Monthly Archives: July 2007

Two pro-Scientology pieces in Slate

Posted on July 31, 2007 by Dave Gottlieb

This piece today defends Scientology by likening it to other religions (the Xenu story isn’t fundamentally weirder than Genesis, etc.) and making the case that people give it shit because it’s a newcomer. While there’s some truth to this view, … Continue reading →

Posted in Scientology | 2 Comments

Simpsons “message”?

Posted on July 30, 2007 by Dave Gottlieb

Authority is bullshit, is how David Post briefly boils down the Simpsons’ message in this laudatory post about the movie. I’m not enough of an aficionado to decide whether this reduction is basically right or wrong, but it does mirror … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Nerds == teh white?

Posted on July 28, 2007 by Dave Gottlieb

The Times magazine discusses an interesting racial thesis about nerds, but goes a little further than I would.

Posted in nerds, race | 1 Comment

Stigmatize fat people?

Posted on July 27, 2007 by Dave Gottlieb

In Slate, Will Saletan correctly criticizes the media coverage of the recent “contagious fat” study as politically slanted towards denying personal responsibility and choice, and protecting fat people from stigma, whereas the science actually supports the opposite viewpoint.

Posted in fat | 1 Comment

Depressive realism, or negativity?

Posted on July 20, 2007 by Dave Gottlieb

Has the experiment been done to distinguish the phenomenon known as “depressive realism” (depressed people lack certain happy delusions that regular people have) from a tendency towards negativity, real or otherwise? The classic experiment has depressed people accurately blaming themselves … Continue reading →

Posted in depression, psychology | 6 Comments

Laundry machine growth

Posted on July 13, 2007 by Dave Gottlieb

How fast does the number of laundry machines needed grow on the size of a dorm? I’ve had the intuition that it’s slower than linear, but I’m not sure why that should be the case. Hypotheses: If you’re risk-averse(?), you … Continue reading →

Posted in economics | 5 Comments