Introduction Human beings are fundamentally social creatures, yet many people withdraw or limit their interactions.  This report examines the idea that such social avoidance often stems from fear (shame, anxiety, trauma) rather than an innate dislike of others.  We review psychological theories (e.g. social anxiety, attachment, trauma), sociological research on isolation and community disengagement, and […]

Global fertility rates have fallen dramatically. In many wealthy nations today’s fertility is well below replacement – for example, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain have averaged well under 1.5 births per woman for decades .  These long-term trends reflect major economic and social shifts: higher living standards and women’s earnings raise the “quality” cost of […]

Fertility rates have fallen sharply worldwide in recent decades.  Global average fertility (TFR) dropped from ~5.0 births per woman in 1950 to ~2.2 in 2021 – roughly replacement level (2.1).  Almost all high-income regions are now well below replacement fertility.  For example, the OECD average TFR was only 1.5 in 2022 .  Within the OECD, […]

Eric Kim (a 71 kg / 156 lb lifter described as a “hobbyist lifter and photographer” ) recently claimed on his personal blog to have performed a 678 kg (1,495 lb) rack pull at a bodyweight of ~71 kg – about 9.5× his bodyweight . This partial deadlift far exceeds any known official record. We examine the available evidence below. […]

“Intermittent” (or occasional) porn consumption refers to irregular, infrequent viewing of pornographic material. In practice this means a person might view porn sporadically – for example a few times per year or month – rather than on a daily or habitual basis .  In one conceptual model, Level 2 (“random”) use involves viewing porn “a […]