There's a great article in the Guardian by Ewan Morrisson about his family's history of stuttering and "fear of words".
"Even to this day, the science of stuttering is caught up in the false idea that it is a biological condition, with DNA experiments and antipsychotic drugs."I don't know much about the science of stuttering but would be interested to hear more.
In the same paper there's an interview with "happiness tsar" Lord Layard about his plans to make us all more happy:
He has his critics but I like the cut of his gib. There is more to life than materialism and it doesn't have to involve religion. We can train our brain and as a society we can re-evaluate how we interact with each other to see if there are ways that we can make ourselves happier. It's got to be worth trying and not simply dismissing surely?
"It is Layard's contention that, during the past 50 years, consumer society has become dominant and yet happiness has declined. We are richer, healthier, have better homes, cars, food and holidays than we did half a century ago. Unemployment and inflation are low, and yet so are levels of reported happiness. This is due, he says, to a series of things - the break-up of the family, fractured communities, a loss of trust."Layard has been to Bhutan to explore their famed approach to creating "gross domestic happiness" over gross domestic product.
He has his critics but I like the cut of his gib. There is more to life than materialism and it doesn't have to involve religion. We can train our brain and as a society we can re-evaluate how we interact with each other to see if there are ways that we can make ourselves happier. It's got to be worth trying and not simply dismissing surely?
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