What good is the Bard to book-shunning boys?
From The Guardian via 3quarksdaily by Azra Raza on 20 August
... Why are we obsessed with "reading" Shakespeare, especially since he wrote, er, plays? As any English undergraduate knows, Shakespeare's plays are meant to be seen on stage, not on the page. So why do commentators rejoice when a teenager reads Shakespeare? Do we really believe that teenagers should be reading scripts, albeit cultural masterpieces?
More here.
via The Adam Smith Institute Blog on 21 August
Quite classic government. The private sector invents some useful new technology, government at various levels ties it all up in red tape making it uneconomic whereupon government decides to subsidise it. Not having the red tape in the first place would of course leave us wondering why we have all those governing us, something which would never do.
Arts & Letters Daily (lost the date!)
Samuel Pepys: intelligent, curious, decent, and diligent, with an abiding interest in music, food, women and the life of the city... more
How con-men make their faces look trustworthy
via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder on 20 August
Drake Bennett of the Boston Globe wrote an article on the various ways con men gain their marks' trust, including body language, verbal language, and facial expressions. When deciding who to trust, the research suggests, people use shortcuts. For example, they look at faces. According to recent work by Nikolaas Oosterhof and Alexander Todorov of Princeton's psychology department, we form our first opinions of someone's trustworthiness through a quick physiognomic snapshot. … In reality, of course, cheekbone shape and eyebrow arc have no relationship with honesty.
Judging trustworthiness in the face (via Mind Hacks)
The BPS Research Digest: What kind of a person blogs?
via Intute: Social Sciences Blog by Ian Hocking on 22 August
Good question. Fortunately, our friends at the British Psychological Society Research Digest (a free email) have highlighted this research by Rosanna Guadagno at the University of Alabama, who gave three hundred students a questionnaire about their blogging habits and then asked them to complete the Big Five Personality Inventory (a test of neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, and conscientiousness). What did they find out? I won't spoil it for you; the results are a little surprising.
Elsewhere in the Digest, we learn about the psychological factors behind victim-hood, the commitment strength of volunteers to charity work, and the comparative ease of implanting negative false memories.
Hazel's comment:
Intute is always useful (even when I don't understand what on earth they're talking about like with quantum mechanics) and sometimes, as in this case, very interesting. As well or instead? Doesn't matter!
Strange stuff from a computer recycler
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz on 25 August
The Alameda County Computer Resource Center (ACCRC) is a Berkeley, California-based non-profit group that recycles anything that you can plug into a power outlet. Massive tonnage of insanely strange circuitry goes in and out of that place on a daily basis. To share some of those curiosities with the world, the ACCRC has launched "It Ain't Dead Yet," a blog for showcasing "new and/or unusual pieces of technology, identifying them, and finding their values (historical value/practical use/$ value)." Seen above is a wire recorder (circa 1945-1955) that stores audio by magnetizing a reel of fine wire. The folks at ACCRC plan to convert digital data into audio and store it on a wire reel. Just for kicks. From the description of It Ain't Dead Yet:
It serves the purpose of documenting all the interesting and weird technology that passes through the ACCRC. There will be many pieces of unidentified technology showcased here, so feel free to comment about their values/uses. All of the technology here was donated/recycled to the ACCRC, and once it has been identified and discussed, it will donated to a museum, put to use somehow, or be sold.Webster Chicago Wire Recorder (It Ain't Dead Yet)
Better a bad ballot than no ballot?
via Demos Greenhouse by Faizal Farook on 28 August
Here at Demos we talk a lot about everyday democracy, the idea that people should have their say, not just in elections, but also in the fabric of their day to day lives. But what about everyday democracy for people who don't have any democracy at all? The latest edition of Radio 4's Analysis looks at this question (sort of!), asking how do elections create sustainable democratic cultures in authoritarian or conflict states? What are the problems they face? Is it better to have unfair elections than none at all? If you have 30 minutes to spare I'd recommend having a listen to this thoughtful piece, which has a range of interesting contributors. Alternatively, you can read a transcript here.
Nowhere to run
via The Adam Smith Institute Blog on 22 August
As it's Quote of the Week, the Online Library of Liberty cites Edward Gibbon (pictured) on the dangers, in terms of human freedom, of a unified empire. In a large, unified state, he says, opponents of tyranny have nowhere to escape to. That is – or was – very different from the Europe of Gibbon's day, which was divided into a number of independent countries, giving individuals the chance of going somewhere else if government became too oppressive. "The slave of Imperial despotism, whether he was condemned to drag his gilded chain in Rome and the senate, or to wear out a life of exile on the barren rock of Seriphus, or the frozen banks of the Danube, expected his fate in silent despair. To resist was fatal, and it was impossible to fly. On every side he was encompassed with a vast extent of sea and land, which he could never hope to traverse without being discovered, seized, and restored to his irritated master." – Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776)
Perspective via Demos Greenhouse by Charlie Edwards 27 August
Short video. Makes you think.
And it really does!
Generational survey challenges image of 'surly youth' – but supports 'grumpy old man' tag
via Onrec.com - United Kingdom headlines on 27 August
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