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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: Technology
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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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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Gender, Age, Socioeconomic, and Cultural Differences in Social Networking Site Usage
Online social networks has become an interesting platform for research, and hundreds if not thousands of studies around the world are investigating how we interact with others online. This article looks into recent studies that analyzed data regarding differences in age, culture, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Gender Differences
Researchers from the Santa Fe Institute used a multiplayer game “Pardus” to analyze social networks. Online video games have become increasingly seen as a gold mine of data on social interactions in recent years, and, as it turns out, many of the same gender differences seen in the real world were observed in the social networks in Pardus.
Posted in Culture, Media, Technology, Video Games
Tagged age-related, America, China, economy, facebook, gender, internet, social networking
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How Many Teenage Daughters Are Meeting Strangers from the Internet Offline?
A new study has just come out which reveals something about the relationship between technology and our social lives. At no time in history have we been so technologically connected to one another. We can get and stay in contact with people at any hour of the day from virtually anywhere on the planet. The reason I’m saying this is because I don’t want you to be too shocked when I tell you the percentage of teenage girls are meeting people offline.
Posted in Culture, Japan, Psychology, Science, Sex and Sexuality, Social Psych, Technology
Tagged dating, internet, parenting
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Japan’s Social Network Wars – Facebook Beats Twitter and Mixi
It’s official – Facebook wins. The American-based company struggled to make an impact in Japan at first, but now it seems as though Japan has warmed up to Facebook. Their only real competition was Mixi – the MySpace of Japan (which came out before Facebook) – and Twitter. They both had a good run, but it seems that the island has spoken, and Facebook won’t be surpassed by either of them.
Posted in Culture, Japan, Technology
Tagged facebook, mixi, social networking, twitter
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Western Games Are Becoming More Popular in Japan
A decade ago, if you asked a gamer what the best video game ever made was, some of the most popular answers would be Super Mario Brothers, Final Fantasy VII, Chrono Trigger, and Ocarina of Time. These still frequent many lists on the web of the best video games of all time, but what’s really notable is that they were all made by Japanese companies. For many years, the Western game industry failed to make a significant impact on the Japanese market, whereas Japanese companies had success in both markets. But now it appears that Japanese people are picking up more Western titles than ever before, and perhaps Japan’s games are not as acclaimed as they used to be.
The Science and Art of Being a Sniper (15 Top Documentaries)
Snipers are one of the best-used weapons in armies and law enforcement agencies all over the world. The lone sniper hides behind an open window, waiting for the perfect opportunity. Their guns fire several kilometres away, so they can take aim and get out of a situation quickly without being seen or putting themselves at risk. Or at least… that’s what we think of when we see them in the movies. Evidently, there is a heck of a lot more to using a sniper rifle than these experts are given credit for, considering factors such as altitude, location, light, weather, wind speed, and timing. The documentaries compiled below show the science and art of being an effective sniper.
Advertising to the Brain – Is Neuromarketing Ethical?
Have you enjoyed any recent commercials you saw on TV? Was there one that you considered profound, hilarious, moving, or inspiring? Advertisements nowadays are sometimes designed to appeal to you by using an increasingly popular procedure called “neuromarketing.” Neuromarketing is the study and practice of measuring how people’s brains respond to an advertisement, in order to maximize its effectiveness. This is done by monitoring things such as brain activity, eye-tracking, and skin response. But along with the technological advances that allow people to scan brains in order to sell products comes the all-important question: Is neuromarketing ethical?
Posted in Culture, Media, Neuroscience, Psychology, Science, Technology
Tagged advertisements, comedians
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Love Plus Imagination – Part 3: Why Visual Novels (and Manga Comics) are More Popular in Japan
“Only a Japanese person would like that…” An ignorant and perhaps subtly racist statement, sure. However, for a different reason, there’s some truth to it when it comes to manga (Japanese comics) or visual novels (a video game genre that entails slow-paced story-telling, lots of reading, and pop-up options that can completely change the course of the game). To be clear, the statement is not true because Japanese people are inherently more inclined to like visual novels; but rather, they are more likely to give such games a chance and overlook issues that most English-speakers/Westerners would not tolerate as easily, because of their culture. The information below will reveal what the English-speaking world is ignorant of in several specific aspects of Japanese popular culture.
Posted in Activism, Culture, Japan, Psychology, Technology, Video Games
Tagged japanese language, languages
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Centenarians: “The Key to a Long Life is Video Gaming”
Apparently the fountain of youth may come with batteries. Recent research suggests that sedentary activities such as watching an hour of TV may take off 22 minutes of your life, but they didn’t say that about video gaming. Physical activity is obviously important, but there are people who thank video games for their mental health. For those who scoff at this activity as just a mindless form of entertainment, it would be best to wait until you hear them speak about it. They may make you change your mind.
Posted in Activism, Biographical, Culture, Japan, Medicine & Health, Technology, Video Games
Tagged age-related, England
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