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Getting People To Change Their Minds

Changing another person’s mind is literally one of the hardest things to do in the world.  Think of how many conversations you’ve ever had in which one of the participants decided the other was right and abandoned their previous views altogether.  It almost never happens.

Why?  Because even though ideas flit in and out of our [...]

Magical Thinking

Photo: Bohman

One of my patients suffers from chronic constipation due to irritable bowel syndrome.  During the literally twenty years since she was first diagnosed, her symptom pattern has remained remarkably consistent:  she has perhaps 1-2 bowel movements per week, occasionally accompanied by some mild cramping.  Even she admits the symptoms are more a bother than [...]