On Saturday, at a wedding, talking - as you do - about cortisol levels in people in long-term stressful situations and brain architecture. Pushback from a none-too-bright ideologue (no, seriously) who tried to evade questions about their position/experience (always a sign, that), and had some, ah, odd, ideas about how fear and negative stimuli work... Continue Reading →
“Cognitohazards”, fnords and things that would fry your brain… #Climatechange
Short post: should be working. Lunch yesterday with an old friend (my oldest in the UK?). Found myself ranting (cough, cough) about the lies we need to tell ourselves to get through the day/up the greasy poles etc. "If you woke up every morning saying to yourself 'I am a basically powerless individual living in... Continue Reading →
The kids are not alright, alright? I blame… the ‘adults’, and ‘the system’ (man)
Another on-the-fly post because I need to be working. Three immediate things Anxiety referrals through the roof for kids - Guardian reports NHS referrals for anxiety in children more than double pre-Covid levels ‘Jaw-dropping’ number of children in England with anxiety shocks even professionals Second - someone who tweets up a necessary storm about climate... Continue Reading →
“COP This!” – Climate activist publication from December 2000 abt COP-6 at The Hague
Just a nice bit of history, from a generation ago.... Can't say we didn't know...
Being 15 – sweet innocent and underprotected, or Evil Mastermind Who Deserves Damnation? #Adultification #WhiteSkinPrivilege
Short post, because should be working. Kirstie Allsop, who is some sort of television presenter (1) is being hauled over the coals because she let her 15 year old son go interrailing with his older brother (or someone older, I can't be bothered to read beyond the headlines) Some (e.g. Ally Fogg) are suggesting this... Continue Reading →
Metaphors for thinking about power: the tug of war
You can come up with all the elaborate diagrams and schema you like for thinking and talking about power. They'll definitely be read by reviewers one and two (it is always reviewer two, innit?). And once it's published in some paywalled journal it will be read by, ooh, a dozen or so other people. World-changing.... Continue Reading →
Post-mortems that are deadening…
We're now at the stage where "movement" "intellectuals" are willing to say in public what anyone with two brain cells (#NotAllMovementIntellectuals) has known for years - that the GretaXR 'wave' of climate concern is well and truly dead. And since we're talking about the Last Great British Wail, let's quote Lou Read - "Stick a... Continue Reading →
Videos of Michael Falk, “The Autistic Reporter” from Onion News Network
These are, imho, fricking hilarious. Perfectly scripted, acted, and really helpful too. I am only aware of five - if you know of others, lemme know... Now, in no particular order The missing hikers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ROoNT7-ZI The funeral for the victim of a stray-bullet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx5WJjXmuQI The dead Americans and dead Taliban https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb5rHthCXoA Man hit by train... Continue Reading →
Masculinity, coal and… Weetabix. I kid you not
This from the early 1970s. Back when coal-mining was a suitable analogy for masculinity, and was used to sell... breakfast cereal. Somebody could probably squeeze a Master's thesis, taking historical, cultural, energy humanities, Freudian and environmental humanities perspectives on all this. Throw in some Haraway, some Merchant, Jung, etc. Whatever, life is too short.
“Two kinds of people” – fundamental attribution errors, shaping the rules and “the clap clinic”
Okay, so this cartoon below is amusing, but also limited. It's limited because it assumes that behaviour is mostly shaped by "what kind of person you are" (this is known in the trade as the fundamental attribution error). The problem with the FAE (or one of them) is that it leads to fatalism/shoulder-shrugging by people... Continue Reading →
marchudson.net 