I’d been contemplating death lately. Between the great tragedies of the world and the smaller tragedies of my friends and family, it’s the only thing we know for sure.
The one death that I think about a lot—because for the longest time I felt like my reaction was grossly disproportionate—was of my dog Angel.
Vox • 2016 Jul 11 • Alvin Chang
It’s a slow rolling back of the tide, but at some point it will become difficult if not impossible to perform certain surgical procedures and to keep people with certain disease and conditions alive.
So maybe mom was right and going out in the cold is exactly how you catch colds.
Cold Viruses Attack When Your Immune System Is Cold • 2016 Jul 11 • Alex Berezow • American Council on Science and Health
Standard disclaimer: I am not anti-science by any means and I do not believe that GMOs are intrinsically toxic but I am wary of those who push GMOs without question and who are quick to label those who are wary of GMOs and Big Ag in general as anti-science, especially if they are (1) worried about a Malthusian catastrophe, (2) think that increasing yields is the only way to prevent starvation, and (3) think that laissez-faire capitalism is the only way to efficiently distribute food.
Half of all US food produce is thrown away, new research suggests • 2016 Jul 13 • Suzanne Goldenberg
Despite the fact that mass industrialized agriculture is highly productive, it’s a sad fact that the U.S. has disproportionately high rates of hunger, malnutrition, and starvation.
This has everything to do with the way food is distributed and unless this is ameliorated, merely increasing yields is likeyl to simply increase waste.
Yes, weight loss is dependent on thermodynamic factors (energy expended must be greater than energy consumed) but any approach that ignores psychological factors and the neurohormonal profiles that impact these psychological factors is doomed to failure.
How Artificial Sweeteners May Cause Us to Eat More • 2016 Jul 12 • Bret Stetka • Scientific American
On the way to Santa Barbara, ﾐA彡 and I listened to an episode of Invisibilia about non-complementary behavior.
The idea is that the usual way we interact with each other is complementarity: if you are nice and friendly, then I am apt to be nice and friendly to you, but if you are angry and belligerent, then I am likely to be angry and belligerent in return.
Practicing non-complementarity is trying to break out of this pattern.
Psychology has a golden rule: If I am warm, you are usually warm. If I am hostile, you are too. But what happens if you flip the script and meet hostility with warmth? It’s called “non-complimentary behavior” - a mouthful, but a powerful concept, and very hard to execute. Alix Spiegel and Hanna Rosin examine three attempts to pull it off: during a robbery, a terrorism crisis and a dating dry spell.
Flip The Script • 2016 Jul 17 • Invisibilia
Non-complementarity is a powerful tactic that can help change behavior. It’s probably no accident that it is a prominent tenet of many major religions.
But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
It’s also probably no accident that it features prominently in successful social change.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
If you’ve decided to totally conflate people killing cops with people standing up for their right of due process and right to equal protection, that’s really on you. You’re the one committing a grave category error that will only ensure things will get far worse.