Fellow Skepchick Mindy alerted me to this story in The Atlantic about some new evolutionary psychology research concerning promiscuity and morality. As usual, the reporting on the research uncritically reproduces all sorts of essentialist ideas about sex/gender and sexuality while reporting on the research. As usual, I am highly skeptical of any science reporting, much less science reporting on ev... »
If you follow my posts on GP, you know that I’ve been writing a lot about GMOs and genetic engineering. I was planning to lay off the subject for a bit, maybe write about advances in prenatal diagnostics or the wonders of sleep training and okay-to-wake clocks, but I’m compelled to write another on GMOs. Why? Monsanto. More specifically, March Against Monsanto. I don’t often get into debates on so... »
Don’t Pop That Bubble Wrap! Scientists Turn Trash Into Test Tubes – I love these scientists. Even though the idea may not have all the kinks worked out, it’s a start. Creationist Ken Ham calls to end space program because aliens are going to hell anyway – Well, I guess that headline says it all. From CriticalDragon1177. The Secret to a Tattoo’s Permanence: The Immune ... »
CN: Slurs; rape jokes; racist and sexist langage and images (mostly in links) It’s no secret that the artisanal food and beverage criticism field is a pretty privileged bunch. After all, to get into it you have to have disposable income, no ailments or conditions that would preclude imbibing a significant amount of alcohol or eating a wide range of foods, and spare time to devote to your blog––or,... »
The lowest difficulty setting in action – A 25-year study of children in Baltimore shows that even at the same low income level, straight white men still have it easier. Apollo 11 turns 45: A lunar landing anniversary retrospective – From Criticaldragon1177. Pro-life nurse sues family planning clinic for not giving her a job she refused to do – From mrmisconception. Sitting on ra... »
Victorian Strangeness: The bizarre tale of the ladies who limped – If you laugh at this story about a strange fad, just remember that the whole “one glove” trend inspired by Michael Jackson wasn’t too long ago. Gangs draw up lists of girls to rape as proxy attacks on rivals – “Gangs assault rivals’ sisters and girlfriends as a ‘low risk’ method... »
Very interesting dissection of the argument, thanks! From a biological perspective, there's a number of holes in their reasoning as well. For example, One of... – Jul 24, 12:46 AM
Related to the articles about racism and scare-mongering: I'm reading Bruce Catton's 'Never Call Retreat' ( http://bookdir.info/?p=731520 ) and some things just don't change. One... – Jul 23, 11:42 PM
Mrmisconception, People like him also believe that all the carnivores, including the mighty T-Rex were originally vegetarians and only started eating meat after the fall.... – Jul 23, 11:24 PM
He also believes in a big pile of horse droppings. His Bible says that original sin is visited on the descendants of Adam and Eve,... – Jul 23, 8:20 PM
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/12/10/ep-the-fundamental-failure-of-the-evolutionary-psychology-premise/ http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/context-and-variation/2013/02/11/5-ways-to-make-progress-in-evolutionary-psychology-smash-not-match-stereotypes/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/2l7/problems_in_evolutionary_psychology/ Brain Plasticity Unfalsifiable Confirmation Bias WEIRD samples The problems in the field are deep and pernicious. Since I'm a layperson, I'm sure... – Jul 23, 8:05 PM Mrmisconception, If you read what he says, Ham believes that if aliens exist they're destined to go to hell, because they're not related to us... – Jul 23, 7:47 PM