Cognitive Policy Works

I was honored to discover this blog article today, written by historian and writer Lawrence DiStasi, titled Critiquing Rational Actors.  It was inspired by my earlier work on self-interest and builds the argument further. Here’s a snippet: “To sum up: the market fundamentalists who have nearly destroyed the American economy have done so under the [...]

Are you someone who struggles to understand why people behave the way they do in politics?  Perhaps you’ve been confused by all the fervor against gay marriage.  Or maybe you’re taken aback by the strong emotions waged against government-sponsored health care. To understand political behaviors like these, you’ll need to become familiar with the psychology [...]

Shared prosperity arises through cooperation, trust, and investments in societal infrastructure. If you listened to the Senate Investigations Committee hearing, Arizona legislators, or the conversation and comments involving British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and a local resident, it sounds like the world is going to hell in a hand-basket. They may be right, but for [...]

Self-interest fundamentalism was the economic religion of the 20th Century.  We are now in the midst of an economic reformation on par with the Enlightenment as we enter the new millennium. Have you noticed that a lot of people seem to think that appeals to self-interest lead to a moral and just society? No, I’m [...]

Communication is fundamentally about building trust, making connections, and sharing ideas. It is not, as many political consultants presume, a matter of activating the selfish tendencies of individuals. Throughout the last two years, I’ve given many workshops on values-based communication, framing, and strategic advocacy. In these workshops, participants learn about the workings of the political [...]

This article is also published on Truthout. Are you concerned about the future of our country?  Do you want to find ways to revitalize democracy and set about the important work of solving our problems?  Have you longed for an end to the extreme polarization in our political discourse? Then you’d better learn some psychology. [...]

Are you as fed up with our broken political system as I am?  Do you yearn for a social movement that shatters issue siloes of the past, creates hope for a positive future, and transcends the narrowness of political discourse in the United States?  Perhaps you should watch this video: We are in the midst [...]

“We have to tolerate the inequality as a way to achieve greater prosperity and opportunity for all.” These were the words of Lord Brian Griffiths, Goldman Sachs international adviser, when he spoke at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral last fall. With inequality at historic levels here in the United States and around the world, it’s a [...]

Check this out: This is a great example of how cognitive science is creating a revolution in the ways we think about solving problems.

Times are changing rapidly and so must our organizational forms.  This is why we are doing things differently at Cognitive Policy Works.  We recognize the need to collaborate on a massive scale, which is why our organization is growing as a network that intersects with social businesses, government agencies, and non-profits through a disperse set [...]