“Ask Dr Neuman” Advice Column
They didn’t use a blackboard and a pointer. Sex education is very controversial. On one side are the more or less liberals, on the other the more or less conservatives. The liberals take the view that sex is part of nature, and, therefore, should be taught as...
A matter of psychology A lot has been written about the motivation of vampires when they go for the jugular vein. Why the jugular? If the victim has been sleeping, wouldn’t a sharp bite on the neck tend to wake her up, causing an embarrassing incident? Why a vein...
If only I were a mouse. Wow! Good news! Over the weekend three medical reports were published showing that it is possible for someone who is old to actually grow younger, at least if you are a mouse. It seems that if you connect the blood stream of an old mouse to a...
Every once in a while, I google myself, in order to prove I still exist. I have come to believe that true success is a long list of google entries—as opposed to my previous standards of success, which revolved about money and, possibly, academic credentials. By this...
If I were God, and I was really angry… Whoever said, “God moves in mysterious ways,” really knew what he was talking about. According to the Bible, God employs very subtle and indirect means to achieve His purposes. For instance, when God wanted Joshua to win a...
I suspect my corporation has some strange religious principles. Corporations used to be described as a “legal fiction” which could be treated for certain business purposes as an individual. It had certain rights, including the right to hire and fire employees and to...
Otherwise it won’t be good sex. When you stop to think about it—as I do from time to time—there are all kinds of unspoken rules that govern the way we conduct ourselves. I don’t mean just good manners—who opens the door or who holds the chair for someone else, or how...
Trying not to be too judgmental Last year around this time a patient of mine told me a story which has stuck in my mind and which she said I can tell again in this blog. She was celebrating St. Patrick’s day with a friend she had not seen for some time. Her friend was...
The doctrine of “assumption of risk.” Everyone agrees there is too much litigation, except for a few malcontents and trial lawyers; and who cares what they think anyway? People sue when doctors operate on the wrong limb or when a pothole has been neglected so that the...
I was first read an example of hate mail by a college professor of mine who had received such a letter earlier that day. We were eating dinner at the time along with a few other students. The professor was a good-natured gentleman of middle-age, dressed conservatively...
“Bloody Kansas” Kansas is considering a new law which will allow parents (or someone they designate) to strike their children up to ten times, even if the result is bruising. The previous law governing child abuse was considered too vague. It seemed possible...
Don’t listen to those astronomers. Some people have an inferiority complex about being smaller than average. Most people don’t like being just average, but being less than average is even worse. Astronomers like to take advantage of these people by pointing out that...