Evil and empathy: Scientists shed light on hearts of darkness (Globe and Mail)
Simon Baron-Cohen on empathy.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Should governments and spies spend more time on Twitter? (Globe and Mail)
This article is offensive for many reasons.
1.) In a supposedly democratic society, Canada, we are using the opportunity for popular uprisings demanding democracy in Egypt to discuss whether or not our arms of the state should be spying on such media so that they can better predict and stop such democratic movements. Included in the discussion are protests and demonstrations.
2.) The connection can be easily made that there is veiled envy for China's policies here.
3.) It is offensive to our intelligence for an article to act as though law enforcement weren't ALREADY 'spying' in these ways. Only a fool would think that the Internet is not being monitored.
4.) It makes me feel great inside that the government would take it upon themselves to 'correct' us and get in there in the debate (of course we know we could trust them in that they would never do so undercover). Please, oh father, let me know if I have erred.
This article is offensive for many reasons.
1.) In a supposedly democratic society, Canada, we are using the opportunity for popular uprisings demanding democracy in Egypt to discuss whether or not our arms of the state should be spying on such media so that they can better predict and stop such democratic movements. Included in the discussion are protests and demonstrations.
2.) The connection can be easily made that there is veiled envy for China's policies here.
3.) It is offensive to our intelligence for an article to act as though law enforcement weren't ALREADY 'spying' in these ways. Only a fool would think that the Internet is not being monitored.
4.) It makes me feel great inside that the government would take it upon themselves to 'correct' us and get in there in the debate (of course we know we could trust them in that they would never do so undercover). Please, oh father, let me know if I have erred.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
U.S. man charged with plotting to blow up Detroit-area mosque (Globe and Mail)
Not once is this man called a terrorist. Invert the roles. Imagine how the article would be written.
Not once is this man called a terrorist. Invert the roles. Imagine how the article would be written.
Neuroscientists try to unlock the origins of creativity (Globe and Mail)
What an incredibly uncreative way of thinking about this!
"What can you do with a brick?" is a standard creativity question? Well, what about these suggestions?
"Ultimately, their experiments could lead to a better understanding of creativity and help teachers nurture it in the classroom." Why would we want do to that? "Does studying art and music make children more creative in math and problem solving?" Ah, ok. Math and problem solving. Phew. For a minute there I thought we were talking about, you know, art. "Breaking down creativity into different steps is essential if scientists are going to identify the networks or regions involved, says Dr. Vartanian, who also works for Defence Research and Development Canada, an agency of the Department of National Defence." And the Department of National Defence is concerned about creativity.
"He found that a part of the brain that plays a role in self-restraint and evaluation – the inner critic – powered down when the musicians were improvising, while an area associated with self-expression ramped up." So now we have parts of the brain which are related to self-restraint and self-expression. Although it is perhaps helpful to see which parts of the brain fire in these experiments, it may be a bit too hasty to think the parts as associated with self-restraint or self-expression, and all that is implied/hidden in such concepts (e.g. interiority).
Seriously though, this is awesome. I care about this alot.
What an incredibly uncreative way of thinking about this!
"What can you do with a brick?" is a standard creativity question? Well, what about these suggestions?
"Ultimately, their experiments could lead to a better understanding of creativity and help teachers nurture it in the classroom." Why would we want do to that? "Does studying art and music make children more creative in math and problem solving?" Ah, ok. Math and problem solving. Phew. For a minute there I thought we were talking about, you know, art. "Breaking down creativity into different steps is essential if scientists are going to identify the networks or regions involved, says Dr. Vartanian, who also works for Defence Research and Development Canada, an agency of the Department of National Defence." And the Department of National Defence is concerned about creativity.
"He found that a part of the brain that plays a role in self-restraint and evaluation – the inner critic – powered down when the musicians were improvising, while an area associated with self-expression ramped up." So now we have parts of the brain which are related to self-restraint and self-expression. Although it is perhaps helpful to see which parts of the brain fire in these experiments, it may be a bit too hasty to think the parts as associated with self-restraint or self-expression, and all that is implied/hidden in such concepts (e.g. interiority).
Seriously though, this is awesome. I care about this alot.
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