Weaponizing Anger, Malignant Narcissism, Logical Chimpanzees
Links and recommendations
You can now catch my conversation with Dan Hollaway on the Citizen Podcast.
Links for Spotify and Apple Podcast.
From the archives:
Weaponizing Anger is a Useful Political Strategy
My Favorite News App:
A recent study from the Netherlands examining the reasoning abilities of chimpanzees may have crucial implications for early childhood education and for the way we train AI systems.
Researchers presented chimps with two boxes, one containing food. Initially, the animals received a clue suggesting which box held the reward. Later, they were given stronger evidence pointing to the other box. The chimps frequently switched their choices in response to the new clues.
“Chimpanzees were able to revise their beliefs when better evidence became available,” said Sanford, who is a researcher in the UC Berkeley Social Origins Lab. “This kind of flexible reasoning is something we often associate with 4-year-old children. It was exciting to show that chimps can do this too.”
I’ve long read different news outlets, but Ground News has made it easier to compare coverage, and that’s where I first came across this story.
They curate media worldwide so you can access every side of every story with context on each publication, helping reveal the structure behind the story.
I don’t recommend many tools. This one is worth it. If you care about what shapes our opinions and our culture, Ground News is one of the best platforms available.
Out of more than 20 articles reporting the findings of this study, right away I see that there is a “blindspot” for right-leaning media with just one—the New York Post—reporting it. So, if you don’t consult multiple sources, you likely wouldn’t have even seen this in the first place.
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Using this platform, I find it easier to tell the difference between straightforward information and attempts to persuade (or manipulate).
Links and recommendations:
Thinking About Crime at 50 by Charles Fain Lehman
Malignant Narcissism by W. Keith Campbell
The Monks in the Casino by Derek Thompson
REVIEW: The Everlasting Empire, by Yuri Pines by John Psmith
Your followers might hate you by Paul Bloom
You Cannot Destroy the Elite by Noah Carl
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Three interesting findings:
1. Gay male couples have the lowest breakup rates; female-female couples have the highest. On average, women are more likely than men to initiate breakups. As a result, two women in a relationship means a higher chance of a breakup. (source; h/t Steve Stewart-Williams)
2. Large study in England (n = 7,403) finds that people who claim to be “spiritual but not religious” are more likely to have mental health issues including drug dependency, abnormal eating attitudes, generalized anxiety disorders, and phobias. (source).
3. Half of married adults have sex at least once per week, compared with only one-third of unmarried adults:
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