The Teachers' Unions' Last Stand
Category: Education
I know where you're going, but you don't understand. Teachers are just different. via nytimes.com Posted via web from...
Posted by David Dobbs at 7:58 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Now on ScienceBlogs: The Galaxy's Biggest Valentine
David Dobbs on science, nature, and culture.
I write articles on science, medicine, nature, culture and other matters for the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Slate, National Geographic, Scientific American Mind, and other publications, and am working on my fourth book, The Orchid and the Dandelion, which expands on my recent December 2009 Atlantic article. In August 2010, I'll be moving to London for a year to work on the book. I'll also serve as a senior fellow at City University London's MA science journalism program.
You're encouraged to check out my third book Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral, which traces the strangest but most forgotten controversy in Darwin's career; subscribe to Neuron Culture by email; see more of my work at my main website; or track Twitter feed, my Google Reader shared items, or my Tumblr log, which gets it all.
Category: Education
I know where you're going, but you don't understand. Teachers are just different. via nytimes.com Posted via web from...
Posted by David Dobbs at 7:58 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Evolution
have trouble understanding talk of eliminating religion because it would make the world a more rational place. Eliminate religion? Good luck. It's odd to hear people sworn to empircal reasoning indulge in hopes so wildly unrealistic.
Posted by David Dobbs at 1:43 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Genetics & genomics (incl behav genetics)
The week's best -- with new features!
Posted by David Dobbs at 2:14 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Public health
That post reported the news (via FiercePharma) that Pfizer had tucked away in its financial disclosure forms a $2.3 billion charge to end the federal investigation into allegations of off-label promotions of its Cox-2 painkillers, including Bextra. ... Because my post was was one of the few things already on the interwebz before Justice held its news conference, the Google rush shot it toward the top of the search results.
Posted by David Dobbs at 3:19 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
This implies that religious beliefs and behavior emerged not as sui generis evolutionary adaptations, but as an extension (some would say "by product") of social cognition and behavior. May be something to that, Razib says — but it would be nice "get in on the game of normal human variation in religious orientation (as opposed to studies of mystical brain states which seem focused on outliers)."
Posted by David Dobbs at 6:51 AM • 1 Comments •
Category: Brains and minds
As Obama explains, world leaders are puzzled that healthcare gets painted with a Hitler moustache. and other news.
Posted by David Dobbs at 6:27 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Education
Six months ago I thought this country was ready to deal with the serious problems in our schools. This new survey would suggest that's the case. But having watched the healtcare reform debate/debacle, I now have my doubts.
Posted by David Dobbs at 10:00 AM • 16 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Brains and minds
On citing papers you haven't read; writing better cuz U write more; the merits of merit pay; placebo effect versus placebo effect; and for fun, fire towers.
Posted by David Dobbs at 10:06 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Public health
Speaking of pleasure: Having lived with fire ants, stepped in fire ants, laid down with fire ants, and been bit just about everywhere by fire ants, this pleases me immensely: Parasitic flies turn fire ants them into zombies. The fly maggots eat their brains.
Posted by David Dobbs at 3:12 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Education
As I've noted before, the U.S.'s health-care and education systems share some fundamental flaws: In both medical care and schooling we spend far more than other countries and get substandard results. Here's the latest data on the education end.
Posted by David Dobbs at 1:16 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks