An ‘artificial world inside a computer’ helps explain how complex forms evolve.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Respect the Other Even When it’s a Virus? 
May 8th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A new book examines metaphors for disease and cure but leaves some others unexamined.… Read the rest
Frankencrop?
May 8th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
India harvests its first GM cotton, which is resistant to the bollworm but has opponents worried nonetheless.… Read the rest
Poetry and the Politics of Self-Expression
May 8th, 2003 | By Barney F. McClelland
You say, as I have often given tongue
In praise of what another’s said or sung.
‘Twere politic to do the like by these;
But was there ever a dog that praised his fleas?
William Butler Yeats
Some years ago, a mentor of mine put forth the argument: “Would you try to build a cabinet when you did not posses even the rudimentary woodworking skills or knowledge of the tools necessary to build the cabinet? Of course not, then why do so many people think they can write poetry without an iota of preparation?”
Still, many do. “Pop vocalists pose as opera singers. Important art museums exhibit installations that the cleaning staff mistakes for trash. Obscenity-riddled recitations, imposed over rhythm … Read the rest
No Facts Please, This is a Film
May 7th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Cromwell transformed from theocrat to freedom fighter? Never mind, the truth doesn’t put bums on seats.… Read the rest
Who Cheesed His Virtue?
May 6th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Virtuous Bill Bennett gambled away $8 million, but it’s okay because he started with church bingo.… Read the rest
Fear Is Not Rational
May 5th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We’re more afraid of rare, unfamiliar dangers than more mundane and likely ones.… Read the rest
Cathartic or Inflaming?
May 5th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Study says music with violent lyrics increases aggressive thoughts.… Read the rest
She Said He Said
May 4th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Lynne Segal and Simon Baron-Cohen discuss whether men’s and women’s minds are really different.… Read the rest
Clothes Make the Academic
May 4th, 2003 12:30 am | By Ophelia BensonIn the very first Note and Comment of this year I linked to a heart-warming little story (the link is now dead, unfortunately) in the New York Observer about those wonderful hip folks at the Modern Language Association, which featured the profound, almost Gnostic aphorism, ‘Theorists are the snappiest dressers.’ What is it about lit crits these days, people often, often wonder; why are they so full of themselves, so grandiose, so deluded about their omniscience? It couldn’t be mere physics envy could it? Surely they’re too wised up and knowing to fall into that old trap!
Leonard Cassuto takes a look at the issue in this article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. He had to talk to … Read the rest
Is Name-Calling Free Speech?
May 3rd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Organizing a demo is one thing, calling a teacher a fascist cow is another – right?… Read the rest
Violence, Mockery and Exaggeration
May 3rd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Girly writing about tree-love is politically correct while boyish writing about action and adventure is not, says Thomas Newkirk.… Read the rest
Peer-review and Status Anxiety
May 3rd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Scientists are more collegial and less condescending than humanists, a humanist discovers.… Read the rest
Student Evaluations
May 2nd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Will Pick-a-Prof websites correct grade inflation or encourage it?… Read the rest
Bad Science
May 2nd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Photograph your aura, avoid perfect spheres, keep SARS under holistic control.… Read the rest
Lukewarm or Bad-tempered
May 2nd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Were Einstein and Newton mildly autistic? Or were they just too clever for small talk.… Read the rest
Cognitive Sex Differences
May 2nd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The subject is a political minefield, but research is the only way to distinguish between facts and fact-free stereotypes.… Read the rest
L.A. Book Festival
May 1st, 2003 8:15 pm | By Ophelia BensonThere was a tiny local skirmish in the ongoing battle between scientists and their various critics, teasers and self-appointed scourges a few days ago at the Los Angeles Book Festival, which was shown on the defiantly uncommercial tv channel Cspan. The critic was one Jeffrey Schwartz, who made a bizarrely impassioned, over-emphatic near-oration on the perils of ‘scientism,’ the putative belief of scientists that only what can be measured is real and that science claims it knows everything worth knowing. Schwartz spoke fervently about the importance of inner experience (do a lot of people dispute that nowadays? Isn’t behaviorism kind of, like, over?) and claimed that it too should be treated as science, that there were ways (not specified) of … Read the rest
Neurotheology
May 1st, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Happenings in the brain interact with what we already know and want.… Read the rest
Interview With Daniel Dennett
May 1st, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Meaning doesn’t need magic, good ideas spread better than bad ones, reflection and choice matter.… Read the rest
