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developed by JhackAbout Skeptikai
Skeptikai defends science and exposes pseudoscience. Living in Japan also allows for an interesting opportunity to discuss fascinating stories that go unnoticed elsewhere. Psychological phenomena and intriguing cases from around the globe are also regularly highlighted.
Should You Let Your Kid Date in Middle/High School? Science Gives a Surprising AnswerYoung love can show you things about yourself you've never known. It can bring you to…
In Japan, Strangers are More Likely than Family to Give CPR for Cardiac ArrestWhen it comes to Japanese people giving CPR to someone suffering a cardiac arrest, it…
Power and Rape – Part 2: How to Create a Breeding Ground for Sex OffendersAs I mentioned in Part 1, rape is tolerated in the military because the acknowledgment of…
Power and Rape – Part 1: Rape in the Military is a Career Killer… for the VictimIf you ever wanted to know just how bad "blaming the victim" can get, look no further than the…
Does Chewing Gum Help You Concentrate?If you want to be a rocket scientist, you might want to start chewing that stick of gum.…
Possessed by Demons, Animals, and Nonsense"Japan doesn't have that stuff. That's more of a Western thing." Just like I constantly…
SATIRAN – Part 3: “Judicial Theatre,” or Judgment for the 2010 IsraeliIn May 2010, the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" was sent to give humanitarian aid and…
Study: Close Relationships Aren’t Necessarily BetterIt makes sense, doesn't it? The closer you are to someone, the better your relationship…
Are Religious People More Charitable, Generous, and Altruistic than Atheists?According to a Canadian study from 2008, religious people are "more helpful, honest and…
Gender, Age, Socioeconomic, and Cultural Differences in Social Networking Site UsageOnline social networks has become an interesting platform for research, and hundreds if…
Category Archives: Culture
The Psychological Science of Storytelling
It hit me about two years ago, sometime after I started this blog. Somewhere between the comedy shows and alarming amount of documentaries I began watching, and the seemingly endless number of people I have met in the last few years, I realized that the social world spins on the axis of stories. It’s hard to believe this fact unless you’re actually in a position where you exploit it. For me, it has become a hard fact of life – if you’re a good storyteller, good things come to you, and people want to be around you. It seems like the most popular people are often the best storytellers, and if you’re a good storyteller, you’re probably good at other things too. But just how do stories have such amazing effects on our lives?
Posted in Culture, Neuroscience, Psychology, Science, Social Psych, TED
Tagged brain, comedy, intelligence, linguistics
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Islamic Blasphemy and the “Freedom” to Choose your Own Religion
In the last few weeks, Muslims from Bangladesh have been going crazy trying to fight back against the critical words of bloggers and other online heretics by violent riots that have so far led to the death of over 30 people. Over 100,000 rioters have been taking to the streets, and the Muslims have been arguing that things have to change for their allegedly secular government. Men must not “mix” with women, and the word of Allah must be brought into the nation’s constitution. And from there… the law against blasphemy can be brought to Western countries. Does that sound about right? It does to them.
Posted in Activism, Culture, Legal Issues
Tagged atheism, Bangladesh, blasphemy, Christian, discrimination, God, Indonesia, Islam, law, Pakistan, religion, Saudi Arabia
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Inattentional Blindness and the Invisible Violinist
If a tree falls in the forest and no one’s around to hear it, does it make a sound? It would be hard to prove if you weren’t there to notice it. But what if you were there… and you still didn’t notice it? This is something we experience every day. Even cavemen couldn’t possibly focus on all the stimuli around them at once – from the rustles in the bushes, to the winds blowing by, to the tribesmen hunting for food – so what chance do we have, in our world of constant advertisements vying for our attention? Our most natural coping mechanism is to (justifiably) unconsciously tune out most of the stimuli around us; but the case of the Invisible Violinist begs the question: What are we missing?
Posted in Biographical, Culture, Psychology, Science
Tagged inattentional blindness, music, perception
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Hamas-Israel Ceasefire Ends as Gaza Schools Drop Sports for Military Training
I have been following the news regarding the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza that started in November of last year closely. The relationship between the two is incredibly tense, and the violent conflict that occurred then was thankfully over soon. The ceasefire was called, and both sides welcomed the truce, however temporary it may be. Despite the fact that Hamas actually broke the ceasefire by firing 12 rockets into Israel on Day 1 of the truce, it managed to officially hold for about half a year. The ceasefire, however, has certainly ended; and the militarization of the children of Gaza seems to be more determined than ever.
Are Vocal Homophobes Really Just Homosexuals in the Closet?
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. -Dr. Seuss
What is it about homophobes that make them so gay? If this questions sounds controversial to you, then you may need to hear the science behind the answer. New research is showing that there actually is a link between homophobic rhetoric and homosexual tendencies. This article is about the notion that if you’re homophobic, you might just be compensating.
Posted in Culture, Legal Issues, Psychology, Science, Sex and Sexuality, Social Psych
Tagged America, discrimination, homosexuality, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, prostitution
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Why Haven’t We Found the Missing Link in the Fossil Record? Science Answers!
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. -George Orwell
If evolution is such an incontrovertible “theory,” then why haven’t we found the “missing link” yet? A compelling question – if not boldly ignorant. In fact, creationists ask this question all the time, falsely asserting that there is a lack of evidence to support evolution. This article is going to look at why we don’t have all the information we want on the fossil record, and what the whole question of a “missing link” really means.
Posted in Biology & Evolution, Culture, Science, Skepticism, Technology
Tagged creationism, evolution, fossils, God, religion
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Bollywood Zombies and The Westernization of Indian Pop Culture
Go Goa Gone, the first Western-style zombie flick to be made in Bollywood, was just announced last week. The trailer was released a few weeks ago and seems to be quite popular, with already over 2.5 million hits on YouTube. This may not seem like a particularly significant thing, but it’s just another example of how Indian TV and movies are taking cues from their American counterparts, effectively transforming their pop culture. What effect might this have on Indian popular culture?
Hungary Solves Homelessness by Finding Places for All… in Jail?
The brilliant move of Hungary lawmakers to criminalize the act of being a homeless person comes as a surprise to some. But this innovative solution to such a complex problem should certainly be known to the world. After all, this effectively makes all the homeless people – and the problems that come with them – disappear. From sight, that is. In fact, from the goodness of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s heart, these people will be given a home for free… in the form of a jail cell.
The 2013 Pigasus Awards
Every year, the James Randi Educational Foundation gives awards to recognize the special few uncritical thinkers who do more to peddle pseudoscience and damage the public in ways that only celebrities could. Below are five “winners” of various categories whose success in nonsense have given actual science communicators like myself a greater challenge – not only to inform the general public of the way things are, but to do so while battle the faulty preconceptions caused the non-scientific thoughts and beliefs caused by such purveyors.
Posted in Aggregators/lists/rankings, Biographical, Culture, Media, Science, Skepticism, Technology
Tagged alternative medicine, cancer, conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, reiki
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Did Jesus ‘Want’ to be Nailed to a Cross?
I’m pretty sure the answer to the question in the title is “no,” but there are many things I don’t know about religion. For example: Why is it that some Christians celebrate Easter by eating bunny-shaped chocolates (often after an informal hunt) and painting eggs, while others celebrate it by carrying a gigantic wooden cross up to the point well they will be literally nailed to it in a fashion that was – to my knowledge – reminiscent of how Jesus was forced to a few millennia ago? And for that matter… what part of that makes it “Good Friday?”