Category: ideas

Peter D. Kramer (Listening to Prozac, Freud: Inventor of the Modern Mind) has a blog exchange with Paul G. Bloom, author of How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like.

“In this week’s podcast, we look at the World Cup through the prism of spectator health, domestic violence, stadium safety, and how an international astronomy conference in South Africa offers another avenue to economic advancement for the developing world.”

David Patrick Stearns: “This time, might the story come out differently? So says your brain at every encounter with [the] Orpheus and Eurydice [story] … This time, Eurydice won’t die on her wedding day. And then she does. But when her husband Orpheus goes to the underworld to retrieve her, he won’t ruin his second chance with a forbidden backward glance. And then he does.”

“[It’s] surprising how many different names Americans have for that strip of ground between the sidewalk and the street: ‘boulevard,’ ‘grass plot,’ ‘parkway’ and ‘tree bank’ are among them. So after a child abductor in the ’90s left a note demanding that ransom be deposited in a trash can ‘on the devil strip’ at an intersection, a forensic linguist used this dictionary to help solve the crime.”

“Punk is, after all, more than 40 years old. The half-shaved, dyed-black hairdo; mesh tank top; and leather wristbands of the heroin-chic character St. Jimmy is already a historical costume. … The function of theater is to exaggerate life. … Nothing is real in the theater; there is only commentary. And fabulous outfits. Funnily, this is also the function of punk. Including the outfits.”

“What dictates whether a driver hits the brakes at a yellow light or races through it?” A new study identifies the factors.

“Many people like to think they have discriminating tastes when it comes to romantic interests. An Indiana University study, however, found that men and women are greatly influenced not only by what their friends think of their potential fling or relationship partner, but also by the opinions of complete strangers.”

Jesse Bering: “Now I’ve never seen myself as a ‘fag’ … but more importantly I’ve certainly never regarded my many close female friends as ‘hags.’ So I was curious to learn more about the unflattering stereotypes lying at the etymological root of this moniker, which describes straight women who tend to gravitate toward gay men.”

“It may seem strange that there is a hormonal influence in such a delicate calculation as to whether or not to trust someone. But perhaps trust is so important to a society’s survival that natural selection has generated a hormonal basis for it.”