The End Days

Terry Sanderson has a nice little opinion piece in the Guardian. (reposted below) I’m interested to know who agrees with him, are we finally in the end days of religion, or will yet another mythology crop up to take it’s place?

Test Time: Do you have to be lucky to be good?

Check out the Moral Sense Test, courtesy of Harvard U. and a boom in Experimental Philosophy — that is, Philosophy grounded in real life research, or at least more concerned with real life happenings than say“the thing in itself.“

I took it. I don’t know what to say other than the situations are a bit of a bitch — but then, it is designed to probe one’s morality. It’s the same sort of questioning one would expect to see in an introductory ethics textbook– the “should I kill one person to save 5″ type scenario.

For Immediate Consideration…

Perhaps the People’s Front of Judea had a little bit more on the ball than we thought. Sam Wang and Joshua Gold examine the brains of independant/undecided voters: make a choice early and get on with the rest of your mental life or keep gathering information until you reach a decision “tipping point.”

Your Brain’s Secret Ballot

By SAM WANG and JOSHUA GOLD

AS we enter the final week of a seemingly endless election campaign, opinion polls continue to identify a substantial fraction of voters who consider themselves “undecided.” Although their numbers are dwindling, they could still determine the outcome of the race in some states. Comedians and other commentators have portrayed these people as fools, unable to choose even when confronted with the starkest of contrasts.

Recent research in neuroscience and psychology, however, suggests that most undecided voters may be smarter than you think.

How Stupid Are We?

And by we, I mean thee. Obviously Ty, Roger, Yeiser, and I have a lot on the ball. Just kidding folks. A good interview with Rick Shenkmen, who lifts the hood and takes a look at ideas like “the Americans are smart voters” and “I believe the children are our future” and throws a few wrenches in there.

For the record, Shenkman says:

I’m not calling the American people stupid.  That would be as stupid as when politicians say the American people are smart.  You simply cannot meaningfully generalize about 300 million people.

That said, he has tons of meaningful ways of pointing out our stupidity.

Also, a link to his opinion piece from the Washington Post where he provides a more straight ahead debunking of “5 Myths About Those Civic-Minded, Deeply Informed Voters” (read Americans).

As we’re nearing election time, and two of your editors have called the election for Obama, it may be time to get a whiff of these smelling salts. And don’t forget to post your electoral prediction here.

Poll Redux

Someone out there has their ear to the tracks. We can now directly embed polls. Look for more tasty follow up’s to this world breaking poll.

Fear Mongering, the Literary Way

Wow, this blog post is from an anti-Obama individual (Kim Crawford) who seems to believe that Obama hates her (and her “kind”)… a lot. The post is remarkable for its odd mixture of literary craft and paranoia — for its erudition and unmedicated insanity. Here’s a taste:

Did I mention this man hates me? You and me? Yes he does. Why? Because he can. Yes He Can. Beneath that cool persona is a megalomaniac. Cool? Like Stalin after a purge, emotionally and sexually spent. Like Saddam after a torture session, dozing in his chair with someone’s genitals curled in his fist. Like Pol Pot after a petit mal seizure, mumbling a litany of the dead. Cool that way.

Something Else to Vote On

Although the results of this poll are (so far) completely inaccurate, I find it nevertheless interesing…

http://www.yesnogod.com/index2.html

Sunday Funny #15

Such arrogance, such close-mindedness… 

“I’m sorry madam, you’re going to have to give your brain back, because you are clearly not using it.”