September, 2020 archive
Human Beings: Simultaneously the Salt and the Scum of the Earth 0
Scientific Blogging carries psychologist Simon McCarthy-Jones’s exploration how and why some persons find cruelty gratifying.
It’s fascinating and timely read; here’s a bit:
Humans typically do things to get pleasure or avoid pain. For most of us, hurting others causes us to feel their pain. And we don’t like this feeling. This suggests two reasons people may harm the harmless – either they don’t feel the others’ pain or they enjoy feeling the others’ pain.
Another reason people harm the harmless is because they nonetheless see a threat. Someone who doesn’t imperil your body or wallet can still threaten your social status. This helps explain otherwise puzzling actions, such as when people harm others who help them financially.
Defensive Driving on the Disinformation Superhighway 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Camille Johnson demonstrates that lies can affect our judgement, even when we recognize them as lies. At the end of the article, she suggests some steps we can take to reduce our chances of drowning in the sea of lies. A snippet:
“Let Me Count the Strays . . . .” 0
As Yom Kippur nears, Brian Greenspun takes inventory.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
They just can’t help fondling their portable phalli, can they?
Flushed with Success 0
Stephanie Hays noted that the mansions of the very rich often have more bathrooms than bedrooms (we’re talking in the teens or more here), so she set out to uncover the reason.
Misdirection Play, Going Viral Dept. 0
Scott Maxwell unmasks Florida Governor DeSantis’s misdirection play, which, Maxwell submits, is an attempt to distract from his incompetent and bumbling response to COVID-19. A snippet (emphasis added):
(snip)
His plan was light on details and thick with questions about its constitutionality. So the internet quickly exploded.
Lefties put together videos like: “Trump-loving governor makes it LEGAL to kill protesters.”
Righties screamed: “DeSantis Creates Perfect Legislation That Will Effectively End “Peaceful Protesters” In Florida”
It was just what DeSantis needed to distract from his COVID problems … everyone screaming about something else.
The Unbelievers (Updated) 0
In The Kansas City Star, Melinda Henneberger reports on a small town in the Missouri countryside where most of the residents have chosen to disregard the danger of infection in these viral times. Many of them seem to have bought the herd immunity fairy tale that, if enough people get sick (lots of whom will die, but that part gets left out of the fairy tale version), somehow the threat will magically go away. Here’s a bit:
We are a society of stupid.
Addendum:
Headline of the day: Virus cases reach 7 million in US amid spike in heartland, home to anti-mask sentiments
Follow the Money 0
Thom and Dr. Richard Wolff discuss the economic underpinnings of racial and ethnic discrimination and police brutality.
