The extrovert ideal. If you live in the USA, you know what this is. This means speaking up in class, volunteering to be the leader, always being talkative, avoiding “awkward silence,” and generally showing people that you are outgoing. Susan Cain discusses in her book “Quiet” how “extroversion is an enormously appealing personality style, butRead More
Category: Society
Virtual space and the internet
The best way to characterize my generation would be the generation that witnessed and came of age during the transition into the age of the Internet. In contrast, many of the younger adults I have met do not know what it was like back when connecting to the Internet meant dialing into the network usingRead More
Women are cheaters too. A look into female extra-pair copulations with other males
Sometimes, females will sneak off and copulate with males who might have better genes, while their normal mate is a better father (in terms of effort, territory and resources). The theory is that the females do this as a way to potentially increase the quality of her offspring (if some happen to be fathered byRead More
Converting, Passing, Covering (Book Review)
I’ve done it. I’ve downplayed something about myself to give off a different or specific image of myself to others. I just never knew there was a word for it. It’s called “covering,” and it has deeper implications than we may think. My book club read a few months ago a book by that name,Read More
The most high profile conference I’ve ever been to
Today is the second day of the meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)’s advisory body, the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), in its 16th meeting (SBSTTA 16). This body makes recommendations for implementation of the Convention. There is an estimated 600 people here, with delegates and parties representing aroundRead More
The controversy over H5N1 research
Prominent researchers gathered on Feb. 2nd, 2012 for a panel discussion, sponsored by the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), to discuss the moratorium on H5N1 research. Should researchers publish their studies? Would it be a threat to security if the wrong people were able to use their findings? As much as academia may thinkRead More