Horrors of the Night category archive
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
Jon Gabriel thinks we could ameliorate much of the incivility in our daily lives if we were just to butt the heck out. A snippet:
(snip)
Today, everyone has a smartphone and records everyone else in their worst moments. There’s the guy yelling at a cashier, a driver following a commuter home because she flipped him off, and the woman losing it because the restaurant ran out of guac.
I’m not sure I buy his arguments completely, but methinks he is onto something, particularly as regards “social” media. There’s too much conclusion-jumping and not enough thought in the knees of jerks.
From an Epidemic of Epidemiology . . . 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Dr. Eva Ritvo notes the dissonance:
She goes on to offer some hints for remaining sane as the coronavirus goes, you will pardon the expression, viral.
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
At Science 2.0, Hank Campbell explores the role of “social” media in fomenting untruth and the sometime complicity of journalism in perpetuating the disinformation.
Methinks that “distrust but verify” is a good guideline as regards “social” media.
Epidemiology, One More Time 0
William Haseltine digs into the question if why, when the flu by the numbers is clearly much more dangerous, so many persons are wigging out over the coronavirus. Here’s part of what he has to say; follow the link for the rest.
Why does the 2019-nCoV outbreak rile our fears so? The discrepancy has to do with how humans perceive risks. Novel threats provoke anxiety in a way that everyday threats do not, triggering a fear response that begins with the part of the brain known as the amygdala and travels via activation of “fight or flight” motor functions throughout the body.
While this evolutionarily honed instinct for the unfamiliar and foreboding can sharpen the senses—a sort of physiological priming for confrontation with a predator—it can also confuse the mind.
Fly the Fiendly Skies 0
The International Air Transport Association reports that the skies are getting fiendlier. A nugget:
“We saw an increase in incidents where all other forms of de-escalation had been exhausted and the cabin crew had no other option but to restrain the unruly passenger for the safety of everyone onboard,” he said.
The numbers break down to approximately 30 serious “unruly passenger” incidents on U.S. flights every day, Forbes reported.
That’s 30 a day out of over 40,000 flights in the US, so it’s an inconsequential percentage, but still too high. The story goes on to point out that alcohol is often a factor. Few things ruin a air trip more than being trapped on a plane with an obstreperous drunk–not even a crying baby, because, remember, the baby can’t help it.
Party Hearty 0
(If you are unclear as to what this cartoon refers to, just read this.)
Afterthought:
When I went to college, I briefly–oh so very briefly–considered rushing a frat.
Then I realized I could get drunk quite nicely on my own without having to waste my drinking money on dues.
Because, frankly, getting drunk is what college fraternities do. All the rest is window dressing.
All Hallows’ Eve Approacheth . . . 0
. . . and there be monsters.
Don’t Go There 2
The innerwebs tell me that panicked pols are touting banning travel to west Africa, even though portions of west Africa have struggled with ebola for years, and the rest of the world, for all practical purposes, has done little or nothing to help, because (to be blunt) it was Africa and nobody outside of Africa cared much if at all.
Methinks, as regards the US right now, a ban on travel to Texas would be more to the point.
After all, Texas is the US epi(demic)center for the disease and, unlike, say, for example, just to mention one, Nigeria, has proven itself incapable of dealing with the contagion.
