Just like learning in the brain, social progress (development) is based on accommodating and assimilating. We structure the information from the outside world on the basis of what we already know (assimilate them in our knowledge structures). If the information does not fit in already present knowledge …

There 's a largely unnoticed power that multinationals (electronics giants, Google, Facebook, etc.) have in our lives, including upbringing and education. And like magic oil, digital techniques are good for everything. No condition is conceivable, or there is an app for it. Certainly, if there is none, …

People think that they understand a device that is part of their functioning, even if they only understand it at the procedural (automatic) level. That is, as an incorporated part of their action repertoire (how to work with it). When asked, often we don 't even understand seemingly simple devices, …

Happiness and (mis)fortune are very individual matters of different origins: mental and material. They can not be (directly) traced back to each other. Prosperity can always turn into adversity and vice versa. This does not alter the fact that someone who has made courage or cheerfulness her second nature, …

Deze column gaat in op het belang van vertrouwen binnen menselijke relaties in samenhang met waarheid.

The preservation of the planet our greatest interest? May a politician who is taken seriously behave as popupists sometimes do? So far from home - in China - I dream away,  thinking about Holland, but now from my new Chinese perspective. My hosts break through my train of thoughts. They are fortunately …

Deze column gaat in op de betekenis van loslaten.

Gemeenten beseffen dat een ‘kanteling’ van de eigen werkwijze noodzakelijk is en er meer streetwise ambtenaren nodig zijn. Dat wil zeggen ambtenaren die vooral buiten het stadhuis innoverend aan de slag gaan, kunnen verbinden en het samenspel aangaan met bewoners. De nieuwe of andere ambtenaren die nodig …

Technology has come through code in the linguistic domain (programming language), which means that  there are opportunities for applied psychologists to help develop technology that contributes to an inclusive society. If this environment is optimally designed, people will become the best they can be …

Deze column gaat in op hoe je als mens keuzes maakt.