Posts under ‘Uncategorized’

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 [...]

Here’s a list of our ten favorite articles and videos about cognitive science, culture, politics, and social movements:
The Science (Fiction) of Embodied Cognition – Very insightful breakdown of the movie Avatar through the lens of cognitive science.
Loss Aversion – Fascinating, accurate summary about recent developments in neuroscience and decision-making.

In Defense of Distraction – Exploration of [...]

In this article, Eric Haas introduces a set of tools commonly used in frame analysis, giving particular emphasis to the study of written text and the power of lists for shaping how a political issue is understood.  Lists are a common and powerful way to promote a worldview.  This is the first in a series [...]

Addressing the myriad challenges of our globalized world will benefit from insights into human psychology.
For today’s engaged citizens, there’s no shortage of pressing concerns that demand attention: social and economic inequality, inadequate access to health care, persecution and violence on the basis of belief or group identity, assaults on civil rights and personal dignity, and [...]

Over the past couple of weeks, The New York Times has been reporting on results from the cognitive and brain sciences that confirm past research in those fields partly by me and partly by my community of colleagues. What makes this of general, not personal, interest is that the scientific results are especially important for [...]

– A story about innovation in the Emerald City –
When I arrived in Seattle 18 months ago, I quickly realized two things.  First, this city is bustling with so much creativity that it is on the verge of becoming the next Silicon Valley.  Seattle has the cultural capacity to become a leading innovation center for [...]

This article is republished from Campaign for America’s Future.
As long as we’re taking the measure of the country this week, let’s look in on the far (and not so far) fringes of the right wing. What’s up with them? And how worried should we be?
For the past several months, I’ve been trying to get a [...]

I often begin public talks by asserting that what we believe to be true is more important than what is actually true.  Then I share examples like these:

Saddam Hussein is linked to the 9/11 attacks.
Environmental action destroys jobs.
Regulations hurt markets.
Government is wasteful.

Each of these claims is based on an underlying belief about the world.  In [...]

In my workshops on framing and strategic communication, I often teach audiences how to “break a frame” by exposing the underlying logic of a particular set of ideas and looking for a leverage point.  This brief video is exemplary of frame breaking.  It takes a simple, yet cogent story and pivots it in a powerful [...]

This article is also published on Alternet and CommonDreams.
In forming his administration, President Obama abandoned the movement that had begun during his campaign for deal-making and a pragmatism that hasn’t worked. That movement is still possible and needed now. Here is look at what is required, and how a version of it is forming in [...]