dreamer_easy: (red and blue 6)
dreamer_easy ([personal profile] dreamer_easy) wrote2011-02-01 12:47 pm

More stuph

Ricky Gervais and the British way. "Anyone from anywhere can be cruel, anyone from anywhere can be witty, but there is something particularly British about cruel wit." I didn't see the Golden Globes or hear any of Gervais' remarks - what interests me, always, are the cultural differences between the English-speaking nations.

"only around 6 percent of U.S. scientists are Republicans". What the hell?

Words about "The Scream"

Jocularity: Crunks 2010: The Year in Media Errors and Corrections, in which we learn that Lizo Mzimba was not in fact taped to a wall. (The previous year's edition discusses the spread of amateur factchecking, a subject close to my heart. :)

[identity profile] lillibet.livejournal.com 2011-02-01 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
What the hell?

That surprises you?
Edited 2011-02-01 02:19 (UTC)

[identity profile] dreamer-easy.livejournal.com 2011-02-01 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
It really does! If it was more like idk 60-40 or something, that wouldn't amaze me, but six percent?!

[identity profile] lillibet.livejournal.com 2011-02-01 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
Well, the way the Republicans bash the educated elite, denigrate scientific theory and have a general suspicion of data, it makes sense to me. It's not like they're all Democrats or anything, but the Republicans make it pretty clear that they're not interested in the reality based community and thus vice versa.

[identity profile] lillibet.livejournal.com 2011-02-12 06:53 am (UTC)(link)
Thought you might enjoy this article (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/science/08tier.html?_r=1) about the similar skew among social psychologists.

[identity profile] dreamer-easy.livejournal.com 2011-02-12 07:58 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I saw that - the guy's argument is a bit of a whiny muddle, but the actual studies linked to are really interesting. I honestly wouldn't have expected such big differences in the apparent politics of different professions. Or, more accurately, different professors. I wonder what the politics of psychologists and psychiatrists in the US are like? (One comment I found suggested that fiscal conservatives might not be as keen on the starting salary of a professor after all those years of college!)