Via Dr. X’s Free Associations: Research Shows Testosterone Reduces Mind Reading Abilities, Empathy Levels New research conducted by scientists from the Utrecht and Cambridge Universities has found that an administration of testosterone under the tongue in volunteers can negatively affect a person’s ability to “mind read”, an indication of empathy. Moreover, the effects of testosterone administration … Read more
I really wish the term “mansplaining” would go away. I understand the problem it’s meant to convey– a man assuming he knows more about something than a woman and condescending to her about it– but it’s an awkward portmanteau and just strikes me as juvenile. Like there’s no way to effectively point out instances of … Read more
Claudia guest posts at Friendly Atheist on what she dubs “Femalegate“: The situation: There’s a discussion and the subject of inclusion of woman in the movement comes up. The panel has 5 men and 1 woman. In the audience, men outnumber women two to one. The complaint that women are hit on too much at … Read more
…of the same panel at a regional meeting of American Atheists in Huntsville, Alabama on the subject of gender relations: One says it all went to hell and it’s no wonder a woman who stood up to ask a question ended up in the bathroom in tears with people consoling her.The other says the woman … Read more
Oatmeal pretty well sums up my thoughts about football on this Super Bowl Sunday taking place in, of all places, Dallas: In short: Don’t give a damn. Never have. Have a very hard time, actually, understanding why people do. But I hope the people currently congregating by the hundreds of thousands at Cowboys Stadium, and … Read more
Cross-posted from State of Formation. Those familiar with the Chik-Fil-A restaurant chain have known for quite a long time that the ownership is explicitly conservative Christian, which hasn’t meant much for people who like to eat there except that they must remember it’s closed on Sundays. But recently it has come out (pardon the expression) … Read more
Those familiar with the Chik-Fil-A restaurant chain have known for quite a long time that the ownership is explicitly conservative Christian, which hasn’t meant much for people who like to eat there except that they must remember it’s closed on Sundays. But recently it has come out (pardon the expression) that the company also contributes … Read more
Listening to Julia Sweeney’s “Letting Go of God” for a bit of thought-farming on the relationship between imagination and science. I know that the quote I’m looking for is toward the end, but am listening to the whole thing anyway because I like to listen to Julia Sweeney when I’m moody. She manages to discuss … Read more
Leslie Halleck is a horticulturist and general manager at North Haven Gardens in Dallas who blogs at growLively. Today she comments on the difference between grocery store eggs and the eggs from her backyard chickens: I’m often asked if there is any difference between my fresh backyard eggs and eggs purchased at the grocery store … Read more
When I lived in Denmark, a friend told me that no one there receives a prison sentence longer than fourteen years, regardless of their crime. I’ve since learned that that’s not true, but the idea still baffles and appeals to me, and that has nothing to do with the specific number. It’s because it suggests … Read more