Archive for the ‘bloggingheads’ tag
Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome #
An interesting disease discussed at some length in a rather old (and good) episode of Bloggingheads:
A striking feature of LNS is self-mutilating behaviors, characterized by lip and finger biting, that begin in the second year of life. Neurological symptoms include facial grimacing, involuntary writhing, and repetitive movements of the arms and legs similar to those seen in Huntington’s disease. The direct cause of the neurological abnormalities remains unknown.
In the discussion, Richard Preston uses the more jarring name “self-cannibalism.”
How the Internet is Changing Society #
The latest episode of Bloggingheads, a conversations between Will Wilkerson and Clay Shirky — author of the recent Here Comes Everybody — is fascinating. Truly the most interesting thing I’ve seen in well over a week.
Discussing Morality and Religion #
It’s Science Saturday on Bloggingheads and today’s discussion is especially interesting. Yale psychologist Paul Bloom and UNC (experimental) philosopher Joshua Knobe discuss how morality comes about and persists. Fascinating stuff.
Discussing Obama’s Speech (Again) #
I apologize for bringing this up over and over again, but this dialogue between John McWhorter and Glenn Loury is the deepest and most penetrating discussion about race and Obama’s speech that I’ve seen thus far. (If you’re impatient, you may want to skip the first ten minutes.) Would that cable news commentators were half this good.
Bonus: The latest music video made by Barack Obama supporters. (via Coudal Fresh)
A Great Discussion of Happiness #
The always-nerdy (but nonetheless great) Bloggingheads.tv has a great discussion of happiness between Will Wilkerson and Eric Weiner, the author of the recent The Geography of Bliss. As someone who’s done a fair bit of reading about happiness, I was presently surprised by how much I learned.
Justice for Dictators #
In the wake of Charles Taylor — former president of Liberia — going on trial at The Hague, The Economist points to a very hopeful trend: an end to the peaceful and blameless retirement that too many third-world strong men have too long gotten and taken for granted.
However brutal or corrupt, Africa’s leaders used to shield one another from justice for fear that their turn could come next. But the remarkable spread of international justice over the past decade has brought about an equally remarkable change in attitudes towards prosecuting former heads of state, not just in Africa but throughout the world. No fewer than ten former presidents and military dictators are facing legal proceedings for human-rights offences and/or corruption, some in international tribunals, others in their own domestic courts, a few in other countries’ courts.
If you prefer video, Mark Goldberg and Mark Vlassic ably discuss the same topic in this episode of Bloggingheads.