Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

The greed that leads to market tops and crashes can account for the arguably more painful aftershocks too. And there's more psychology at work. MASSIVE LOSSES In 2007 the DJIA topped on 29 Sept at 14, 164.53. Then plunged 777.68 on 9 October. But the bottom did not hit until 6 March 2009 at 6,443.27 - more than a 54% loss! The US markets famously crashed 18 October 1929 (almost 90%) BUT the market did not hit bottom until 8 July 1932. The "bargain scoop-up rally" did not last. Some may recall 19 October, 1987, the market crashed again losing 23% in one day (DJIA). A PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE Markets are not things. Investments may be analyzed, but markets are about human behavior--people trying to be smart when buying and selling. Some try to get ahead of the herd. Some get greedy when markets fall and try to jump on a bargain only to find out it's cheap for a reason-- no one wants what they bought. Stocks,...

Creation and Evolution: How Do Christians Bridge the Gap? As noted in my previous two posts, the famous Scopes Trial was 90 years ago. The issues at the heart of the 1925 trial continue to divide U.S. Christians. My focus in the previous posts was a consideration of how evolution informs an understanding of psychology in general and the psychology of religion in particular. My focus in this post is to consider why evolution is such a divisive issue for a substantial minority of Christians and what, if anything, may be done to reduce the acrimony and promote peace. A few days ago, news stories appeared about the resignation of respected evangelical philosophy professor, Jim Stump. Stump is a philosopher of science with a degree from Boston University. His former employer, Bethel College (Indiana), prepared a statement on human origins. The resignation appears to have occurred peacefully. Here’s a quote from the ChristianPost . "In considering t...

COUNTING THE COST OF RELIGIOUS RHETORIC Brian D. McLaren has connected with many Christians disenchanted with the rhetoric of fundamentalist leaders. What caught my attention in a recent post was his comment about the “…huge personal cost for religious leaders to change their position…” He was referring to a talk he gave at the White House related to human rights for LGBT persons. Of course, LGBT issues are front and center nowadays but the concept of costs is important to other religious issues as well. (The forum took place this week.) Mariam Yehya is a Sudanese Christian woman who refused to renounce her Christian faith. She was imprisoned and sentenced to die after she gave birth. Her child was born. She was released but then arrested at the airport as she attempted to leave with her family. Now she is at the U.S. Embassy. What will happen? Her conversion to Christianity has already been costly. But she would not renounce her beliefs. She was willing to die...