Why can't we trust what we see? Witnesses to a "murder" were tested on their powers of recollection The human memory can be impressive, but it is equally prone to letting us down. Now groundbreaking research has revealed the extent of just how fragile it can be - and how to use it better. You're in the pub and trouble starts. It's long been accepted that eyewitness testimony may not always be as reliable as it seems. But however fallible human memory is, it's often the only thing police have to go on and eyewitnesses have been responsible for sending people to prison ever since the justice system began - both rightly and wrongly. Now research has gone further than ever before to understand the fragile nature of our powers of recall. The project - involving the Open University, the BBC and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) - is groundbreaking in several ways. 'Appalling' In this case the important action took place when they were least expecting it. 'Lifeblood' 'Empty the head' Below is a selection of your comments.
Education is Ignorance, by Noam Chomsky (Excerpted from Class Warfare) DAVID BARSAMIAN: One of the heroes of the current right-wing revival... is Adam Smith. You've done some pretty impressive research on Smith that has excavated... a lot of information that's not coming out. You've often quoted him describing the "vile maxim of the masters of mankind: all for ourselves and nothing for other people." NOAM CHOMSKY: I didn't do any research at all on Smith. I just read him. There's no research. He did give an argument for markets, but the argument was that under conditions of perfect liberty, markets will lead to perfect equality. He also made remarks which ought to be truisms about the way states work. This truism was, a century later, called class analysis, but you don't have to go to Marx to find it. The version of him that's given today is just ridiculous. But even more interesting in some ways was the index. I want to be clear about this. This is true of classical liberalism in general. It's the same when you read Jefferson. CHOMSKY: ... ...
BLAH Therapy - Need someone to talk to? Talk Therapy Online and Counseling Services. England riots: Timeline and map of violence Riots in London and around the country saw widespread looting and buildings set alight. Dozens were left homeless after a night of riots on the streets of Tottenham after a peaceful demonstration on 6 August over the death of a man who was shot by police turned violent. Here is a timeline of what happened, starting with most recent events. 00:22 BST - The Metropolitan Police say 1,103 people have now been arrested in connection with the riots and 654 people have been charged. Greater Manchester Police said they had so far made 147 arrests and more than 70 people had already gone through the courts. Merseyside Police said they had made 77 arrests and charged 45 people. The night passes off peacefully - with officers still on the streets in large numbers. 21:50 BST - Metropolitan Police now say 1,009 people have been arrested in connection with the riots - and 464 have been charged so far. 20:04 BST - The debate concludes and the Commons adjourns.
OBAMA vs ROMNEY: Here's Who's Right About The Economy Top Ten Psychology Studies Ten studies that have changed psychology and the way we see humanity. After being told about these psychology studies, generations of psychology students have wandered out into the world seeing themselves and other people in a new light. In this series of posts I look at ten studies that have changed psychology and the way we see humanity: “What do babies understand about the world and how can you possibly find out, given that babies are not so hot on answering complex questions about their perceptual abilities?” “It’s not just Miller who was persecuted by this number though, it’s all of us. “It seems incredible that a successful form of psychological therapy could be based on telling people their thoughts are mistaken. “Imagine it’s the 1960s and you’re a first year psychology student at the University of Minnesota. “What psychological experiment could so be so powerful that simply taking part might change your view of yourself and human nature? Image credit: Patrick Q
Can you solve the prisoner hat riddle? - Alex Gendler The ‘prisoners and hats puzzle’ is a classic logic problem with many variants, some of which are described and summarized here. Like other puzzles where each player has information about the other players but not about themselves, they rely on inductive logic and the hierarchy of beliefs to figure out the other players’ thought processes to deduce the missing information. Just remember – if you try to stump other people with this kind of puzzle, make sure you have the right answer yourself. Love the challenge of this riddle? Take a look at these other puzzling lessons from TED-Ed! Can you solve the bridge riddle?
Why Americans doubt man-made climate change - Inside Story: US 2012 It was 42 years ago that the first Earth Day was organised in the US, drawing millions of Americans to rallies across the country calling for a sustainable environment. Some consider that day to be the birth of the modern environmentalist movement in the US. Today the day is marked by millions around the world but its impact in the US seems to have fizzled, with only dozens turning out at the National Mall in Washington DC on Sunday. While the first Earth Day helped lead to the establishment of the US Environmental Protection agency, this year it was largely ignored by politicians and the public. The issue of climate change has barely come up on the US presidential campaign trail. And for the Republicans it is something they would rather distance themselves from. So why do most Americans still doubt that climate change is man-made?
Science Isn’t Broken If you follow the headlines, your confidence in science may have taken a hit lately. Peer review? More like self-review. An investigation in November uncovered a scam in which researchers were rubber-stamping their own work, circumventing peer review at five high-profile publishers. Scientific journals? Not exactly a badge of legitimacy, given that the International Journal of Advanced Computer Technology recently accepted for publication a paper titled “Get Me Off Your Fucking Mailing List,” whose text was nothing more than those seven words, repeated over and over for 10 pages. Taken together, headlines like these might suggest that science is a shady enterprise that spits out a bunch of dressed-up nonsense. If we’re going to rely on science as a means for reaching the truth — and it’s still the best tool we have — it’s important that we understand and respect just how difficult it is to get a rigorous result. What’s The Point: Bad incentives are blocking good science
Faller musikkens verdi? Faller musikkens verdi? Tom Skjeklesæther betrakter det som et endetidstegn at øl blir mer verdt enn musikk. Tom Skjeklesæther betrakter det som et endetidstegn at øl blir mer verdt enn musikk. (ABC Nyheter:) I sommer har debatten om musikkens fremtid, vilkår og verdi tatt fatt igjen. I takt med at det har blitt tydelig for sjefene for noen uavhengige norske plateselskaper at musikkstreamingtjenester som Spotify og Wimp, slik de opererer i dag, ikke innebærer noe vesentlig bidrag til å drive plateselskap eller å livnære seg som artist, har de bestemt seg for å trekke sine kataloger ut av Spotify. Den svenske streamingtjenesten Spotify tilbyr både gratis, reklameavbrudt lytting og abonnement. Det kan uansett være gode grunner til å reflektere over hva streamingtjenestene innebærer, også utover den umiddelbare situasjonen med minimale inntekter for opphavsmenn og selskaper.
The five major world religions - John Bellaimey HINDUISM Children in India are often given comic books describing the lives of the saints and gods. Take a look at one of these and think about the obstacle faced by the protagonist and what spiritual resources were required to overcome it.ISLAM Much of the beauty of the Qur'an comes in its poetry. To appreciate Arabic poetry is difficult for the non-speaker.
Islamofobi og antisemittisme - tvillingideologier I denne artikkelen vil jeg vise hvordan den ideverdenen som selverklært kalles ”islamkritikk” sammenfaller med antisemittismens ideverden. Men først vil jeg grunngi hvorfor det å sammenstille disse ideene ikke bare er legitimt men også nødvendig. Aldri mer Holocaust Etter 2. De aller fleste elever kjenner både begrepet Holocaust og hovedtrekkene i hvordan dette artet seg i form av konsentrasjonsleire, gasskamre og forbrenningsovner. Empati og moralsk avstandtakelse er nødvendig men ikke tilstrekkelig som politisk vaksinering mot nye Holocaust. Forståelsen av hvorfor jødehatet kunne blomstre så sterkt i store deler av Europa i denne tida er også svært begrensa. Nå er jeg heller ikke av den oppfatninga at slik detaljkunnskap bør forutsettes fra elevene når de går ut av ungdomsskolen. Konkret kunnskap om den forestillingsverdenen som levde og florerte i Europa før 2. Forfølgelse og i verste fall folkemord har også ramma, og kan også ramme, andre folkegrupper og religiøse minoriteter.
The history of African-American social dance - Camille A. Brown Interested in some more of the history of social dance in the black community? This article has some great references and video clips showing the dances described and discussed in this lesson: From juba to jitterbug to jookin: Black dance in America. The educator of this lesson has a wonderful site that will further inspire you to learn more about social dance. Take a look here. History does really connect with culture through social dance. Interested in seeing a video clip from Mr. Photo credit for Camille A.