Ever tried to define psychology? You might find that such a task is not as simple or as easy as it might seem at first. And that might just be because the field of psychology is an ever-evolving discipline.

It’s wrong to lump drug use and drug abuse together, say the authors of a forthcoming paper. On the contrary, most people who take psychoactive drugs will never be addicts, and for them, drug taking may be an adaptive and rational decision.

Two biologists propose that the presence or absence of parasites in our environment exerts a strong top-down influence on the extent to which we have historically developed family ties and even religion. Surely it’s not the whole picture — I sure hope we’re more complicated than that — but could it be part of the picture?

The ‘cuddly hormone’, oxytocin, seems to have a dark side, according to research suggesting that it only works on those who are within our own group. But does this say anything about our real lives?

Sometimes our scientific lens on the world is not just about empirical facts, but also about definitions. Consider the case of poor Pluto, kicked out of the planetary club in 2006.

It should trouble us all when anyone regards any of our most important philosophical, religious, or even scientific questions as “settled.”

As a young student with ADD, doing any writing was the furthest thing from my mind. But having taken that step so many years ago, I still receive an average of 8-10 letters or emails per week from persons in all walks of life and from places far and wide.