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On bias in (and against!) romance novels.
Romance novels espouse a radical philosophy, that our joy matters as much as power, progress, or fame.
aesthetics of care, AI, AI algorithm, AI algorithms, algorithm, ancestry, artificial neural networks, beach reads, bias, book review, books, Christina Lauren, Ciara Smyth, data training, dating algorithms, dating apps, dating service, DNA, genetic ancestry, genetics, guilty pleasure, happiness, Maggie Nelson, matchmaking, On Freedom, online dating, pleasure, predictive algorithm, prejudice, prejudice against romance novels, reading, romance, romance novel, romance novels, romantic compatability, silent mutations, soulmate, The Falling in Love Montage, the pursuit of happiness, The Soulmate Equation, The True Love Experiment, writing -
On skin color and sexual selection in humans.
Somehow, many male biologists failed to notice that whichever sex does more caretaking typically has more control over mate choice …
aesthetic preferences, agrarian, agrarian cultures, agriculturalists, agriculture, ancient human diets, ancient human evolution, ancient human skin color, animals, birds, bowerbird, caretaking and mate access, caretaking and mate choice, caretaking and sexual choice, childhood mortality, club winged manakin, club-winged manakins, cultural differences, Dawn of Everything, depigmentation, dietary influence on the evolution of skin color, epidermal melanin, evolution, evolution of beauty, evolution of cuteness, evolution of depigmentation, evolution of epidermal melanin, evolution of skin color, evolutionary biology, evolutionary theory, evolutionary trade-offs, female mate choice, fitness costs, folate, gamete size, human attraction, human caretaking, human culture, human evolution, hunter-gatherer cultures, hunter-gatherers, inequality, male control over reproductive success, male mate choice, mate choice, melanin, nature, peacock mating, peacocks, reproductive success, resource control, resource distribution, science, sexual attraction, sexual dimorphism, sexual dimorphism in human skin color, sexual selection, sexual selection of skin color, skin color dimorphism, skin color hypothesis, skin tone, smooth guardian frog, tamarins, Vitamin D, why are babies cute -
On the aesthetics of time.
What if we celebrated the accumulation of wisdom and experience in the people around us?
age, aging, art, beauty, beauty industry, Cara Jo O’Connell, Cara O’Connell, caretaking, elective brain surgery, elective lobotomy, experience, feminism, feminist, Free Falling into the Cosmos, horror novel, Jenn Shapland, knowledge, lobotomy, Luke Dittrich, Maui, memory loss, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Moana, Mona Awad, neurosurgery, personal growth, relationships, Rogue, skincare, staff art exhibition, Thin Skin, William Scoville, wisdom, wrinkles -
On hubris, politics, and so much collective dread about this coming November.
Each of us is special, but we shouldn’t give in to the hubris of imagining that no one else could do our work.
45, Biden, congress, Democratic presidential candidate, Donald Trump, election, Joe Biden, Joseph Biden, Kamala Harris, opposition party, politics, presidency, President, presidential candidate, presidential election, RBG, Republican party, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Senate, Supreme Court, Supreme Court justice, Trump -
On the timescales of apocalypse.
The world is not at risk. The world has been through this before. But human civilization has never experienced such change.
10 million years of climate, 10 million years of climate change, 20 thousand years of climate, 20 thousand years of climate change, 500 million years of climate, 500 million years of climate change, assessing past climate, average global temperatures, climate, climate apocalypse, climate change, climate change and evolution, climate change during history of civilization, climate change in human evolution, climate science, environment, environmentalism, evolutionary pressure, feedback loop, global temperatures, global warming, human evolution, ice cores, isotope analysis, Kristin Bergmann, mass extinction, paleoclimatology, past climate, past climate change, science, the history of civilization, timescales of climate change, when has climate change happened before -
On Nobel laureate Linus Pauling’s contribution to the climate crisis.
When scientists behave unethically, more people distrust science.
academic research, academic science, Art Robinson, Arthur Robinson, book, book review, cancer, capitalism, carbon emissions, climate change, climate crisis, climate denial, climate deniers, climate science, conspiracy theories, David Lipsky, education, environmentalism, fossil fuel apologists, fossil fuels, global warming, harmful incentives, history, incentive structure, junk science, Linus Pauling, negative externalities, Parrot and Igloo, Parrot and Igloo book, pollution, research fraud, research scientists, science, science denial, science deniers, scientific fraud, statistical analysis, statistical fraud, statistical manipulation, statistics, taxing negative externalities, The Parrot and the Igloo, vitamin C -
Reading Jack Gilbert’s ‘In Dispraise of Poetry’ in jail.
We can be haunted by our differences, our gifts. At times, we haunt others for theirs.
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On Jenn Shapland’s ‘The Meaning of Life’ and boundary conditions.
As we live, we must fine a way to greet the world with delight & joy.