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The Real Reason Feminists Don’t Like ‘Princesses’?0
- Culture
- March 21, 2016
If you’re like me, you’ve probably had a chuckle now and then over little girls who run around with pink gowns with a tiara topping their tousled hair. But as author Jerramy Fine explains, the princess persona has been much maligned in a culture which discourages “girly” femininity, and instead encourages girls to do everything
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The Meaning of Holocaust: Do you know it?0
- History
- March 21, 2016
Words are powerful. In the case of the word holocaust, we tend to think of it solely in reference to the Nazis’ attempt to eliminate all Jews in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s through mass shootings, concentration camps, and eventually gas extermination followed by mass graves and crematorium. But the word was actually in
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Study: Smart People are Happier with Fewer Friends0
- Science
- March 21, 2016
If too much socialization wears you out, it might be because you’re smart. That’s the interesting revelation uncovered in new research by evolutionary psychologists Satoshi Kanazawa and Norman Li, as reported in the Washington Post. Unsurprisingly, Kanazawa and Li found the following correlations in a national survey of 15,000 people they conducted: The higher the
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Should We Clone a T-Rex?0
- Science
- March 21, 2016
The unearthing of a pregnant, 68 million year-old Tyrannosaurus rex in Montana reportedly has the potential to yield the holy grail of paleontological discoveries: T-Rex DNA. The specimen, says North Carolina State University paleontologist Lindsay Zanno, contains medullary bone, a tissue that develops only in pregnant females near the creature’s egg-laying phase. The presence of
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Is Humility a Specifically Religious Virtue?0
- March 21, 2016
In many secular contexts today, it’s considered a virtue for people to “be humble.” But should that be the case? Apart from a religious context, does it really make sense for people to cultivate humility? The background for this question is the idea that—if we care about being rational human beings—moral attitudes need to be
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How Johann Sebastian Bach Taught His Students0
- Culture
- March 21, 2016
March 21st marks the birthday of one of the greatest composers of all time: Johann Sebastian Bach. Beyond being a great composer, Bach was also a great teacher who raised many pupils to be masters of their craft. According to Bach’s first biographer, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, Bach’s success as a teacher resulted in part from
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How ‘The Simpsons’ Predicted Trump0
- Politics
- March 21, 2016
On March 19, 2000, The Simpsons alluded to a future Donald Trump presidency in an episode titled “Bart to the Future.” Newsday puts it thus: “Bart sees his future in a vision where his band plays a gig for popcorn shrimp and Lisa becomes the first ‘straight female’ president of the United States. In a clip
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Do Americans Need a Weekly Day of Rest?0
- Culture
- March 21, 2016
For many who work in the world of desks and offices, the idea of going to work on a Sunday is rather incomprehensible, except perhaps when under the pressure of an urgent deadline. But for those who work in industries such as retail or service, Sunday has become just another day. Nowhere is this more
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Academics are Horribly Unprofessional… Here’s Why0
- Education
- March 21, 2016
In a recent article for The Chronicle of Higher Education Rob Jenkins asks, “Why Are Some Academics So Unprofessional?”. One might well ask the same about any other profession, of course; doubtless many of you could give examples. But it does seem worse in academia, and that suggests a lesson both important and easily absorbed.
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