There are moments that define one's life, and while we never forget them, reflection can lead to new perspectives. In the early 1980s I was part of a long peace march for nuclear disarmament. In 2020, an Internet search for information about this peace march found some documents that provided an impetus for reflection on memory and identity. This…

On May 31, 1897, William James, one of America's most influential philosophers and psychologists, delivered the first civic oration of his career. The principal orator at the dedication of the Robert Gould Shaw memorial in Boston, James did what commemorative speakers are not supposed to do. He chose to be confrontational and divisive in a…

Oneness refers to the convention of recognizing a single individual's performance and ignoring others, including those who may have performed as well. Although oneness is an adaptation to cognitive deficits, it cannot be explained by them. If long-term and working memory were more capacious, society's need for ideals to establish realm-specific…