By Carl Straumsheim
Inside Higher Ed
Originally posted March 26, 2015
Here is an excerpt:
“'Doctor' itself is a generic term and has a wide variety of uses,” Nevett said, using a “lawn doctor” as an example. “If we limited this top-level domain to just licensed medical practitioners, we would have a quirky situation where a Ph.D. in mathematics would not be permitted to get ‘mathematics.doctor,’ but your local pediatrician would.”
Ph.D. holders will at least have backup options if ICANN doesn’t reverse its decision. Google has been delegated .prof (meant for professionals), and a decision on who gets the rights to .phd is still pending.
The entire article is here.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Moral bioenhancement: a neuroscientific perspective
By Molly Crockett
J Med Ethics 2014;40:370-371
doi:10.1136/medethics-2012-101096
Here is an excerpt:
The science of moral bioenhancement is in its infancy. Laboratory studies of human morality usually employ highly simplified models aimed at measuring just one facet of a cognitive process that is relevant for morality. These studies have certainly deepened our understanding of the nature of moral behaviour, but it is important to avoid overstating the conclusions of any single study. De Grazia cites several purported examples of ‘non-traditional means of moral enhancement’, including one of my own studies. According to De Grazia, we showed that ‘selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (can be used) as a means to being less inclined to assault people’. In fact, our findings are a bit more subtle and nuanced than implied in the target article, as is often the case in neuroscientific studies of complex human behaviour.
The entire article is here.
J Med Ethics 2014;40:370-371
doi:10.1136/medethics-2012-101096
Here is an excerpt:
The science of moral bioenhancement is in its infancy. Laboratory studies of human morality usually employ highly simplified models aimed at measuring just one facet of a cognitive process that is relevant for morality. These studies have certainly deepened our understanding of the nature of moral behaviour, but it is important to avoid overstating the conclusions of any single study. De Grazia cites several purported examples of ‘non-traditional means of moral enhancement’, including one of my own studies. According to De Grazia, we showed that ‘selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (can be used) as a means to being less inclined to assault people’. In fact, our findings are a bit more subtle and nuanced than implied in the target article, as is often the case in neuroscientific studies of complex human behaviour.
The entire article is here.
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Ethical Judgments of Counselors: Results From a Turkish Sample
By Rahsan Sivis-Cetinkaya
Ethics & Behavior
DOI:10.1080/10508422.2014.941981
Abstract
The present study examined the ethical judgements of Turkish counselors (N = 767) using a translation of the Gibson and Pope (1993) ethical judgements survey. Items predominantly judged as ethical and unethical, and group differences regarding gender, taking ethics as a course, professional affiliation, and level of academic degree, were investigated. Chi-square analysis, Fishers’s exact test, and Fisher–Freeman–Halton tests were used in statistical analysis. Results revealed that participants predominantly judged breach of confidentiality in cases of child abuse and potential harm toward oneself or others as ethical. Items concerning sexual dual relationships were predominantly perceived as unethical, and male participants were more likely to judge items regarding sexual and nonsexual dual relationships as ethical. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
The entire article is here.
Ethics & Behavior
DOI:10.1080/10508422.2014.941981
Abstract
The present study examined the ethical judgements of Turkish counselors (N = 767) using a translation of the Gibson and Pope (1993) ethical judgements survey. Items predominantly judged as ethical and unethical, and group differences regarding gender, taking ethics as a course, professional affiliation, and level of academic degree, were investigated. Chi-square analysis, Fishers’s exact test, and Fisher–Freeman–Halton tests were used in statistical analysis. Results revealed that participants predominantly judged breach of confidentiality in cases of child abuse and potential harm toward oneself or others as ethical. Items concerning sexual dual relationships were predominantly perceived as unethical, and male participants were more likely to judge items regarding sexual and nonsexual dual relationships as ethical. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
The entire article is here.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Stigmatized Schizophrenia Gets a Rebrand
By Elizabeth Picciuto
The Daily Beast
Originally published March 26, 2015
Here are two excerpts:
The word “schizophrenia” was coined in the early 20th century, deriving from the Greek word for “split mind.” The term conveyed the idea that people with schizophrenia experienced a splitting of their personality—that they no longer had unified identities.
Considering all the words for mental illness, both those used by medical doctors and those that are cruel slurs used by the general public, it is striking how many of them have connotations of being broken or disorganized: deranged, crazy (which means cracked— itself a derogatory term), unglued, having a screw loose, unhinged, off the wall.
(cut)
“The first lesson from the Japanese experience is that a change is possible and that the change may be beneficial for mental health users and their careers, for professionals and researchers alike,” said Lasalvia. “An early effect of renaming schizophrenia, as proven by the Japanese findings, would increase the percentage of patients informed about their diagnosis, prognosis, and available interventions. A name change would facilitate help seeking and service uptake by patients, and would be most beneficial for the provision of psychosocial interventions, since better informed patients generally display a more positive attitude towards care and a more active involvement in their own care programs.”
The entire article is here.
The Daily Beast
Originally published March 26, 2015
Here are two excerpts:
The word “schizophrenia” was coined in the early 20th century, deriving from the Greek word for “split mind.” The term conveyed the idea that people with schizophrenia experienced a splitting of their personality—that they no longer had unified identities.
Considering all the words for mental illness, both those used by medical doctors and those that are cruel slurs used by the general public, it is striking how many of them have connotations of being broken or disorganized: deranged, crazy (which means cracked— itself a derogatory term), unglued, having a screw loose, unhinged, off the wall.
(cut)
“The first lesson from the Japanese experience is that a change is possible and that the change may be beneficial for mental health users and their careers, for professionals and researchers alike,” said Lasalvia. “An early effect of renaming schizophrenia, as proven by the Japanese findings, would increase the percentage of patients informed about their diagnosis, prognosis, and available interventions. A name change would facilitate help seeking and service uptake by patients, and would be most beneficial for the provision of psychosocial interventions, since better informed patients generally display a more positive attitude towards care and a more active involvement in their own care programs.”
The entire article is here.
Friday, April 17, 2015
We all feel disgust but why do some of us turn it on ourselves?
By Jane Simpson and Phillip Powell
The Conversation
Originally posted March 27, 2015
Here is an excerpt:
Self-disgust differs from other negative feelings that people have about themselves in a number of ways. While self-disgust is likely to happen alongside other self-directed issues such as shame, unique features include feelings of revulsion, for example when looking in the mirror, contamination and magical rather than reasoned thinking. These, taken with other characteristics, such as its particular cognitive-affective content, suggest an emotional experience that is different to shame (related to hierarchical submission and diminished social rank).
Disgust is not about just “not liking” aspects of yourself – the depth of the emotion can mean you can’t even look at yourself without being overwhelmed with revulsion. The feeling that you are disgusting also means that you are potentially toxic to others – so people can become isolated as they do not wish to “infect” and “contaminate” others with their own perceived “disgustingness”.
The entire post is here.
Editor's Note: This article pertains to psychotherapy with trauma, personality disorders, and eating disorders.
The Conversation
Originally posted March 27, 2015
Here is an excerpt:
Self-disgust differs from other negative feelings that people have about themselves in a number of ways. While self-disgust is likely to happen alongside other self-directed issues such as shame, unique features include feelings of revulsion, for example when looking in the mirror, contamination and magical rather than reasoned thinking. These, taken with other characteristics, such as its particular cognitive-affective content, suggest an emotional experience that is different to shame (related to hierarchical submission and diminished social rank).
Disgust is not about just “not liking” aspects of yourself – the depth of the emotion can mean you can’t even look at yourself without being overwhelmed with revulsion. The feeling that you are disgusting also means that you are potentially toxic to others – so people can become isolated as they do not wish to “infect” and “contaminate” others with their own perceived “disgustingness”.
The entire post is here.
Editor's Note: This article pertains to psychotherapy with trauma, personality disorders, and eating disorders.
Instilling empathy among doctors pays off for patient care
By Sandra G. Boodman via Kaiser Health News
CNN website
Originally posted March 26, 2015
Here is an excerpt:
Clinical empathy was once dismissively known as "good bedside manner" and traditionally regarded as far less important than technical acumen. But a spate of studies in the past decade has found that it is no mere frill. Increasingly, empathy is considered essential to establishing trust, the foundation of a good doctor-patient relationship.
Studies have linked empathy to greater patient satisfaction, better outcomes, decreased physician burnout and a lower risk of malpractice suits and errors. Beginning this year, the Medical College Admission Test will contain questions involving human behavior and psychology, a recognition that being a good doctor "requires an understanding of people," not just science, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges. Patient satisfaction scores are now being used to calculate Medicare reimbursement under the Affordable Care Act. And more than 70 percent of hospitals and health networks are using patient satisfaction scores in physician compensation decisions.
The entire article is here.
CNN website
Originally posted March 26, 2015
Here is an excerpt:
Clinical empathy was once dismissively known as "good bedside manner" and traditionally regarded as far less important than technical acumen. But a spate of studies in the past decade has found that it is no mere frill. Increasingly, empathy is considered essential to establishing trust, the foundation of a good doctor-patient relationship.
Studies have linked empathy to greater patient satisfaction, better outcomes, decreased physician burnout and a lower risk of malpractice suits and errors. Beginning this year, the Medical College Admission Test will contain questions involving human behavior and psychology, a recognition that being a good doctor "requires an understanding of people," not just science, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges. Patient satisfaction scores are now being used to calculate Medicare reimbursement under the Affordable Care Act. And more than 70 percent of hospitals and health networks are using patient satisfaction scores in physician compensation decisions.
The entire article is here.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Thinking about how we think about morality
By Jennifer Cole Wright
OUPblog
Originally published March 22, 2015
Morality is a funny thing. On the one hand, it stands as a normative boundary – a barrier between us and the evils that threaten our lives and humanity. It protects us from the darkness, both outside and within ourselves. It structures and guides our conception of what it is to be good (decent, honorable, honest, compassionate) and to live well.
On the other hand, morality breeds intolerance. After all, if something is morally wrong to do, then we ought not to tolerate its being done. Living morally requires denying the darkness. It requires cultivating virtue and living in alignment with our moral values and principles. Anything that threatens this – divergent ideas, values, practices, or people – must therefore be ignored or challenged; or worse, sanctioned, punished, destroyed.
The entire blog post is here.
OUPblog
Originally published March 22, 2015
Morality is a funny thing. On the one hand, it stands as a normative boundary – a barrier between us and the evils that threaten our lives and humanity. It protects us from the darkness, both outside and within ourselves. It structures and guides our conception of what it is to be good (decent, honorable, honest, compassionate) and to live well.
On the other hand, morality breeds intolerance. After all, if something is morally wrong to do, then we ought not to tolerate its being done. Living morally requires denying the darkness. It requires cultivating virtue and living in alignment with our moral values and principles. Anything that threatens this – divergent ideas, values, practices, or people – must therefore be ignored or challenged; or worse, sanctioned, punished, destroyed.
The entire blog post is here.
Stigma Around Physician-Assisted Dying Lingers
By Clyde Haberman
The New York Times
Originally posted on March 22, 2015
Here is an excerpt:
Arguments, pro and con, have not changed much over the years. Assisted dying was and is anathema to many religious leaders, notably in the Roman Catholic Church. For the American Medical Association, it remains “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer.”
Some opponents express slippery-slope concerns: that certain patients might feel they owe it to their overburdened families to call it quits. That the poor and the uninsured, disproportionately, will have their lives cut short. That medication might be prescribed for the mentally incompetent. That doctors might move too readily to bring an end to those in the throes of depression. “We should address what would give them purpose, not give them a handful of pills,” Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a prominent oncologist and medical ethicist, told Retro Report.
The entire article is here.
The New York Times
Originally posted on March 22, 2015
Here is an excerpt:
Arguments, pro and con, have not changed much over the years. Assisted dying was and is anathema to many religious leaders, notably in the Roman Catholic Church. For the American Medical Association, it remains “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer.”
Some opponents express slippery-slope concerns: that certain patients might feel they owe it to their overburdened families to call it quits. That the poor and the uninsured, disproportionately, will have their lives cut short. That medication might be prescribed for the mentally incompetent. That doctors might move too readily to bring an end to those in the throes of depression. “We should address what would give them purpose, not give them a handful of pills,” Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a prominent oncologist and medical ethicist, told Retro Report.
The entire article is here.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
The disremembered
Dementia undermines all of our philosophical assumptions about the coherence of the self. But that might be a good thing
By Charles Leadbeater
Aeon
Originally published March 26, 2015
Here are two excerpts:
The memory-based account of identity is powerful, deeply rooted and dangerously partial. It will direct us to potential memory cures – a mixture of implants and drugs – that will almost certainly disappoint as much as they excite. Memory is not created in a little box in the brain, but by diffuse and dispersed circuits of neurons firing in concert. Someone with dementia would need more than an implant: they would need their brain refreshed and rewired. And still the nagging question would remain: are they the same person?
(cut)
The notion of an embedded identity takes us into much more fertile territory when it comes to considering meaningful care for dementia sufferers. It implies that the main challenge is to work imaginatively and empathetically to find common ground, creating conversational topics and cues that help make connections with people, despite their failing memory. As the British psychologist Oliver James explains in Contented Dementia (2008), this requires more skill and persistence than most conversations demand, precisely because its pre-suppositions cannot be taken for granted. My 85-year-old mother-in-law, for example, cannot always remember that she has a preserving pan, but that does not stop her enjoying making (and, even more, talking about making) marmalade.
The entire article is here.
By Charles Leadbeater
Aeon
Originally published March 26, 2015
Here are two excerpts:
The memory-based account of identity is powerful, deeply rooted and dangerously partial. It will direct us to potential memory cures – a mixture of implants and drugs – that will almost certainly disappoint as much as they excite. Memory is not created in a little box in the brain, but by diffuse and dispersed circuits of neurons firing in concert. Someone with dementia would need more than an implant: they would need their brain refreshed and rewired. And still the nagging question would remain: are they the same person?
(cut)
The notion of an embedded identity takes us into much more fertile territory when it comes to considering meaningful care for dementia sufferers. It implies that the main challenge is to work imaginatively and empathetically to find common ground, creating conversational topics and cues that help make connections with people, despite their failing memory. As the British psychologist Oliver James explains in Contented Dementia (2008), this requires more skill and persistence than most conversations demand, precisely because its pre-suppositions cannot be taken for granted. My 85-year-old mother-in-law, for example, cannot always remember that she has a preserving pan, but that does not stop her enjoying making (and, even more, talking about making) marmalade.
The entire article is here.
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