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Book Review
Kith: The Riddle of the Childscape by Jay Griffiths
Where to begin with this sprawling, sometimes beautiful and often deeply frustrating book? Why, asks the English writer Jay Griffiths, are so many children in Euro-American cultures unhappy? This “deep riddle” arose from her travels among indigenous cultures in the Arctic, West Papua, Australia, North and South America and northern Europe, where children seemed happier to her. In the West, she... Read MorePosted: 17 October 2013
Book Review
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, by Sheryl Sandberg
As half the world surely knows by now, Sheryl Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook. At 43, she has risen to the top of the ferociously competitive boy-wonder world of Silicon Valley – no easy achievement for a woman – and has a personal fortune of more than $500 million. She has had a stellar career: two degrees... Read MorePosted: 17 October 2013
Article
Not a bad little country to live in
The Ipsos MRBI 50th anniversary poll shows that even in the wake of the economic crisis 89 per cent of Irish people are happy. The highest proportion of happiness is found in Munster and Connacht/Ulster, at 92 per cent, followed by 86 per cent of people in Dublin and 84 per cent in the rest of Leinster. Among the 42... Read MorePosted: 01 December 2012
Book Review
Connectome: How the brain’s wiring makes us who we are. By Sebastian Seung
‘No road, no trail can penetrate this forest. The long and delicate branches of its trees lie everywhere, choking space with their exuberant growth…. All the trees of this dark forest grew from 100 billion seeds planted together. And, all in one day, every tree is destined to die. This is the arresting opening of Sebastian Seung’s Connectome: How the brain’s... Read MorePosted: 01 June 2012
Article
Positivity is no trivial pursuit
THE DILEMMAS of the “squeezed middle” fit the classic definition of stress. The demands on you are too much, yet they cannot be ignored or resisted. You can’t go on, but you must go on. Stress and powerlessness are a deadly combination. The most damaging stressors are these events that change not just your life circumstances for the worse but also... Read MorePosted: 07 February 2012
Article
The Verdict
The Taoiseach opened his address with the stated aim of speaking to us directly on the challenges we face but it was in fact quite a cautious message. He did not make any great mistakes. He probably did not upset any particular group and he made a reasonably good job of balancing the reality of what we are facing with... Read MorePosted: 05 December 2011