Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews

  Thriving with Stone Age Minds: Evolutionary Psychology, Christian Faith, and the Quest for Human Flourishing (BioLogos Books on Science and Christianity) By Justin L. Barrett   and Pamela Ebstyne King On AMAZON Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton I’m in the process of writing about irreconcilable differences between Christianity and psychology. Thriving with Stone Age Minds surprised me. Not only does Barrett affirm evolution but he explains evolutionary psychology and how it may relate to Christian theology. *** Thriving with Stone Age Minds: Evolutionary Psychology, Christian Faith, and the Quest for Human Flourishing by Justin L. Barrett delves into the intersection of evolutionary psychology, Christian theology, and human flourishing. In this thought-provoking work, Barrett and co-author Pamela Ebstyne King explore how our evolutionary past shapes our present minds, relationships, and behaviors. The book begins by acknowledging the controversy sur...

  Living, Loving, and Learning By Leo Buscaglia 1982 We gathered around an old black and white TV. Someone had a videotape of the charismatic Leo Buscaglia talking about love. We were graduate students in counseling at the University of Missouri. And it was the 1970s when love was exploding after the Vietnam War ended. Leo touched many lives then and his ideas are still worth considering. The Author Leo Buscaglia was born 31 March 1924 in Los Angeles, California. During WWII, he served in the US Navy. He earned his PhD in 1963 and was a professor of Special Education at the University of Southern California. He was widely known as Dr. Love. Leo died 12 June 1998 from a heart attack. He was a popular motivational speaker and his works were so popular that five books were on the New York Times Bestseller List at the same time! Book Summary Living, Loving & Learning   by  Leo F. Buscaglia  is an inspirational collection of his informative and entertai...

  POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: The scientific and practical explorations     of human strengths By C. R. Snyder &   Shane Lopez Reviewed by    Geoffrey W. Sutton "What is right about people?" The authors welcome their readers with the ubiquitous challenge of the positive psychology movement to consider what is right rather than what is wrong with people (p. 3). The authors designed the book as a textbook to provide a comprehensive overview of topics in the field. This is the third collaboration of the two University of Kansas authors. Unfortunately, it will be their last because senior author, C. R. (Rick) Snyder died January 17, 2006, a little more than a month after delivering the final draft of the manuscript (xxv), Readers will experience an extensive tour of the expansive landscape of positive psychology with 19 chapters organized in 8 parts followed by 60 pages of references, along with author and subject indexes. Part I contains c...

 The Happiness Hypothesis:  Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom Why the Meaningful Life is Closer Than You Think     By      Jonathan Haidt Reviewed by    Geoffrey W. Sutton   The Happiness Hypothesis is one of the best positive psychology books available in 2006 because Haidt integrates lessons from ancient sages with scientific evidence about a meaningful life. Haidt begins by explaining two important systems in the mind as seen by ancient thinkers like the apostle Paul who considered the common problem of the battle between desires of the flesh and desires of the spirit. Haidt uses the metaphor of a rider atop an elephant to illustrate the difficulty in controlling the habitual ways of a large elephant charging through life with little cognitive awareness. The second powerful idea is the time-honored truth that a happy or meaningful life often hangs upon the view people take toward life events. Our experienc...

STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS      by Daniel Gilbert Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton Harvard psychology professor, Daniel Gilbert , will make you laugh as he weaves witticisms and humorous stories into an entertaining account of scientific research as we join him in Stumbling on Happiness . Essentially, Gilbert argues in chapter one, that we spend much of our time planning and executing unsuccessful strategies to attain an elusive state of happiness. In six sections, we learn why such a quest often proves beyond our grasp. In part one, Gilbert provides a brief overview of the philosophical foundations of the problem of subjective analysis of happiness. He gradually leads us to an operational definition by illustrating how common human experiences can deliver shared feelings of happiness. However, he illustrates how the elusive and subjective aspect of happiness can produce self-deception by demonstrating how the human ...

STRENGTHQUEST: DISCOVER AND DEVELOP   YOUR STRENGTHS IN ACADEMICS, CAREER, AND BEYOND By    Donald O. Clifton &    Edward Anderson Reviewed by    Geoffrey W. Sutton I read and reviewed (Sutton, 2007b) the 2004 edition of this book published by Gallup. There is a new version ( Second Edition ), which includes a third author, Laurie Schreiner. The authors present their strength-based philosophy, which fits nicely with the concurrent trend in positive psychology (Sutton, 2007a). Others have shown how the strengths approach is compatible with Christianity (e.g., see Sutton, 2007c). "A strength is the ability to provide consistent,  near-perfect performance in a given activity (p. 8)." The authors explain how talent, qua raw material, can be combined with knowledge and skill to produce a unique pattern of strengths. The book and the test have been revised. Overall, I think this approach to identifying personal strengt...

AGING WELL: SURPRISING GUIDEPOSTS TO A HAPPIER LIFE By George E. Vaillant, MD Aging well is a developmental task I hope to accomplish. I became aware of the book when a student, Kathryn  R. Ward, decided to read it for a course I was teaching. I suggested some edits and her review was subsequently published in the Journal of Psychology and Christianity . Vaillant defines successful aging on page 15 as a: “vital reaction to change, disease, and to conflict.” I met George Vaillant at a Positive Psychology conference hosted by the Gallup Corporation. It was clear that he and his research team have learned a lot about aging as they have followed the progress of adults in the famous Harvard Study of Adult Development . What captured by interest was the emphasis on what works--what helps people grow and develop well. The book provides an in-depth summary of adult development from the perspective of Erickson’s developmental tasks. Using examp...

  Living your Strengths By Albert L. Winseman,  Donald O. Clifton,   & Curt Liesveld A Review by Geoffrey W. Sutton Context Many U.S. Universities embraced Gallup’s approach to assessing strengths and discussing how strengths may be used in Higher Education. I attended workshops and conferences organized by the Gallup organization.   The Authors Albert L. Winesman, a former pastor in the United Methodist Church, is the global practice leader for the Gallup Organization. Donald O. Clifton (deceased) former chair of the Gallup Organization, was named the Father of Strengths Psychology by the American Psychological Association. Curt Liesveld, formerly a pastor in the Reformed Church in America, is a developmental analyst, consultant, and seminar leader with the Gallup Organization. Availability:    AMAZON BOOKS     and  CD My Review            ...