society
clock | August 13, 2006In Jeebus can't see through the walls of the Ramada, Amanda adds some excellent commentary on my guest-post over on Echidne.
I know I have already linked to Cracks In The Wall, Part I: Defining the Authoritarian Personality yesterday, but here it is again if you missed it, especially now that Cracks In The Wall, Part II: Listening to the Leavers is also up. Very worth reading.
clock | August 11, 2006Not just in the USA. Visceral queeziness coupled with religious sentiment coupled with scientific ignorance appears in other parts of the world as well, as in the UK
The Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, a professional group based in Edinburgh, has published a report on the ethical implications of the practice in the journal Human Reproduction and Genetic Ethics. The report is online at www.schb.org.uk.
The article lists some examples of research:
Later research has spawned human-animal creations, the report said. These usually die at the embryonic stage, but often survive if the…
clock | August 11, 2006An interesting article in the new issue of the American Scientist, challenges the view, made popular by Jared Diamond in Collapse, among others, of the collapse of Easter Island civilization due to overpopulation and cutting down of trees:
"Easter Island has become a case study of human-induced environmental disaster, or "ecocide." The popular narrative, most famously recounted in Jared Diamond's book Collapse, depicts native inhabitants triggering the fall of their once-flourishing civilization by cutting down all of the island's trees. But recent archaeological and paleoenvironmental…
clock | August 10, 2006This is interesting:
Landscapes And Human Behavior:
On Arizona State University's (ASU) Polytechnic campus, graduate student families in the cluster of six houses abutting lush lawns and ornamental bushes spend time together talking while their kids play outside. Meanwhile, the families in a nearby cluster of six homes barely know each other. But that may be in part because their homes sit on native Sonoran desert, not nearly as conducive to recreation as the lush microclimate researchers created in the first neighborhood. Social scientists and biophysical ecologists are finding that…
clock | August 10, 2006My second guest-blogging post on Echidne Of The Snakes, about the potential to have Hooters fund some breast cancer research. Purposefully written to provoke. Cross-posted under the fold...
Abel PharmBoy of Terra Sigillata asked:
Can Hooters support the fight against breast cancer all without being perceived as capitalistic, misogynistic, or otherwise demeaning to women?
You need to read his whole post to see the context, i.e., exactly what kind of sponsorhip for exactly what kind of breast-cancer research. Definitely something that could be, if done carefully, be done in good taste, with…
clock | August 10, 2006My first post guest-blogging on Echidne Of The Snakes, cross-posted under the fold.
I did not know that Dr.B is just a little bit younger than me. Her wisdom makes me feel like a child.
Usually when I see that a post already has 170 comments I don't even start reading them, but the comments on this recent post of hers are worth your while (as well as people who commented on their own blogs and spawned their own comment threads, e.g., . Aunt B, Brooklynite and Steinn).
While the post is primarily about bringing a young son into the female locker-room to change, it is really about several…
clock | August 7, 2006Sexual Lyrics Prompt Teens to Have Sex:
Teens whose iPods are full of music with raunchy, sexual lyrics start having sex sooner than those who prefer other songs, a study found.
Whether it's hip-hop, rap, pop or rock, much of popular music aimed at teens contains sexual overtones. Its influence on their behavior appears to depend on how the sex is portrayed, researchers found.
The article does point out skepticism by a couple of other researchers, but the title and the lede suggest that they'd prefer the readers to ignore the skepticism.
clock | August 3, 2006A three-fer from Echidne:
Divorce -- Preparing For Travels in Wingnuttia
Christian Lady Blogging -- Part One Of Travels in Wingnuttia
Divorce: Part Two of Travels in Wingnuttia
clock | August 1, 2006 I posted this on the Edwards blog on Tuesday February 10, then re-posted it on JREG, then re-posted it again on my own blog here on August 25, 2004. It was a response to IM-like spelling in one-line comments by the newly-arrived Deaniacs who displaced the lengthy, well-written, thoughtful discussions we used to have on the campaign blog before Dean conceded in Wisconsin and told his supporters to support Edwards for the rest of the primaries:
Language is a mirror into a people's culture. English is a beautiful language, capable of imparting meaning with a sharpness of a stainless steel…
clock | July 27, 2006Orcinus: Conserving orcas, and humans too
Shakespeare's Sister: Off-Limits Humor
Echidne Of The Snakes: Divorce -- Preparing For Travels in Wingnuttia
clock | July 27, 2006In an interview in Time magazine, Morgan Spurlock said, among else (and you should go and read the "else"):
We've started to make science and empirical evidence not nearly as important as punditry--people wusing p.r.-speak to push a corporate or political agenda. I think we need to turn scientists back into the rock stars they are.
Chris brought this quote to the bloggers' attention and Shelley was the first to respond:
I find this quote so refreshing (not just because it places us scientists up on a lofty pedestal), because it validates scientific authority figures as someone worth listening…
clock | July 21, 2006Survey questions themselves may affect behavior:
Simply asking college students who are inclined to take drugs about their illegal-drug use in a survey may increase the behavior, according to a study that's making researchers understandably nervous.
"We ask people questions, and that does change behavior," study co-author Gavan Fitzsimons, a marketing professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, said Thursday. The provocative effect, he added, can be "much greater than most of us would like to believe."
Read the rest, it is quite interesting. My first thought - can frequent…
clock | July 21, 2006Judge rules against cohabitation law:
"Those of you shacking up, have no fear: A judge has thrown out a 201-year-old North Carolina law making it illegal for unmarried couples to live together."
--------------snip---------------
"I am absolutely thrilled with the court's decision," Hobbs, 41, said in a statement. "I just didn't think it was any of my employer's business whether I was married or not, as long as I was good at my job, and I am happy that no one else will ever have to be subjected to this law. I couldn't believe that I was being given this ultimatum to choose between my…
clock | July 20, 2006
I wrote this first in February 2005, then republished in December 2005. After War Churchill got fired last month, I think that this post is still relevant.
I was asked the other day what I thought about the Ward Churchill affair. Frankly, I had not followed it at all (but you can) . Apparently, Wingers want to kill him, or at least get him fired, while Progressives are divided: some distance themselves from "an obscure nobody that Right-wing pulled out to push their agenda", while others assert that he is telling the truths that are unpalatable to those whose emotional health depends on…
clock | July 14, 2006Over the last couple of days, there was an interesting exchange of blogposts about the "naturalness" of sex, gender identification and sexual orientation. It is also an excellent example of the need to actually read what other people have written before jumping into the fray with knee-jerk responses. So, actually, READ all these posts before making any comments:
Jessica: Uterus: The Gaymaker
Chris: Essentialized Social Categories I: Gender Essentialism
Janet: Why I have no interest in any possible biological bases for homosexuality
Greensmile: You can't say 'Gay is OK'...
Benjamin:…
clock | July 12, 2006
This post was a response to a decent (though not too exciting) study and the horrible media reporting on it. As the blogosphere focused on the press releases, I decided to look at the paper itself and see what it really says. It was first posted on August 09, 2005. Under the fold...
I saw this on Pandagon first - a response to an article on NeuroImage about gender-specific voice recognition. Actually, it was not a response to the article itself (behind the subscription wall), but to the MSM reporting about the article. Soon, other bloggers chimed in, notably Feministing, Blondesense,…
clock | July 10, 2006I often ask you to read several posts in succession and make your own connections. Here's a line up of some old and some new posts about the history, current state (and cultural battle) and possible future of the institution of marriage:
First off, Lance Mannion wrote a couple of days ago on Polygamy, voyeurism, and other fun things to do on the weekend:
"...a lot of Right Wing America lives on the frontier between civilization and Trailer Park choas. The reason they are so terrrified by change and the prospect of sexual and personal freedom is that where they come from all those things are…
clock | July 6, 2006George Lakoff has a new book out - Whose Freedom?: The Battle Over America's Most Important Idea. You can read short blurbs and reviews on Rockridge Isntisute site, Salon and Washington Post. I have placed it on my wish list as well.
clock | July 6, 2006OK, today I'd like you to superimpose a couple of very different articles that all look at the difference between patriotism and nationalism, but each from a different angle and see if, and how, they inform each other. First, I'd like you to read one of my old posts (which I may decide to re-post here one day, but for now, check it out on my old blog) - Nationalism is not Patriotism. That would be a bare-bone introduction to political psychology of patriotism and nationalism:
Why is there a widespread belief that the difference between patriotism and nationalism is one of degree: loving one…
clock | July 6, 2006When I posted this originally (here and here) I quoted a much longer excerpt from the cited Chronicle article than what is deemed appropriate, so this time I urge you to actually go and read it first and then come back to read my response.
From Dr.Munger's blog, an interesting article: Liberal Groupthink Is Anti-Intellectual By MARK BAUERLEIN, The Chronicle Review Volume 51, Issue 12, Page B6 (that link is now dead, but you can find a copy here):
Hmmmm, why was the poll conducted only in social science departments (e.g., sociology, psychology, philosophy, history, anthropology, perhaps…