Culture
razib | October 22, 2008Most of you know that Europe (like Japan and South Korea) has very low fertility; below replacement even. One of the main explanations is that with the decline in religiosity it naturally follows that fertility will decline (the psychological or sociological proximate models vary). Atheism kills with its pessimism. On first blush I think this is plausible because I've heard so many post-religious individuals who simply assert that they could never have children because of the state of this world. That is, with various catastrophes on the horizon they would simply be perpetuating suffering…
razib | October 21, 2008Matt Yglesias moots the reasons behind America's anti-socialist/individual tendencies. This is no illusion. America's Left party, the Democrats, have links with the Centrist Democrat International. This is an organization which roughly represents the international Center-Right, e.g., the Christian Democratic parties of Europe. The Democrats used to have observer status when this organization was more explicitly termed the Christian Democrat International. The point being that dirigiste and One Nation tendencies are much more common among Right parties than classical liberalism (in Germany…
razib | October 20, 2008There is a new blog some readers might find of interest, Culture and Cognition. Dan Sperber, who did a 10 questions nearly 3 years ago, is a contributor. Imagine, what if cultural anthropology was dominated by people who didn't behave like literary critics or aspire to be political revolutionaries?
sheril | October 20, 2008We're here at the University of Minnesota for Innovation 2008:
This conference, held on the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota, will bring together academicians, policy makers, business leaders, scientists, educators, artists, students and the public to discuss solutions to the major challenges facing the United States revolving around science and technology policy, including innovation, energy security and sustainability, health sciences policy, and our ongoing economic competitiveness in a high-tech, highly-educated global marketplace. The goal of Innovation 2008 is to…
razib | October 19, 2008A commenter points me to a post by Robert Frank, The Rich Support McCain, the Super-Rich Support Obama:
More than three quarters of those worth $1 million to $10 million plan to vote for Sen. McCain. Only 15% plan to vote for Sen. Obama (the rest are undecided). Of those worth more than $30 million, two-thirds support Sen. Obama, while one third support Sen. McCain.
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Among Lower Richistani's, 88% cited tax policies as being "important" in making their decision. Only 11% cited the environment, 22% cited health care and 45% cited social issues.
Among the Upper Richistani's supporting Sen.…
sheril | October 19, 2008Just in case you missed it Friday, the front page of The New York Times featured science, technology, and politics:
For decades, the United States dominated the technological revolution sweeping the globe. The nation's science and engineering skills produced vast gains in productivity and wealth, powered its military and made it the de facto world leader.
Today, the dominance is eroding. In 2002, the nation's high-technology balance of trade went south, and it never came back. By 2007, the annual gap between high-tech exports and imports had grown to $53 billion. The gap this year is…
razib | October 17, 2008If there is one "politics" book you should read this year, it is Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way They Do. Now, this sort of acclamation does need to be tempered by the fact that I myself don't really read "political" books very often. But despite the modest N, I'm rather confident that anyone who picks up Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State will not be disappointed. To a great extent the collective of Andrew Gelman, David Park, Boris Shor, Joseph Bafumi and Jeronimo Cortina have produced a work which is a response in substance, if not…
sheril | October 16, 2008No doubt. And yet, when NC, FL, and OH appear to be shifting toward ~475 nm...
razib | October 15, 2008
Photo Credit: Wired
Wired has a story about pod cars! Awesome. Pod cars are one of those things ubiquitous in science fiction (like humanoid robots) that just never come to be. In contrast, computer technology has advanced so far in the past generation that older science fiction resembles some sort of alternative history where Apple didn't transform home computing more than extrapolation from the present.
Granted, I don't have much of an opinion on the feasibility of pod cars. Nor do I really care. It just would be fun to have a little bit of Logan's Run around (mind you, just a little…
sheril | October 15, 2008Here's hoping Joe Wurzelbacher makes a cameo on this week's SNL...
I can't believe McCain brought up autism again. And earmarks for the planetarium in Chicago. And Ayers. This debate feels like we're watching the 'Greatest Hits' of the McCain campaign.
Oh and on the last question, I have to agree with Chris. There's no doubt that on science, Obama is looking very presidential.
razib | October 14, 2008To the left is Bandar bin Sultan. To the right, Barack Obama. Bandar bin Sultan is the son of a Saudi prince and his Sudanese "servant" (probably a slave). So we know that Bandar bin Sultan is 1/2 Arab and 1/2 Sudanese. Anwar Sadat had a Egyptian father and a Sudanese mother. In any case, here is Bandar's father. Because of the fact that violent terrorists are Arab Muslims and various East-West dichotomies Arabs are coded as "brown," but really many of them are not that brown (trust me, I'm brown, I know brown, and many Arabs are not the real deal). This is why Ralph Nader never gets any…
razib | October 13, 2008Over at Anthropology.net Emanuel Lusca has a post, Science As A Human Practice. I sniped a little in the comments, to which Emanuel responded:
My intention was not to refine, clarify, or elevate science. My intention was to point out that science should not be put on a pedestal, that it is like any other human practice, e.g. religious practice. In my mind science and religion are equally valuable and insightful. And of course, you and many others will criticize me for that, but that's okay.
Photo Credit: Kim Fulton-Bennett 2005 MBARI
This is the sort of problematizing which makes cultural…
sheril | October 13, 2008It's sure been a stormy October, but Monday's numbers are looking up. Way up. And in an odd coincidence, it's another reason to mention 1933 today.
razib | October 11, 2008Follow up to The executive class supports John McCain, see What your work is and how you vote:
Professionals (doctors, lawyers, and so forth) and routine white collar workers (clerks, etc.) used to support the Republicans more than the national average, but over the past half-century they have gradually moved through the center and now strongly support the Democrats. Business owners have moved in the opposite direction, from close to the national average to being staunch Republicans; and skilled and unskilled workers have moved from strong Democratic support to near the middle.
Please see the…
razib | October 11, 2008A survey of 751 CEOs shows that 80% support John McCain while 20% support Barack Obama. Remember, wealthier white people still tilt Republican. That being said, I think there is something to the dichotomy between professional class vs. business class. The former are affluent and educated, but may be on career tracks where regulatory constraints on labor mitigate capitalist competition (e.g., lawyers, doctors and other licensed and certified professionals). In other words, their affluence is not tied to market conditions in a 1:1 manner, and a non-trivial proportion of their income might be…
razib | October 9, 2008How Fatty Foods Curb Hunger:
Fatty foods may not be the healthiest diet choice, but those rich in unsaturated fats - such as avocados, nuts and olive oil - have been found to play a pivotal role in sending this important message to your brain: stop eating, you're full.
The broad point is probably known to you, but read the whole press release, as there's more biochemical detail....
sheril | October 9, 2008This image on Wall St. is becoming all too familiar at CNN.com...as are rumors of another impending 'Great Depression'.
One year ago, the Dow closed at 14,164.53. Today's it's about to close at 8,579.19.
I'm not a financial analyst, but it's clear times are changing. And the Fed needs to act. Now.
razib | October 9, 2008There's a new paper out which models human behavioral ecology, Dynamics of Alliance Formation and the Egalitarian Revolution. Anthropology.net has a good review, so I'll just point you there. I was going to read this paper, and a few others on models of human group dynamics...but lately, I've been wondering, aren't there enough models now??? It seems like there is a large sample space of models which can generate a set of testable predictions. Perhaps it is time to catch up on data and experiment and hold off on more model generation? I'll probably keep reading these papers...but of late I…