“There are two excesses: to exclude reason, to admit nothing but reason. The supreme achievement of reason is to realise that there is a limit to reason. Reason’s last step is the recognition that there are an infinite number of things which are beyond it. It is merely feeble if it does not go as far as to realise that.”

The suprascientific in clinical medicine:

I first heard of him half a century ago. He is one of those people who become more articulate, more cocksure, and more formidable in debate the older they get. Continental Europeans call him Erik the Genius. Although he is highly esteemed in the United Kingdom, he impresses Americans less. I call him Professor Know-All because every time a new fact emerges in science or medicine, he has expected it. Nothing puzzles him. So I decided to see what he would make of these four case histories. British Medical Journal (BMJ)

Ancient Engravings Push Back Origin of Abstract Thought: Two pieces of ochre show our ancestors were thinking symbolically at 75,000 BCE. Scientific American

ABC’s Nightline briefing on “neurotheology”: “There are certain [brain] patterns that can be generated experimentally that will generate the sense, presence and the feeling of God-like experiences,” says professor of Neuroscience Michael Persinger of Ontario’s Laurentia University. “The patterns we use are complex but they imitate what the brain does normally.”

What’s in a name? Nominal kinship cues facilitate altruism.

In an age of instant communication, what is it that makes us choose to respond to one email over another and when are we more likely to offer help to a complete stranger? The answer is when we share the same name as the other person, according to new research published in the Royal Society’s journal Proceedings B. An analysis of responses to 2,960 emails by researchers at McMaster University, Ontario, Canada, found that a shared name leads to a perceived connection with and positive attitude towards, the other person, that arises from a feeling of shared ancestry – or kinship. The recent clamour by millions of people trying to access the UK Public Record Office’s 1901 census website bears this out. Our responses to people with the same name are also likely to be quicker and friendlier than when our names are different.

Half a Brain Is Enough: The Story of Nico “Some things we believe because, even though they seem impossible, someone we trust says that they are true. It’s like that with the little boy in Dr Antonio Battro’s book, Half a Brain is Enough: The Story of Nico. Nico has half a brain–and a complete mind. Battro is so expert and likable and forthright that you come away from his book not only knowing Nico’s story is true, but sharing his awe at that amazing fact.” JAMA

My comments below in response to Dan Hartung, about how depression although painful may be an adaptive response at times, have provoked a number of impassioned email responses both pro and con. For those interested in pursuing the issue further (re: depression, not antiwar thinking…), some of the links in this Google Search may be of value. Dan jotted me a note promising to reply to my comments; I’ve just checked in at lake effect again and I see he has done so.

Next step: Philippines? Washington Post

Danger Persists After Hobbling Of Al Qaeda: ‘…(A)uthorities in the United States and Europe remain deeply worried about the possibility of more terrorist attacks of smaller scope, either by al Qaeda itself or by sympathizers to bin Laden’s cause.

Even more alarming is the possibility that bin Laden and his closest associates may have preapproved another spectacular act of terrorism on the magnitude of the Sept. 11 hijackings, Bush administration officials said. At least a half-dozen alleged terrorist plots connected to al Qaeda have been unmasked since Sept. 11, including plans to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Paris and to attack U.S. interests in Singapore.’ Washington Post The article suggests that the dismantling of al Qaeda’s infrastructure in Afghanistan precludes another monumental act like the the Sept. 11th events. But, especially given that bin Laden appears to have eluded capture, on what basis should we have any confidence that we can detect clandestine communication to ‘sleeper’ cells biding their time with similar long-gestating plans in the US or elsewhere in the West?

Trawler nets giant squid. “It is thought it would have stretched to about 5.5m in length if it still had its two feeding tentacles, which were lost when it was caught.” BBC