psychology


AWWTM: Risk compensation and bicycle helmets

Some months ago I left a series on bicycle helmets hanging while I got distracted with other things. We had looked at what the best evidence for the efficacy of helmets in preventing injury in the event of a crash is, and some of the reasons why we should be […]


AWWTM: Engineering, psychology, and a bus on stilts

Last week I posted about tracked hovercraft and straddling buses — a tongue-in-cheek look at how through the ages engineers have proposed ever more overcomplicated engineering solutions in an attempt to manage our out-of-control transport problems.  I assumed that my learned readers would get the point without labour.  WordPress.com very […]


AWWTM: Unskilled and unaware of it

Most road “accidents” may be accidental in the sense that they are unintended.  But few, if any, can be considered accidental in the sense that nobody was to blame.  In road accidents, somebody did something wrong, and it’s almost always a driver doing some wrong.  It’s bad driving that causes […]


The lazy gene: in which I review a nature versus nurture debate six years late

This is another archive repost from the old blog, written in aug 2008. The psychologist Oliver James was on The Late Edition a couple of weeks ago.[1] His argument was unconvincing and his behaviour unimpressive. So I took a quick look at his website. He offers for download a Radio […]