Nigel Barber Ph.D

1 day ago | psychologytoday.com | Nigel Barber Ph.D |Abigail Fagan

Our distant ancestors did not contend with added sugar in their food and did not eat junk food. Yet, this is not the only reason that they avoided being overweight. Their lifestyles used a lot of energy and this meant they avoided weight problems. Energy BalanceA lot of what is written about weight control focuses on the energy content of food and how much of that gets stored as body fat. This is not irrelevant, of course.

2 days ago | qoshe.com | Nigel Barber Ph.D

1 month ago | psychologytoday.com | Nigel Barber Ph.D

Shopping too much is killing the planet. Much of that consumption is for social signaling rather than for necessities. It is based on social competition and a false assumption that more can always be taken. This optimistic narrative reflects a history where each generation was better off than that of their parents. That material progress was real, but it cannot continue on account of climate change. We cannot keep burning fossil fuels due to the cumulative effect on the climate and ecosystems.

2 months ago | qoshe.com | Nigel Barber Ph.D

As countries became more educated, their political views moved in a liberal direction. So, religious tolerance increased, and attitudes toward minorities became more favorable. In the digital age, there was a sharp reversal to intolerance and hatred. Why? The idea that education promotes liberal views is sometimes referred to as the modernization thesis or the secularization thesis.

Mar 27, 2025 | psychologytoday.com | Nigel Barber Ph.D

Social media were designed to maximize attention even if this means minimizing civility. Digital natives have every advantage in terms of affluence and opportunities. Yet, no generation has ever been more conspicuously unhappy based on measures from loneliness to despondency about the future to suicide (1). That unhappiness is an unmistakable sign of community failure, especially where community operates through social media.