Praise for The Situationist
Since the The Situationist launched on January 26, 2007, we have received many kind words for which we are grateful. Here is a sampling:
“. . . The Situationist, a great blog about social psychology.”
~ Main Blogger on Sociological Images (05/05/2008)
“The glorious Situationist Blog . . . .”
~ Main Blogger on Psychology and Crime News (03/30/2008)
“I think Situationism is aligned with my goal to attempt to understand reality . . . . The blog seems well done.”
~ Main Blogger on Hopefully Anonymous Blog (03/16/2008)
“The Situationist has a nine-part series on ‘Deep Capture,’ the hypothesis that ‘there will be a competition over the situation (including the way we think) to influence the behavior of individuals and institutions and that those individuals, groups, entities, or institutions that are most powerful will win that competition.’ In the end, it’s quite an interesting hypothesis, simply because it forces us to think differently about any given situation. Who’s trying to control a situation? How do they use our dispositions against us? It’s a rather clever reduction of both inequality and cultural theory, of focusing on how power works and on how culture works at the same time. . . . Hanson and Yosifon present a lot of interesting considerations over the breadth of their series.”
~ Daniel Lende, Neuroanthropology (3/15/2008)
“The wonderful Situationist blog, which I don’t cite nearly enough because their posts are so complete and detailed they don’t leave me anything to say, considers magical thinking . . . .”
~ Anne Reed, Deliberations (3/14/2008)
“[T]his weekend [is the] Law and Mind Conference (which is part of the Project on Law and Mind Sciences at the Harvard Law School). The conference is run by the same individuals who run one of the best blogs on the web (in my own humble estimation)–The Situationist. So, in the event that you (or your students) live close enough to Boston/Cambridge to attend, I strongly recommend you make the trip. The line-up of speakers is impressive and the list of topics seems really fascinating!”
~ Thomas Nadelhoffer, a philosophy professor who blogs on Experimental Philosophy (3/05/2008)
“me he encontrado algunas cosas muy interesantes en “The Situationist” (one of my new links) . . . .“
~ Fernando, at LaEsquinaDeFernando (02/18/2008)
“A great post over at ‘The Situationist‘. Speaks to the composition and value of sex, love, and relationships.”
~ Tony Fortner, at Neuronomicon (02/11/2008)
“One scary post, at The Situationist.”
~ Ann Bartow, at Sivacracy (02/07/2008)
“ . . . of course, there’s the prototypical DA’s office rep denying that upbringing and circumstances have any impact at all on how people turn out. She needs a strong dose of The Situationist.”
~ Michael Connelly, at Corrections Sentencing (01/29/2008)
“One of the best blogs on cognition, behavior, and the mind sciences is The Situationist, which examines the implications of social psychology for law, policymaking, and legal theory.”
~ Diane Levin on Mediation Channel (01/21/2008)
“Su The Situationist, un post molto interessante con un recente tentativo di proporre un esperimento simile, seppur ‘ammorbidito’. . . .“
~ Luca Baiguini on LucaBaiguini Blog (01/16/2008)
“. . . The Situationist has a fantastic post on a recent replication of Stanley Milgram’s (in)famous conformity experiment which is usually always described as being ‘too unethical to perform today.”
~ Main Blogger on Mind Hacks (01/07/2008)
“ . . . I’ve been frustrated by a lack of a way to explain my thoughts. A lack of vocabulary. However, that was before the Situationist gave me a glimpse into the issue . . . .”
~ Main Blogger on Some of Nothing Blog (01/03/2008)
“ . . . The Situationist has a couple of its always thought-provoking posts up . . . .”
~ Michael Connelly, at Corrections Sentencing (12/24/2007)
“I’ve . . . just stumbled on more excellent commentary on this topic with a great write up over at The Situationist. Well worth a read.”
~ Main Blogger on PsyBlog (12/22/2007)
“I recently discovered this website. Great stuff. I wanted to comment on the time delay, ‘readiness potential’ research you reference . . . . Much of the credit for that research belongs to my wife’s grandfather, Dr. Benjamin Libet. Ben passed away this year, but he’d be thrilled to know that his work had reached you.”
~ Brady Bellis (12/17/2007)
“The Situationist is a great collaborative effort that includes contributions from a number of prominent social psychologists.”
~ Main Blogger at Dr. X’s Free Associations (12/10/2007)
“. . . [S]ince I was in my early twenties, I have been very curious and inquisitive about the factors that make up our unconscious decisions and how this applies to how we socially interact with people and how we feel about people that we don’t know. Taking it a step further is the study of Situationism, which I really know nothing about but find it totally fascinating! Never a psychology major, I couldn’t have guessed that there are people out there that think about this 24/7, speak on it, and study it for a living. Whatever is out there, that helps to define or make better understood, that at our very basic core, we are a human and this factors or should factor into the laws we make and keep is something I want to know more about. That is why I visit the Situationist site on a somewhat regular basis . . . .”
~ Main Blogger (Michelle) at “Sont les mots qui vont très bien ensemble” (12/09/2007)
“A good read . . . .” & “The Situationist offers another post in an excellent series on The Unconscious Situation of our Consciousness.“
~ Main Blogger at Dr. X’s Free Associations (10/29/07) & (12/06/2007)
“The Situationist has a series going right now . . . which is a reminder of why I nominated them for a “Thinking Blogger Award.”
~ Michael Connelly, at Corrections Sentencing (11/20/2007)
“Insightful blogs like The Situationist . . . have covered the entire body image commentary expansively.”
~ Amy Jussel at Shaping Youth (11/13/2007)
“The Situationist has a nice post on how much of what we do is handled by the unconscious parts of our brains. As they say, “A lot has been learned about how what we think we know about what moves us is wrong . . . [and] how what we don’t know we know can influence us.” . . . . The work on this is just starting, but posts like this will help you be on the cutting edge, which we know is exactly where you want to be.”
~ Michael Connelly, at Corrections Sentencing (11/09/2007)
“Over at the Situationist—if you don’t read it, you should!—Jon Hanson is discussing his theory of deep capture. Hanson’s work should be highly interesting to consumer lawyers, policy makers, and academics.“
~ David Arkush at Consumer Law & Policy Blog (11/02/2007) [To read a Situationist post about Arkush's fascinating situationist work, click here.]
“Thanks to the ever-excellent The Situationist . . . .”
~ Main Blogger at Nanopolitan (10/27/2007)
“The Situationist’s very well argued points. . . . The rest of The Situationist’s post is also terrific. . . . Well done to The Situationist . . . for great writing and keep up the scrutiny.”
~ Main Blogger at Blue Milk Blog (10/26/2007)
“[The Situationist is o]ne of my new favourite blogs too . . . .“
~ Electric Angel commenting on “I’m Objective, You’re Biased” (10/26/2007)
“The Situationist [is] one of my new favorite blogs.“
~ Main Blogger at Green Oasis (10/25/2007)
“The Situationist . . . [is] one of my favorite “thinky” blogs . . . .”
~ Main Blogger at Nice But Nubbly (10/22/2007)
“I just read this fantastic, thorough piece over at The Situationist . . . .”
~ Stacey May at The Shameless Blog (10/14/2007)
“Thank you for all of the amazing work you all do at the Project on Law and Mind Sciences and at The Situationist, which is far and away the most consistently interesting academic blog out there.“
~ Hafez Adel (10/14/2007)
“The Situationist . . . [is f]ocused on the idea that human behavior is less about the individual and more about the situation. It’s an intriguing thesis and the content is very good.”
~ Main Blogger at The Decision Strategist (10/3/2007)
“I add a new link at the side so rarely that it merits a blog post. I’ve just linked to a fascinating site/blog called “The Situationist,” which discusses, among other things, fascinating stories from the world of clinical psychology, advertising, etc. . . . definitely worth taking a glance.”
~ Main Blogger at The Literary Salon (10/1/2007)
“My hypothesis is that a normal person may not peruse this site, The Situationist, without finding something of use for the person’s work or homelife — or at a minimum, something extremely intrigueing about a problem the person has in an organization to which the person belongs.”
~ Main Blogger at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub (9/22/2007)
“Pooh’s recommended blog of the year: Harvard Law’s The Situationist . (You can find a summary of the posts I dedicated to material posted at the Situationist here.)”
~Michael Metzler, who blogs on Pooh’s Think (8/27/2007)
“The Situationist [is] one of my favorite blogs . . . .”
~ Main Blogger at Audio Attitude (8/21/2007)
“The Situationist: Always interesting . . . with some top rate contributors.”
~ Main Blogger at Deception Blog (8/14/2007)
“The Situationist is one of our best blogs right now so, if you haven’t checked them out yet, let this be your excuse to do so now.”
~ Michael Connelly, administrator of the Evaluation & Analysis Unit of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections who blogs on Corrections Sentencing (7/19/2007)
“Your webpage is my first stop each morning. It is very informative and
probably the most visually stunning of anything that I have seen.”
~ Mike Delahunty (7/19/2007)
“[We're] fascinated by its premise: Is ESPN deliberately trying to kill hockey? The case is laid out by people far more deliberate, logical and measured than we are.”
~ Will Leitch, founding editor of Deadspin (7/9/2007)
“You owe it to yourself to read it.”
~ Main Blogger at Kuklas Korner (7/9/2007)
“It’s well-worth the read.”
~ “HabsFan33,” who blogs on Four Habs Fans (7/9/2007)
“Great article over at the Situationist postulating that ESPN’s coverage or lack thereof and constant snarkyness toward the league are killing the NHL among casual sport fans in the US.”
~ Main Blogger at The IceBurgh (7/9/2007)
“Speaking of smarter than we are, The Situationist is a blog based out of the Harvard Law School. Instead of looking at the first amendment or the legality of political donations, this article wonders if ESPN’s negative view of the NHL had led in part to the league’s poor standing.”
~ Main Blogger at The Sporting Orange (7/6/2007)
“Two of my favorite things, hockey talk and social science wonkery, go together [on The Situationist].
~ Sarah, who blogs on The Neutral Zone Trap (7/3/2007)
“If you missed it or passed it over, you owe it to yourself to read it.”
~ Main Blogger at The Hockey Herald (7/3/2007)
“Today’s sports blogging must-read comes from Jason Chung, a [Situationist] fellow . . .”
~ Eric McErlain, who blogs on Off Wing Opinion (7/2/2007)
“Wow . . . it’s a real must read.”
~ Jordan Cooper, who blogs on Hockey Pundits (7/2/2007)
“As a mediator, I see people behave under extraordinary pressure and in the face of difficult circumstances. They come with carefully constructed narratives of the past which often must be dismantled and considered anew. Their understanding and reactions may influenced by unanticipated forces. I watch as they struggle to expand the boundaries of perception–and reshape their understanding of themselves and each other. As a consequence of my work, the way people interpret the world around them fascinates me. I was therefore glad to be introduced to a blog that opens my eyes to the workings of the human mind: The Situationist.”
~ Diane Levin, a mediator, trainer, and attorney, and founder of the Boston-based dispute resolution firm Partnering Solutions, LLC, who blogs on Online Guide to Mediation (6/27/2007).
“Best social psychology blog
The Situationist explores the importance of the situation in human behaviour and thought. It covers social psychology, social cognition, and related fields, but it is associated with Harvard Law School and therefore has a broad subject-area. It has both original writing and interesting excerpts from relevant pieces in the media.”
~ Jeremy Dean, a barrister and a graduate student in psychology at University College London who blogs on PsyBlog (6/13/2007)
“May I recommend a new blog to you? The Situationist. It’s packed full of the results of social research and experiments.”
~ Daniel Finkelstein, Columnist and Comment Editor of the London Times (6/4/2007)
“The value of a great new blog like the Situationist is that the folks there do already understand, and these series and its other posts give hope and tips that we’ll be able to break through someday, even if some states and policies have already imploded.”
~ Michael Connelly, administrator of the Evaluation & Analysis Unit of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections who blogs on Corrections Sentencing (6/4/2007)
“Congrats to The Situationist for winning an award for Best Social Psychology Blog. We don’t always link to everything we read there because it doesn’t all pertain to corr sent, but we do always find everything we read there stimulating and valuable. We didn’t get to vote, but we do concur. Check them out if you haven’t already. It will be worth your time.“
~ Michael Connelly, administrator of the Evaluation & Analysis Unit of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections who blogs on Corrections Sentencing (6/4/2007)
“If you’re into weighty well-written academic-type pieces, read The Situationist.”
~ Ali Fahmy, who blogs on Blueprint Blue (5/8/2007)
“This is both a bump to what I see as a pretty fascinating blog and a reminder to myself to check into it more. I hope I’m not doing a disservice to the site if I describe The Situationist as a blog about how aspects of our environment (our situation) drive our behavior - but it’s aimed at areas in which our assumptions might be wrong or areas we perhaps have never considered, things which have been glossed over in an overly-simplified manner in the past.”
~ Main Blogger at Weirleader’s Lair (4/25/2007)
“Take a look at the Project’s Blog, The Situationist. Contributers include Mahzarin Banaji, Jon Hanson, Jerry Kang, and Brian Nosek but to name a few. So many heavy hitters contributing to one blog make it a “must read”.”
~ Eric Schultheis, who blogs on The Race Equity Project (4/18/2007)
“I know I just keep mentioning and linking to The Situationist Blog, but it is so good, with such high quality posts from such high calibre scholars.”
~ Main Blogger at Psychology and Crime News (4/16/2007)
“[L]et me list a couple [of blogs] from my Bloglines list that often, if not always, make me jealous. The Situationist is my current fav. Although I claim to be a sociologist, I’m probably more of a social psychologist at heart.”
~ Dan Myers, chair of the sociology department at Notre Dame University who blogs on Blue Monster (4/16/2007)
“It’s great to see renowned scientists like . . . Phil Zimbardo at The Situationist, joining the blogosphere.”
~ Sandra Kiume, a science writer who blogs on Omni Brain and Neurofuture (3/30/2007)
“I’m glad to have discovered The Situationist. . . .Thanks for what you’re doing, extremely important stuff.”
~ Tom Clark, Director of Center for Naturalism (3/28/2007)
“You know that a blog post is good when it makes me want to go and read a book. Such is the one from thesituationist. There is a good post about Carol Dweck’s research on the pyschology of success; in other words, why do two different people of the same abilities often attain very different levels of success.”
~ Main Blogger at Blue Ollie (3/23/2007)
“The Situationist, associated with The Project on Law and Mind Sciences at Harvard Law School, is already receiving a good deal of praise from the blog world. After Yale’s recent run-in with the less fortunate gifts the blog world frequently has to offer, it is nice to see this new medium of self-published and democratic “blogging” produce a daily digest that is both provocative and entertaining without sacrificing content that is professional and rigorous.”
~Michael Metzler, a graduate student at the University of Idaho who blogs on Pooh’s Think (3/15/2007)
“Over at The Situationist, Philip Zimbardo is doing a series of posts discussing Stanley Milgram’s famous obedience to authority experiments and his famous Stanford prison experiment. In my view, anyone working in the criminal justice arena (or really in any legal field) should know about Milgram’s experiments and his remarkable findings; these new Zimbardo posts provide a great up-to-date entry into these important (and always timely) human realities.”
~ Douglas Berman, a professor at the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University who blogs on Sentencing Law and Policy (3/14/2007)
“I thought I should bring to your attention a rather gorgeous new website from Harvard Law school. There’s also a fabulous blog, The Situationist, which has been going since January, featuring contributions from various social psych luminaries including Mahzarin Banaji, Susan Fiske and Philip Zimbardo. Definitely one for the Blogroll.”
~ Main Blogger at Psychology and Crime News (3/14/2007)
“If you want to keep track of developments in [how neurolaw is shaping the courtroom], you could do a lot worse than reading a great new blog called The Situationist from the Harvard Law School’s Project on Law and Mind Sciences. It’s got some fantastic contributors and, so far, has published some great articles.”
~ Vaughan Bell, a psychologist at King’s College London who blogs on Mind Hacks (3/13/2007)
“[G]reat blog! It’s delightful to see a blog with top-notch psychology written by top-notch psychologists.”
~ Eric Schwitzgebel, an professor of philosophy at University of California at Riverside, who blogs on The Splintered Mind (3/13/2007)
“A bunch of scholars from Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley and other schools have started this awesome blog called The Situationist. Each post is brilliant and sheds light on interesting topics in social sciences. Enjoy!“
~ Samir Raiyani, a director of Dolcera who blogs on Desi Tamasha (3/10/2007)
“[C]heck out the excellent new blog The Situationist. There’s a great three part series on Situational Sources of Evil by Philip Zimbardo, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Stanford University and famous for the Stanford Prison Experiments, which he delves into here.”
~ Sandra Kiume, a science writer who blogs on Omni Brain and Neurofuture (3/9/2007)
“I just located an excellent Harvard blog: The Situationist . . . . Add it to your blog roll. I bet all my readers will find something of interest after a short browsing. This blog is provided by The Project on Law and Mind Sciences at Harvard Law School. The content seems fabulous all around . . . .”
~ Michael Metzler, a graduate student at the University of Idaho who blogs on Pooh’s Think (3/5/2007)
“I know I already plugged the new blog over at Harvard entitled The Situationist–but given (a) how actively they have been posting over there, and (b) how interesting and informative many of the posts have been, I thought I would bring it to the attention of anyone who may have missed my earlier mention of the blog! They have a recent post about the research on youth, preference, and perceived luck that I found particularly interesting.”
~ Thomas Nadelhoffer, a philosophy professor at Dickinson College who blogs on Experimental Philosophy (2/28/2007)
“Since coming across The Situationist web site, I’ve found many of their posts and articles interesting.”
~ Brett who blogs on Blah, Blah, Blah (2/23/2007)
Over at the new and fabulous Situationist blog, Philip Zimbardo takes us through the classic experiments by Stanley Milgram that led to the discovery of the ‘obedience effect’. His title for the post? Situational sources of evil.
~ Abi (T. A. Abinandanan), a professor in the Department of Materials Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore, India) who blogs on Nanopolitian (2/21/2007)
“Stanford psychologist Philip Zimbardo has a new book out: The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil . . While we wait for the book to arrive in India (at a reasonable price), we can read some of the ideas presented in the book, thanks to the wonderful blog The Situationist, which has Zimbardo as one of the contributors. So far, he has two series of posts: The Situational Sources of Evil (Parts I, II, and III), and From Heavens to Hell to Heroes (Parts I and II).”
~ Abi (T. A. Abinandanan), a professor in the Department of Materials Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore, India) who blogs on Nanopolitian (2/21/2007)
The Situationist, a newish group blog by some very bright people.
~ La Rana, who blogs on Frog (2/16/2007)
“There are serious objections - some which the good folks at the Situationist Blog might develop further -”
~ Dave Hoffman, a professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law who blogs on Concurring Opinions (2/13/2007)
“. . . fascinating and well thought out, with clearly stated ideas and stimulating discussion topics . . .”
~ AU, a psychology major at the University of Southern California who blogs on The Psychology of Sports (2/12/2007)
“While lurking around the internet last night looking for new stuff to read, I stumbled across what appears to be a really interesting blog run by some folks at Harvard’s Law School entitled The Situationist. Both the blog and the project itself seem really exciting. Hopefully, I can cajole some of the people who contribute over there to contribute here (and vice versa). For while I have had some success recruiting more philosophers and psychologists to play along, I have not had much luck with attracting legal scholars. And since this blog is supposed to be “dedicated to interdisciplinary research in philosophy, psychology, and legal theory”–it would be nice to have more discussion here concerning the relationship between our research and the law. Either way, I figured some of you might like to check out what they are putting together at HLS.”
~ Thomas Nadelhoffer, a philosophy professor at Dickinson College who blogs on Experimental Philosophy (2/10/2007)
The Situationist is a new blog run by a polyglot crew of academics concerned with “law and mind sciences.” Its co-creator is Jon Hanson of Harvard Law School, who has been writing extensively and at length (no exaggeration — check out some of the articles) in this area for the past few years. Its contributors include the psychology prof Philip Zimbardo, who is most famous for the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment. I’m a big fan of Hanson’s work on situationism, and look forward to hearing from him, Jerry Kang, Sung Hui Kim, and others. Welcome.
~ Paul Horwitz, a professor at Southwestern University School of Law, who blogs on PrawfsBlawg (1/31/2007)
“There is a new blog on the block that should be interesting to anyone investigating, litigating and advocating consumer issues such as deceptive advertising, visual illusions, and human biases in issues such as lending and credit payments. Indeed, one of its founders, Jon Hanson, has been a leader in consumer law scholarship and areas such as product liability and market manipulation, using insights from social psychology and behavioral economics to inform policy.”
~ Orly Lobel, a professor at the University of San Diego School of Law who blogs on Consumer Law & Policy Blog (1/31/2007)
Welcome to a Great New Blog. Via Prawfsblawg, we’re alerted to the launch of a really, really promising new blog, The Situationist. I’ve visited and it promises to keep us all up-to-date on much of the neuro-related issues we’re watching in corrections sentencing. They’ve already got a nice post on MLK, some good stuff on Stephen Pinker and the illusion of consciousness. I’ll check in often and alert you to particular posts, but you should go there yourself and get those hit counters clicking. Definitely worth your time . . . speaking of intelligent blogs on cognitive science and its implications, check out this really nice post on the cog sci behind our perceptions of race at The Situationist.
~ Michael Connelly, administrator of the Evaluation & Analysis Unit of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections who blogs on Corrections Sentencing (1/30/2007; 2/16/2007)
“I have added “The Situationist” to our blogroll. The new blog is part of the Project on Law and Mind Sciences at Harvard Law School. Welcome!”
~ Adam Kolber, a professor at the University of San Diego School of Law who blogs on Neuroethics and Law Blog (1/30/2007)
The Situationist is a new blog featuring a group of law scholars and social scientists interested in exploring the implications of social science research for legal thought. The name of the blog references situationism, a legal perspective that embraces the empirical rigor of social science in place of naïve psychology. The blog is created by Harvard law professor, Jon Hanson, and Mississippi law prof, Michael McCann (who also blogs at the excellent Sports Law Blog). But perhaps the most famous resident of the new blog is social psychologist, Phillip Zimbardo (of Stanford prison experiment fame). This looks to be a blog of some interest to organizational scholars, particularly those with an economic sociology angle.
~ Brayden King, a sociology professor at Brigham Young University who blogs on Orgtheory (1/29/2007)
A new blog, The Situationist, came online this week . . . The initial posts are fascinating. Jurisdynamics will be monitoring The Situation very closely.
~ Jim Chen, the Dean of the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville and also a blogger on Jurisdynamics (1/27/2007)
A couple of new sites to check out, including a new entry into my starting lineup . . . The Situationist . . . it really starts with a bang.
~ John J. Perricone, who blogs on Only Baseball Matters (1/27/2007)




