities, we were shocked but not totally surprised to find that as poorly prepared large business organizations generally are for major crises, colleges and universities were even worse off. It is not that they are completely unprepared. Rather, the difference is between the crises that they are relatively well prepared for versus those that they barely prepared for, if at all. Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Crisis Management
Tagged child abuse, colleges, crisis management, Penn State University, universities
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Too Close for Comfort: Agonizing Similarities Between Penn State and the Catholic Church
The scandal that has emerged from Penn State in the past few weeks is a grotesque example of child abuse. What is even more disturbing are the agonizing similarities between this scandal and those that have come out of the Catholic Church. Penn State is not only judged in terms of all the things it did wrong in handling its repeated episodes of child abuse, but it is the direct inheritor of everything the Church did wrong. In short, Penn State has been made worse because of prior cases of abuse. Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Crisis Management, Media + Politics
Tagged Catholic Chruch, Penn State, Penn State Scandal, Penn State University
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