Clipmarks | Studies Clips

The Cultural Evolution Of Religion

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:15:46 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

First off, let me clear the field of an obvious source of what I think is rather fruitless discussion. The authors begin by summarizing three models of the evolution of religion: the evolutionary group selection scenario (religion as an adaptation for group living), the cultural by-product scenario (religion derives from the necessity of a theory of others’ mind and sensitivity to one’s reputation), and the cultural group selection scenario (where competition among social groups favors the spread of costly practices to maintain in-group cohesion).

To begin with, they debunk the oft-repeated claim that religiosity increases charitability. It turns out studies that have made that link are entirely based on self-reporting, a notoriously unreliable source of behavioral evidence

A series of “Good Samaritan” studies found that people’s actual (as opposed to self-reported) charitable behavior shows no correspondence whatsoever with the degree of religious belief

Tags: culture, evolution, religion

Narcissistic People Most Likely To Emerge As Leaders

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 21:49:05 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: It is important not to confuse narcissism with high self-esteem, she said.

“A person with high self-esteem is confident and charming, but they also have a caring component and they want to develop intimacy with others,” Brunell explained. “Narcissists have an inflated view of their talents and abilities and are all about themselves. They don’t care as much about others.”

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Narcissistic People Most Likely To Emerge As Leaders

“Not only did narcissists rate themselves as leaders, which you would expect, but other group members also saw them as the people who really run the group,”

Narcissists, by definition, are self-centered and overconfident in their own abilities.

And while narcissists are more likely to become leaders, results of one of the studies suggests that, once in power, narcissists don’t perform any better than others in that leadership role.

“It’s not surprising, but the desire for power is what really drives narcissists to seek leadership positions,” she said.

Results showed that narcissists did no better than others on selecting the items that would best help them survive. In addition, groups that overall scored highest on narcissism did no better than other groups on the task.

Results showed that the MBA students rated highest in narcissism were most likely to be identified as emerging leaders by the expert observers.

Tags: society, leadership

Michelle McMullen, Missing and Wanted

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:04:34 GMT

clipped by: Delilah1234
clipper's remarks: There are so many questions and accusations surrounding the disappearance of Michelle McMullen, the young mother of a 6 year old, Jayden. Michelle was reported to be taking classes online and had transferred to a college in Louisiana to complete her on campus studies. Apparently she decided to bring her son back to Harrisburg, PA to stay with her parents while she finished her schooling. On the night of September 28, it is reported that Michelle dropped Jayden off at a friend's home in Harrisburg, who, by the way, was not expecting her nor had made prior arrangements to keep Jayden, turned around and headed back to Louisiana, a 17 hour drive.

Clip Source: mothersarevanishing.blogspot.com

The "what ifs" swirling around this case are like smoke around a campfire. Her family reported her missing after they had not heard from her within a reasonable amount of time, and her car was found abandoned in Hagerstown, MD only a little over an hour's drive from where she dropped of her son.

"[Police] told me that a missing person case isn't a priority but a person with a warrant out for their arrest is," Michael McMullen said. "The facts of the [theft] case doesn't fit. They're trying to add mystery to it because the [Harrisburg] police dropped the ball" on the missing person investigation.

A little 6 year old boy is without his mother, he doesn't know why, he has the same questions that the rest of Michelle Mc Mullen's family has and that is where is she? Is she safe? Is she hiding? What has happened to her?

All Jayden knows is that his mother isn't talking to him.

"And he's very upset," Michael McMullen said. "He wants to know why."

Tags: michelle mcmullen, mothers are vanishing, missing mothers, missing persons, missing adults, crime, victim, abduction, justice

Can human consciousness survive without a brain?

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:19:31 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: Why do you think there is such resistance to studies like yours?

Because we're pushing through the boundaries of science, working against assumptions and perceptions that have been fixed. A lot of people hold this idea that, well, when you die, you die; that's it. Death is a moment — you know you're either dead or alive. All these things are not scientifically valid, but they're social perceptions.How is technology challenging the perception that death is a moment?

Clip Source: www.time.com

Parnia and his colleagues at the Human Consciousness Project announced their first major undertaking: a 3-year exploration of the biology behind "out-of-body" experiences

When your heart stops beating, there is no blood getting to your brain. And so what happens is that within about 10 sec., brain activity ceases —as you would imagine. Yet paradoxically, 10% or 20% of people who are then brought back to life from that period, which may be a few minutes or over an hour, will report having consciousness. So the key thing here is, Are these real, or is it some sort of illusion?

if you look at the mind, consciousness, and the brain, the assumption that the mind and brain are the same thing is fine for most circumstances, because in 99% of circumstances we can't separate the mind and brain; they work at the exactly the same time. But then there are certain extreme examples, like when the brain shuts down, that we see that this assumption may no longer seem to hold true.

Deathways Open Doors To Unexpected Cultural Practices

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:22:36 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.buffalo.edu

UB historian studies death in the New World

Cremation, "air burial," grave cairns, funeral mounds, mummification, belief in life after death -- death practices sacred to one culture are often considered "odd" or even terrifying by another.

In every social group throughout history, the disposal of the dead has special significance, and ways of death always fascinate those on the outside looking in,

"Beyond that," he says, "deathways illuminate religious meaning and the social life of cultures about which we may know little else."

"Much of my research looks at how deathways marked cultural self-definition and the definition of 'other' in the New World," he says.

In fact, Seeman says the examination of deathways is virtually unmatched for understanding cross-cultural encounters that took place centuries ago in the New World.

The book also takes a particular interest in how deathways document the cultural syncretism that, over time, reconciled a vast number of disparate or contradictory beliefs,

Tags: death, history, culture, social, belief

Sweden Obesity Studies

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:05:40 GMT

clipped by: yiduozhang

Clip Source: www.itrim.sk

Martin Neovius has a PhD in Medicine from Karolinska Institute (2005), where he worked at the Obesity Unit, Karolinska University Hospital, and a degree in business administration from the Stockholm School of Economics. Martin joined the Scientific Advisory Board during the spring of 2008. Dr Neovius has, for example, been an expert auditor for the WHO. Current research priorities include obesity trends in Sweden, productivity costs associated with obesity and overweight (early retirement, sick leave, premature death), as well as economic assessments (cost effectiveness analyses) of obesity surgery and medication.

Stress and Suicide in Hard Times: How People Really React

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:10:09 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

By Benjamin Radford, LiveScience's Bad Science Columnist

Loren Coleman, an expert on suicides and author of "The Copycat Effect," notes that suicides actually decrease during times of social and economic stress: "Historical studies conducted by sociologist Steven Stack and others have discovered a noticeable dip in suicides and related violent events when there is society-wide anguish, for example, in times of massive immediate grieving in periods of wars and economic depressions."

Though hard times may not drive you to suicide, the stress they create can be dangerous.

The role of stress in health problems, from high blood pressure and heart disease, is well established. Then there are the secondary effects of stress that trigger unhealthy behaviors such as smoking.

In times of stress, people tend to seek comfort — and comfort foods. People who are worried about their retirement and paying the bills are even more likely to want hamburgers and a night of relaxing on the couch

Even When You Sleep, Your Brain Is Awake

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:05:15 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.scientificblogging.com

Sleep in man is divided in two main phases : non-REM sleep, which occupies most of our early sleep night, and REM sleep, during which our dreams prevail. Non-REM sleep is usually considered as a compensatory ‘resting’ state for the brain, following the intense waking brain activity. Indeed, previous brain imaging studies showed that the brain was less active during periods of non-REM sleep as compared to periods of wakefulness.

Although not rejecting this concept, researchers from the Cyclotron Research Centre of the University of Liège in Belgium and from the Department of Neurology of Liege University Hospital demonstrate that, even during its deepest stages (also called ‘slow-wave-sleep’), non-REM sleep should not be viewed as a stage of constant and continuous brain activity decrease, but is also characterized by transient and recurrent activity increases in specific brain areas.

Tags: neuroscience, sleep

Planting Seeds of Disaster

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:54:17 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: In one of the first book-length scholarly studies of ACORN, Organizing Urban America, Rutgers University political scientist Heidi Swarts describes this group, so dear to Barack Obama, as “oppositional outlaws.”

ACORN’s Inside Strategy

Yet ACORN’s entirely deserved reputation for militance is balanced by its less-well-known “inside strategy.”

The untold story of ACORN’s central role in the financial meltdown is about the one-two punch to the banking system administered by this outside/inside strategy.

Critics of the notion that CRA had a major impact on the subprime crisis ask how a law passed in 1977 could have caused a crisis in 2008? The answer has a lot to do with ACORN — and the critical years of 1990-1995.

Banks merger or expansion plans were rarely held up under CRA until the late 1980s, when ACORN perfected its technique of filing CRA complaints in tandem with the sort of intimidation tactics perfected by that original “community organizer” ,Saul Alinsky.

Clip Source: article.nationalreview.com

‘You’ve got only a couple thousand bucks in the bank. Your job pays you dog-food wages. Your credit history has been bent, stapled, and mutilated. You declared bankruptcy in 1989. Don’t despair: You can still buy a house.” So began an April 1995 article in the Chicago Sun-Times that went on to direct prospective home-buyers fitting this profile to a group of far-left “community organizers” called ACORN, for assistance. In retrospect, of course, encouraging customers like this to buy homes seems little short of madness.

Militant ACORN

At the time, however, that 1995 Chicago newspaper article represented something of a triumph for Barack Obama. That same year, as a director at Chicago’s Woods Fund, Obama was successfully pushing for a major expansion of assistance to ACORN, and sending still more money ACORN’s way from his post as board chair of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

Through both funding and personal-leadership training, Obama supported ACORN.

CONTINUED 1 2 3 Next >

Tags: acorn, cra, saul alinsky, bank mortgages, minority quotas, clinton administration, housing sec henry cisneros, madeline talbot, james johnson

Aloe Vera and Garlic top herbal charts

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:07:53 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Anna Salleh

Aloe vera, garlic and green tea are the most popular herbal medicines used by Australians, according to a new study.

Professor Charlie Xue of RMIT University and colleagues report on the first study of its kind in the current issue of the journal Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety.

Previous studies have shown a sharp increase in the use of herbal medicines by Australians, says Xue, who set out to understand more about how people were using them.

The study found that 22.6% of participants had used at least one of the herbs in the past 12 months, with the highest use among 35 to 54 year-olds who were university-trained, and those who earned between A$60,000 and A$80,000 per year.

Aloe vera, garlic and green tea were the most popular herbs, each used by about 10% of participants.

The study found that more than 90% of people felt their herbal medicine had been helpful in enhancing their general health and wellbeing, or providing relief from specific medical conditions.

Secrets of the Human Body

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:07:45 GMT

clipped by: ninadalton
clipper's remarks: Part 3

Clip Source: greensboring.com

6. Fight fire without water!

Worried those wings will repeat on you tonight? "Sleep on your left side," says Anthony A. Starpoli, M.D., a New York City gastroenterologist and assistant professor of medicine at New York Medical College. Studies have shown that patients who sleep on their left sides are less likely to suffer from acid reflux. The esophagus and stomach connect at an angle. When you sleep on your right, the stomach is higher than the esophagus, allowing food and stomach acid to slide up your throat. When you're on your left, the stomach is lower than the esophagus, so gravity's in your favor.

8. Make burns disappear!

When you accidentally singe your finger on the stove, clean the skin and apply light pressure with the finger pads of your unmarred hand. Ice will relieve your pain more quickly, Dr. DeStefano says, but since the natual method brings the burned skin back to a normal temperature, the skin is less likely to blister.

And again, McCain condescends.

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:21:15 GMT

clipped by: Sweeneybird
clipper's remarks: I cringed when McCain asked this - it's kind of nice to see how gracious the questioner is in return.

Clip Source: firstread.msnbc.msn.com

How did I feel about Sen. McCain stating “You probably never heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac before this.”
Well Senator, I actually did. I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent person. I have a bachelor degree in Political Science from Tennessee State, so I try to keep myself up to date with current affairs. I have a Master degree in Legal Studies from Southern Illinois University, a few years in law school, and I am currently pursuing a Master in Public Administration from the University of Memphis. In defense of the Senator from Arizona I would say he is an older guy, and may have made an underestimation of my age. Honest mistake. However, it could be because I am a young African-American male. Whatever the case may be it was somewhat condescending regardless of my age to make an assumption regarding whether I was knowledgeable about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Tags: politics

Senecavirus Structure Revealed

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:31:33 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08

Clip Source: www.scientificblogging.com

Senecavirus Structure Revealed (Oh, And It Still Kills Cancer Cells 10,000 Times Better Than Traditional Chemotherapeutics)

The Senecavirus is a "new" virus, discovered several years ago by Neotropix Inc., a biotech company in Malvern, Pennsylvania. It was at first thought to be a laboratory contaminant, but researchers found it was a pathogen, now believed to originate from cows or pigs. Further investigation found that the virus was harmless to normal human cells, but could infect certain solid tumors, such as small cell lung cancer, the most common form of lung cancer.

Scientists at Neotrophix say that, in laboratory and animal studies, the virus demonstrates cancer-killing specificity that is 10,000 times higher than that seen in traditional chemotherapeutics, with no overt toxicity. The company has developed the "oncolytic" virus as an anti-cancer agent and is already conducting early phase clinical trials in patients with lung cancer.

Tags: senecavirus, virus, science, medicine, cancer, us, research

'St John's Wort plant as effective as Prozac for treating depression', say scientists

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:16:49 GMT

clipped by: bbking13

Clip Source: www.mailonsunday.co.uk

'St John's Wort plant as effective as Prozac for treating depression', say scientists

It has long been a happy alternative for those reluctant to pop pills for depression.

But the herbal extract St John's Wort now has more than just cheerful converts to testify to its mood-lifting powers.

In what is billed as the most thorough study of the plant, scientists have found it is just as effective as Prozac at treating depression.

The study's lead author, Dr Klaus Linde, from the Centre for Complementary Medicine in Munich, pooled data from 29 studies involving 5,489 patients with mild to moderately severe depression.

'Overall, the St John's Wort extracts tested in the trials were superior to placebo, similarly effective as standard anti-depressants, and had fewer side effects than standard anti-depressants,' he said.

Pensioners hit the hardest

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:35:00 GMT

clipped by: notareargunner
clipper's remarks: Never!
Have been telling lying Labour this for years. So much so that MP's no longer respond to letters.
It give me great satisfaction to say to Gay Gordon Marsden and his cronies, "I told you so".

Clip Source: www.channel4.com

Pensioners suffer more from soaring inflation than their working counterparts, research said.

A study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found the average pensioner experienced a 7.4% rise in the cost of living during 2008, while non-pensioner's outgoings increased by 5.4%

Older, poorer pensioners were found to be even more affected by the rising costs of goods, food and fuel.

Tags: pensioners, mp's