Links 25

Source: http://www.degree360.com/archives/2008/07/links_25...

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1. The Christian paradox: How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong - The link to this excellent Harper’s article has been in my bookmarks list for ages. I was saving it for a moment when I could find some time to thoughtfully write about it. I clearly haven’t found that time, so I’ll just throw the link at you. It’s lengthy (but half as lengthy as it appears because it’s accidentally printed twice), but do take some time and read all of it. I would paste some excerpts but I don’t think it would do the article justice. I suppose I could summarize by saying that much of it explores tendencies "toward an apocalyptic End Times faith" and "a comfort-the-comfortable, personal-empowerment faith" that "veil the actual, and remarkable ... plainspoken message of the Gospels" found in the Sermon on the Mount.

2. The way teenagers view scientists - It’s sad, but not surprising that 70% of 11-15 year olds in the UK do not picture scientists as "normal young and attractive men and women." The results of the survey aren’t entirely disappointing because kids do see science as exciting and important. They just "don’t see themselves doing it." (They wouldn’t want to have to wear lab coats and big glasses, after all.)

3. Extroverted Like Me: How a month and a half on Paxil taught me to love being shy - a writer with so-called ’social anxiety disorder’ details a 52-day stint on Paxil. Very interesting reading.

4. One woman, two souls? - If a human zygote / embryo gets a soul right off the bat (as many argue), what about chimeras, who result from the merging of two zygotes? It’s an extremely rare occurrence, but still a good question: would they have two souls?

5. Magical Thinking: Why Do People Cling to Odd Rituals? - Interesting psychology article from the New York Times. I think there are probably some strong evolutionary reasons for why we ’cling to odd rituals’ and concern ourselves so heavily with good luck charms, signs and superstitions. I’m sure evolutionary psychologists (if they don’t mind me calling them that) have come up with many intriguing explanations. Unfortunately, as with many ev. psych. hypotheses, testing could prove rather tricky.

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