Some Scientists Try REALLY Hard to Prove Their Own BS World Views

This is a nice deconstruction of Simon Baron-Cohen trying desperately to make the evidence fit his preconceived notions, even to the extent of some seriously convoluted logic unworthy of a scientist. Sigh.

Source: http://scottsworlds.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/eating-disorders-and-not-so-female-brain.html

Women Can't Multitask Either

Pretty much nobody can. So get your eyes back on the road, and PUT THE PHONE DOWN! ...ahem...

This is a wonderful infographic on the effects of "multitasking." (Did you see the quotes? Yeah. That's 'cuz it's a myth.)

"Focusing on more than one thing decreases your productivity by 40% and lowers your IQ by 10 points"

Link: http://mashable.com/2012/08/13/multitasking-infographic/

We need not fear wanting

This really resonates with me. I know so many people who are determined to stuff down or push away any and all desires in the name of being spiritual. Seems to me that wanting is part of being human, and any spirituality worth its salt would have room for humanity to be...well, human.

"if we push away desire, we disconnect from our tenderness and we harden against life. We become like a “rock in winter.” When we reject desire, we reject the very source of our love and aliveness."

link: http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/the-suffering-of-rejecting-desire

The Mingling of Grief and Joy

Closure is such a pervasive concept in our society. The assertion that it really doesn't exist and that we should stop chasing it really rings true to me. At the same time, I find in myself a deep longing for the grief to go away leaving only joy. I suppose that's closely akin to the fantasy of a life without problems, work, or traffic.

The blurb: Nancy Berns is a sociologist at Drake University. She looks at the space between grief and closure and has found that not only is closure a fabricated concept, it is doing us more harm than good.

Link: http://youtu.be/w0rCfXSdYPE

No Noodles

Wonderful animation.

http://www.sharesomecandy.com/2012/07/tyler-nicolson.html

Myths and Facts About Gender Differences in the Brain

Great article. Nice and clear.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-myths/201207/two-myths-and-three-facts-about-the-differences-in-men-and-womens-brains

Same Planet. Sorry Y'all.

As usual, the data shows that we're more alike than most people want to admit.

Source: http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-women-and-men-really-communicate-different

Yesterday's Toothpicks are Today's Baseball Bats: fMRI ≠ 42

Another in a string of reasons not to get too enamored of the idea that fMRI scans are scientific mind reading. Turns out they miss a lot activity that might be important.

"These papers illustrate the fact that conventional fMRI is a blunt instrument that often only tells us about the most straightforward events that happen in the brain. A bit like how we only hear the shouts and screams from through our neighbor's walls, not their normal conversations, which aren't loud enough to reach our ears."

Source: http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2012/03/brain-scanning-just-tip-of-iceberg.html

For the Douglas Adams impaired, 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

Hannah Rosin's Lying Statistics

I read Hannah Rosin's "End of Men" article in the Atlantic when it came out. I remember that it just felt wrong, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why. Well, Derek Rose spelled it out for me. It was wrong. Way wrong.

Source: http://goodmenproject.com/ethics-values/men-at-work-objecting-the-end-of-men-and-celebrating-masculinity-in-the-workforce/