Thursday, March 19, 2020
Friday, February 22, 2019
Studies, where would we be without them
Almost pure cognitive pollution but it does give an entertaining headline: Weak men more likely to be socialists, study claims by Tom Whipple.
This is an uncontrolled, under-powered, non-pre-registered, study conducted by an academic with clear framing biases. It isn't worth anything other than to feed biases and assumptions.
This is an uncontrolled, under-powered, non-pre-registered, study conducted by an academic with clear framing biases. It isn't worth anything other than to feed biases and assumptions.
Don’t tell John Prescott, but maybe socialists are socialists because they aren’t that good in a fight. Conversely, free marketeers may not actually have a sincere belief in the power of Adam Smith’s unseeing hand - and instead have a justified belief in the power of their clenched fist.Primitive self-serving biases dressed up in academic garb.
A study has found that weaker men are more likely to be in favour of redistributive taxation. The strong on the other hand, who in their cavemen past had no problems controlling both women and resources they had no intention of sharing, are far less likely to see the virtue of egalitarian social policies.
That is one interpretation of research by academics from Brunel University, who assessed 171 men for how buff they were – looking at strength, bicep circumference, weight and height.
Writing in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour, they found that those men who looked more formidable were more likely to believe particular social groups should be naturally dominant. They were also much less likely to back policies that redistribute wealth.
Michael Price, from Brunel University London, said that this fitted with some of the predictions of evolutionary psychology. “This is about our Stone Age brains, in a modern society,” he said. “Our minds evolved in environments where strength was a big determinant of success. If you find yourself in a body not threatened by other males, if you feel you can win competitions for status, then maybe you start thinking inequality is pretty good.”
The question was which way did the relationship go? Were men who were naturally strong also more likely to be less egalitarian – calibrating their morals to fit their abilities? Or was it that men who were less egalitarian felt more need to go to the gym, unconsciously believing they needed the strength in order to reach a better place in a red-in-tooth-and-claw social hierarchy? When Dr Price factored in time spent in the gym some, but not all, of the link disappeared – implying some truth to the second explanation.
He said that whatever the factors, the fact it still persisted today was fascinating. “Of course this isn’t rational in modern environments, where your ability to win might have more to do with where you went to university. Lot of guys who are phenomenally successful in modern societies would probably be nowhere near as successful in hunter gatherer societies.”
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Sunday, December 2, 2018
To Form a More Perfect Human by Dwight L. Young
To Form a More Perfect Human by Dwight L. Young
Wilson Quarterly Spring 1990
Wilson Quarterly Spring 1990
In the Absence of Men by Caroline B. Brettell
In the Absence of Men by Caroline B. Brettell
Natural History 2/87
Natural History 2/87
A Most Mysterious Disaster by John McCormick
A Most Mysterious Disaster by John McCormick
The Spectator 10 December 1994
The Spectator 10 December 1994
A New World Comes to Life, Discovered in a Stalk of Bamboo by Adele Conover
A New World Comes to Life, Discovered in a Stalk of Bamboo by Adele Conover
Smithsonian October, 1994
Smithsonian October, 1994
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Monday, March 5, 2018
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Monday, February 19, 2018
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Monday, February 5, 2018
Was McCarthy Right About the Left? by Nicholas von Hoffman
Was McCarthy Right About the Left? by Nicholas von Hoffman
Women’s voices might be scarce in economics, but they are abundant and over-represented in most academic fields and graduate school overall by Mark J. Perry
Monday, January 29, 2018
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Friday, January 26, 2018
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Friday, January 19, 2018
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Monday, January 15, 2018
A Different Take on Sexism in Science by Claire Lehmann and Debra W. Soh
A Different Take on Sexism in Science by Claire Lehmann and Debra W. Soh
Friday, January 12, 2018
Nordic biers and evil spirits from The Economist
Nordic biers and evil spirits from The Economist March 1, 1987
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