Dear Dr. Hurd: I’ve learned to ride a bike. I cannot unlearn this, unless through a physical event such as a stroke or accident. I cannot replace this learning by learning to ride a motorcycle or any other vehicle. I … Continue reading
Ideas have consequences. Even if your ideas about matters such as free will are implicit and subconscious, you still hold them. Which philosophical ideas you hold determine how you will approach your day—indeed, your entire life. The dominant idea of … Continue reading
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz-R of Texas is calling for Republicans in Congress to defund Obamacare. MSNBC critic Chris Matthews has replied by calling Senator Cruz a ‘political terrorist.’ Actually, Congressional funding of the government is part of the Constitution. There’s … Continue reading
I often hear well-meaning people say, ‘I know what decision is best for me. But I can’t do what’s selfish, can I?’ For example, maybe you don’t want to end a relationship that’s no longer making you happy. Or maybe … Continue reading
By now, everybody knows that the Obama Administration has been using the George W. Bush-inspired Patriot Act to justify searching private citizens’ phone records and computers without a warrant, and without any Constitutional due process of law. Obama originally ran … Continue reading
I’ll start with a question from several readers of this column: Is it possible to be a ‘rush-a-holic?’ The term implies an ‘addiction’ to rushing. Is it possible that someone would actually enjoy rushing? It’s probably not rushing itself that … Continue reading
Dear Dr. Hurd, My husband and I have been together for ten years. We enjoy socializing with our coupled friends, but we find that we often like one member of the pair more than the other. To make it worse, … Continue reading
In an article entitled, ‘So Long Detroit,’ Daniel Greenfield writes the following about the bankrupt, economically declining city: Detroit did what most cities do. It did what the country does, it tried to make ends meet by borrowing money even … Continue reading
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie condemns those who attack the National Security Agency (NSA) for gathering private phone and Internet data from Americans. His attack takes it for granted that such policies make Americans safer from terrorism than they otherwise … Continue reading
Conclusion of yesterday’s column. Hitler’s Nazism belongs to the history of 1930s and 1940s Europe. But the premises underlying Nazism are alive and well in the United States as of the early twenty-first century. Last year’s tragedy in Connecticut brought … Continue reading
We’ve all heard about the tragic shooting in the Newtown, CT school in late 2012. There were numerous such events before then, and—let’s face it—there will be more in the future. Everybody looks for the single answer to prevent any … Continue reading
I was talking to a 20-year-old I know the other day. She lives in a summer resort, where there are lots of summer jobs. However, she cannot get an employer to give her more than 29 hours a week, despite … Continue reading