May 27 2009
Archive for May, 2009
May 27 2009
The Anatomy of Extroversion
Researcher in a crow’s nest provided by science have made a new discovery. Rather than crying, Land-ho! maybe they could bellow, Personality trait, brain physiology correspondance-ho!
Because that’s what the scientists at the University of Cambridge found.
They found that the greater the concentration of tissue in the orbitofrontal cortex (the outer strip of the brain just above the eyes), and in the ventral striatum (a deep structure in the centre of the brain), the higher they tended to score on the social reward dependence measure.
In case it isn’t obvious, extroverts score higher on the social reward dependence measure. Thus, ipso facto, extroversion is a brain disorder.
No, that’s not what it means. Just kidding. It strongly suggests that how we feel, and think and behave, is controlled by our brains and is reflected in the structure of brains themselves. While this single piece to the human-psychology puzzle is not terribly surprising, the pieces are adding up. And that is exciting. What I see so far: the seat of the totality of who we are, what we do, and our experience of the world/universe is not the soul, but the brain.
May 26 2009
The Payoff for Spiritual Superstition
“Consider for instance sacrifice, a very common form of religious ritual. The world over, animals or other offerings are presented to gods, spirits or ancestors to ward off illness, to insure good crops, to make rains fall or more generally for propitiation.”
- Pascal Boyer (1)
If you want protection, you’ve got to pay protection money. If you want favors, try bribery. And the higher up the ladder your gifts go, the better. Friends in high places will protect you from the threats that they themselves often make, so as to keep their scheme going. Of course, the payments you make might actually guarantee you some actual protection — the protection provided by being a dues-paying member of a group.
Whether or not they are truly protected and receive favors, believers who give gifts do experience a payoff. They sleep better at night. They have done what they can. And they may also gain social benefits. If their peers know they are in good standing with the Big Guy, perhaps there own standing, in the eyes of others, benefits, resulting in tangible gain (resources, access to resources, protection from threats).
May 26 2009
I Hear Angels Sing — Wait, That’s Just a Bunch of Bloggers
The latest edition of the blog carnival, The 37th Humanist Symposium, is out. And one blogger commandeth: check it out.
But only if you want to. It’s a free world.
(Damn. I’d never make it as a prophet. Not enough fire and brimstone to my perspective.)
May 26 2009
Nature Hard and Soft
What is nature? Does a 30 lb. lump of granite qualify as nature? What if it has been cut, as in the photo above? Does the touch of human hands turn the gold of nature into the lead of not-nature? Why?
May 26 2009
Conventional Medicine by Another Name
Good news for men -
Results of a phase I clinical trial of a novel herb-based therapeutic called Zyflamend have demonstrated that the therapy is associated with minimal toxicity and no serious adverse events in men at high-risk for developing prostate cancer.
That paragraph describes conventional medicine at work. Testing a treatment to see if it works better than placebo and is safe. Yet the title to the news release found at countless sites boldly includes the words, “novel herbal therapy.”
Hmm. That the “therapeutic” (chemicals) are herb-based, does that make it alternative medicine? I don’t think so. Will it be peddled and advertised that way? I hope not. Why? Because using the word herbal or alternative will give legitimacy-by-association to a whole class of outright bogus or simply untested (pre-phase I) treatments.
But words sell. Think natural and organic. Throw those on a label and people will pay more for a foodstuff. Were a petroleum company put “all natural” on their quarts of oil, they might make more sales. At least with one segment of the population.
My guess is that the makers of Zyflamend, a registered and trade-marked remedy already on sale at herbal outlets near you, would love for their product to be thought of both ways. As found safe and effective via clinical trials AND “alternative.” The words herbal/alternative have everything to do with sales, virtually nothing to do with the true value of the treatment.
[source]
May 25 2009
Looking Closer (47) – Highway to Vegetation
That is one incredibly small highway. Nutrients and other resources are transported along it, so to speak. The pic was taken at x200. You can probably guess what it is. For a second pick and a precise answer, check below the fold.
May 25 2009
Some Knowledge Advances
Some apologists for the obsolete field of understanding called “spirituality,” like to insist that science and religion provide two distinct ways of knowing. But religious claims constitute a knowing no more than a person can “know” a hunch is true. Scientific knowledge, on the other hand — the real hand — is tested and scrutinized and refined and some elements rejected. It is continually vetted to remove the bogus.
When religious beliefs are scrutinized and tested they turn out to be devoid of real content (god just is), common knowledge presented as supernatural (the world would be a better place if we loved one another) or outright wrong (prayer heals).
For instance, what does religion “know” about the cause and treatment of multiple sclerosis? Nothing. Unless of course, we consider the obviously obsolete beliefs that claim disease is caused by sin or bad spirits or engaging in unclean behavior, what have you. Wrong.
And now some science: New research on the treatment multiple sclerosis has discovered this -
The results of a major trial presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Seattle show that taking a course of cladribine tablets just a few times a year can reduce the chances of a relapse by well over 50 per cent. And patients who took part in the study suffered very few side effects.
Thanks to science, we now KNOW a better way to treat this terrible disorder. We can help to alleviate human suffering.
If science and religion provide two distinct ways of knowing, science has clearly progressed beyond the doctoral level. Religion, meanwhile, is back in preschool.
May 25 2009
Fodder for the Anti-Vaccine Folk
A new study came out that that highlights the risks of vaccines.
Wait, scratch that. It’s wrong. A new study came out the highlights the risk of ONE vaccine. And no, it’s not the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine. It’s the flu vaccine. Here’s the scoop from ScienceDaily:
They found that children who had received the flu vaccine had three times the risk of hospitalization, as compared to children who had not received the vaccine.
This is an important, legitimate finding, not to be swept under the rug. At the same time, critical thinkers will not over-generalize the meaning of it: See! Vaccines are dangerous and bad!
First of all it is important to weigh the bad against the good. And that can be difficult. For example: Is chemotherapy bad? It might be. Depends on many variables, x about the person, and y about their cancer. And second, we must ask, what form of chemotherapy? While one word fits all, there are many very different types of chemotherapy.
The same is true for vaccines. To lump them all together is to get sloppy in your thinking. Scientific reasoning requires accuracy. So, please, put down the chainsaw thinking and pick up a scalpel.
May 24 2009
Evil in the Garden
Well hello. What’s your species?
I met this creature in our backyard a couple hours ago. After searching the world wide inter-google, I have learned it is a Yellow Rat Snake.
When I first spied it I had a bit of a surprise. We have a couple birdhouses on our property. I was cleaning out one of them — the one a pair of Great Crested Flycatchers use to raise two or three broods every summer. At least I think its the same pair. Since the latest brood just moved out, and I knew the box needed cleaning because I could actually see the beaks of the young birds when they were begging for food, I took the time to unscrew the front, ready to pull out a mass of old nesting.
The box was pretty densely matted with plant material. So I dropped from my ladder, grabbed a stick, climbed back up, and pushed the stick deep into the bottom of the dense mat. And a snake poked its head out the top! Hello. Didn’t expect that.
I ran and got my camera. Then coaxed the snake to the ground with a long pole so I could finish my job cleaning the birdhouse.
As for the evil in the garden, that would be the Crested Flycatcher’s view of a rat snake. They are one of two arboreal snakes in our area. While the Yellow Rat Snakes do eat rats, they also eat bird eggs and even birds. So if I were a bird, that snake species would represent pure evil. But because I am a human nature-lover, I saw a whole lot more good than bad when I looked into the snake’s eyes.
