I love Discover magazine. If you like to keep abreast of developments in science, including the science of human behavior, Discover magazine is certainly one of the best ways.

At my new seminar, Bullying and Sibling Rivalry, I have been distributing an anonymous survey form to assess participants' attitudes and experiences. One of the items is, "After watching an erotic movie, I feel an urge to have sex." Another is "After watching a violent movie, I feel an urge to injure or kill people."

Mel Gibson is a genius, having produced what may become the biggest blockbuster movie of all time. What I don't understand, though, is how, being a devout Christian, he can produce such a film. He isn't stupid. Perhaps he doesn't read the professional psychological journals, but anyone who reads newspapers and watches news on television knows that violence in entertainment desensitizes people to real-life violence.

Modern society is constantly fighting for more "rights." We believe we are entitled to a life free from worry about food, shelter, education and health care. We believe we are entitled to be treated with respect by virtue of birth, without having to do anything to deserve respect. We are currently fighting for the right to have no one treat us in a way we don't like.

While there is no official religion here in the United States, the vast majority of Americans are Christians. Though Christians worship Jesus, I am amazed at how few actually adhere to the words of Jesus. Early in the New Testament Jesus says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Matthew 7:1-2.

My good friend, Robert Kabakoff, a film buff and aspiring move actor, has been urging me to see City of God. I finally got around to it, and Rob was right. It is a phenomenal movie. It is a powerful drama about the incredibly violent way of life for kids in the in Rio de Janeiro slum known as the "City of God"l. The filming and editing were superb, as was the acting of the young actors. There is an amazing scene of a terrified chicken desperately trying to escape from gun-wielding gang members.

A few days ago, I watched this 1979 film for the second time. I had seen it a couple of decades ago but couldn't properly appreciate it then. Now that I am older and wiser, I realize how absolutely brilliant this movie is. I have often said that comedians are the best psychologists. Comedians show people as they really are, with all their faults and weaknesses. Life of Brian had me in stitches.

Jealousy has long been recognized as a source of human misery and destruction. It is no accident that it holds a place of honor in the Ten Commandments. All major religions consider jealousy to be a grave sin. Few of us are free of jealousy, and that is because it has a strong biological basis. The drive for power and success is inherent in all living things.

For punishments to be truly moral, they have to fit the crime. Punishment has the following three objectives: 1) deterrence to crime; 2) restitution for damage; and 3) reformation of criminals, that is, raising their moral development so they can feel remorse for their crime and abandon their evil ways. If a punishment is milder than the crime, it will do none of the above. If it is harsher, it will deter crime, but will not reform the criminal.

March of the Penguins (2005, Luc Jacquet) has little to do with bullying. Nevertheless I must recommend it. In contrast to many movies that you watch, enjoy for the moment, and then forget as you feed your entertainment appetite with the next screen offering, this one will stay with you forever. Yes, there is some bullying going on and yes, "might makes right" in nature, but members of the same species spend much more time being nice to each other than being mean. Justice is not limited to the human species; even mere birds know when their fellows have wronged another.