clock | December 25, 2008Larry, Amanda, John, Mike and others are comenting, quite positively, on the recent Scientific American article - Evolution of the Mind: 4 Fallacies of Psychology by David J. Buller. And I agree - this is an excellent, well-deserved and well-thought smack-down of Evolutionary Psychology and I am happy that it appears in a popular magazine and is spreading around the blogosphere.
The Fallacy 1 - Analysis of Pleistocene Adaptive Problems Yields Clues to the Mind's Design - is my favourite counter-argument when I hear someone offering an EvoPsych-style Just-So-Story, but the other three just as…
clock | December 25, 2008If so, record it, or write it down, upload a podcast or post on your blog. And:
After the overwhelming response to the National Day of Listening, we are hoping to pass on a new holiday idea: For everyone who did an interview surrounding the National Day of Listening (or are thinking about recording a loved one), making a copy of it and pairing it with a paperback copy of our book, "Listening is an Act of Love," provides a meaningful touch to the holiday season, and gives that special someone even more incredible stories to read! The book as well as more DIY recording tips can be linked to…
clock | December 25, 2008
Why Do We Believe in Santa?:
Having kids believe there's a jolly man in a red suit who visits on Christmas Eve isn't detrimental, although some parents can feel they're outright lying to their children, according to a new analysis by Serge Larivee. "When they learn the truth, children accept the rules of the game and even go along with their parents in having younger children believe in Santa," says Larivee, a psycho-education professor at the Université de Montréal. "It becomes a rite of passage in that they know they are no longer babies."
Chocolate, Wine And Tea Improve Brain…
clock | December 24, 2008I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year.
- David Grayson
clock | December 24, 2008I found this quite intriguing:
Those thinking that online social networking is a substitute for face-to-face interactions might want to think again. Recent research in psychology suggests there are some benefits to real-life socializing that the Internet just can't provide; researchers at Stanford University have published a report in Psychological Science called "Synchrony and Cooperation" that indicates engaging in synchronous activities (e.g., marching, singing, dancing) strengthens social attachments and enables cooperation. As most of our online social networking to date is based on…
clock | December 24, 2008The inner workings of the North Pole:
Of course, the elves are the backbone of Santa's work force. It's never clear to me that they are happy workers.
I hear occasional rumors that the elves have tried to organize a union, only to be thwarted by the man in red.
I'm not even sure Santa pays the elves, and they seem to live on site.
The North Pole is a company town. How jolly is that for those paid in Santa scrip?
If I Were Santa's Public Relations Guy...:
For such a high-profile, influential figurehead, Santa's PR could really use some work. I mean, the merchandising is pretty neat but there's…
clock | December 24, 2008Eleven years ago, two or three guys with awesome programming skilllz sat down and almost simultaneously, and not knowing of each other at the time, wrote the first blogging software. Dave Winer was one of those guys and, like the rest of them, strongly dislikes the "who was the first blogger" frenzy that sometimes sweeps through the blogosphere. He was one of them, but nobody was "the first".
If you read or write blogs, it is thanks to guys like Dave. If you are reading this post in an RSS feed reader, it's because Dave invented and wrote the RSS. If you have ever been to an "unconference…
clock | December 24, 2008Naughty male Australian satin bower bird selectively steals blue items to decorate his nest. The female bower birds rate their partner by their home decor so they do a lot of stealing.
clock | December 24, 2008Dark Chocolate Is More Filling Than Milk Chocolate And Lessens Cravings:
New research at the Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE) at the University of Copenhagen - shows that dark chocolate is far more filling than milk chocolate, lessening our craving for sweet, salty and fatty foods. In other words, eating dark chocolate may be an efficient way to keep your weight down over the holidays.
A Walk In The Park A Day Keeps Mental Fatigue Away:
If you spend the majority of your time among stores, restaurants and skyscrapers, it may be time to trade in your stilettos for some hiking boots. A new study…
clock | December 23, 2008Once upon a time - of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve - old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house.
- Charles Dickens
clock | December 23, 2008VHS era is winding down - "The last big supplier of the tapes is ditching the format, ending the long fade-out of a product that ushered in the home theater.":
Pop culture is finally hitting the eject button on the VHS tape, the once-ubiquitous home-video format that will finish this month as a creaky ghost of Christmas past.
After three decades of steady if unspectacular service, the spinning wheels of the home-entertainment stalwart are slowing to a halt at retail outlets. On a crisp Friday morning in October, the final truckload of VHS tapes rolled out of a Palm Harbor, Fla., warehouse run…
clock | December 23, 2008Duke University's John Staddon makes the case for less, and more effective, road signage in the U.S - using Durham roads and streets as examples:
From here, which I discovered here because I am fascinated by the science of traffic and driving. If only explaining the mathematical models of traffic flow and the cognitive psychology of driving to the traffic cop could get one out of a ticket....
clock | December 23, 2008In National Geographic:
A new investigation into the tangled sex lives of deep-sea squid has uncovered a range of bizarre mating techniques. The cephalopods' intimate encounters include cutting holes into their partners for sex, swapping genders, and deploying flesh-burrowing sperm. These and other previously unknown reproductive strategies were documented in a survey of ten squid species living worldwide at depths of between 984 and 3,937 feet (300 and 1,200 meters). Study leader Henk-Jan Hoving, a Ph.D. student at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, examined squid caught during…
clock | December 23, 2008Michael Pollan will be on NPR's Talk of the Nation tomorrow to discuss his book Defense of Food.
clock | December 23, 2008A well-written press release on a very well done and exciting study:
Honey bees on cocaine dance more, changing ideas about the insect brain:
In a study published in 2007, Robinson and his colleagues reported that treatment with octopamine caused foraging honey bees to dance more often. This indicated that octopamine played a role in honey bee dance behavior. It also suggested a framework for understanding the evolution of altruistic behavior, Robinson said.
"The idea behind that study was that maybe this mechanism that structures selfish behavior - eating - was co-opted during social…