Clearly not as much grant money for the soft sciences as there are for hard sciences. In my field, we're not expected to bring in grant money.
it is true we deal with "latent" variables, which cannot be directly observed, like they can with the physical sciences. And ours operate in much wider environments, where other things can more easily influence outcomes and results. Gravity is as well, but to a much lesser amount, and it can be easily modeled.
Where I am most concerned is when politics enters academia. A recent study (in finance and economics) failed to replicate some widely accepted studies on diversity and firm performance. It's controversial, because DEI is in many ways a faith, not a science. And yet, none of us want to try to run studies on it because it labels us as cranks, goofballs, non-serious, having an axe to grind, etc. Economists, because they embrace that image, can do it....
Where the soft sciences shine is when they help explain why we see differences in people, why what works for A won't work for B.
I think a lot of the “personality inventory” stuff is on shaky ground. And when you read how it’s made, the DSM almost in its entirety.
As BikerChick noted, a lot of it has to do with common sense, although some of it is less obvious.
One of the most pertinent critiques has involved the “WEIRDs”: the fact that most of the test subjects are American/Western college undergrads, often from prestigious schools. The findings apply to a small demographic subset that are Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and, uh, Delightful.
Still, I read summaries of the social psychology (and other stuff) and think the research ideas are quite novel and very often persuasive. But some of the results in the past, at least, were often read to be more conclusive than warranted due to publish-or-perish career urgency.
The common sense factor is hard to disagree with. But then, it depends on who’s describing the methodology. I know for me the most entertaining—and hair-raising—description of how the DSM manual came from Jon Ronson’s book “The Psychopath Test.” I had heard of the weird circumstances of the original coming into being, but when you read what a freak show the first conference was and the pushy personalities of the researchers lobbying for their pet “disorder” to be included, you just come away thinking most of it is way too subjective to assess clearly.
At the same time, it makes it easier to understand why it is that just about anyone can read about an established “disorder” and wonder to oneself: “Do I have that? Isn’t that a lot like *me*?”
Many years ago, my mother did a sampler that read "The wisdom of the wise is an uncommon degree of common sense." I always liked that.
Common sense depends on shared experience. Right now, in dealing with my mom, my brothers and I are discovering the degree to which our common sense does not coincide. And there is a definite gender difference. Sigh.
Sometimes behavior is so troubling it can't be ignored. Something must be done, if only for the sanity (sanity! Is it real?!) of the observer, even if the proper tools have yet to be discovered.
We have to start somewhere but also have to recognize crude tools may obscure more than they reveal.
A geologic study of the sediment in a field will yield a good idea of how it will erode during a heavy rain. But plow it, grade it, mix up all those individual, unconnected particles and the same rain event would carve a different pattern.
Once again, the juvenile Northern Mockingbirds are hopping around the yard screaming at their parents to bring them food. They're annoying me and making Jake very anxious. I don't know if it's a single family or more than one. I suspect the latter, based on the number of hostile adults.
As we were listening to the Masters golf tournament on our way to pickleball, I was enjoying listening to the birds sing in the background, not caring much about the golf. Not 10 minutes later my husband said “you know they pipe in the bird sounds?” No, I did not know that. 👎🏻
Our daughter has recently taken an interest in crows and grackles. I spent 5 minutes trying to find the crow in the huge loblolly pine out side the church office so I could photograph it for her.
We had a raven around here a couple years ago. It sounded like a crow in slo-mo, or with a hangover. The crows absolutely mobbed it—probably killed it.
The mothership is reporting on the missed and drone attacks by Iran on Israel over the weekend. All but a few attacks were intercepted by Israeli, US, UK and Arab nation forces, resulting in only minor damage and one injury. The mothership also reports on the start of Donald Trump’s first criminal trial, regarding false reporting of hush money payments to a porn star with whom Trump slept.
Something for everyone. Serious news and tabloid trash.
Today’s special animal friend is the Common Egg Eater, Dasypeltis scabra. Also known as the rhombic egg eater, this nonvenomous snake is native to sub-Saharan Africa, Saudi Arabia, and other parts of the Middle East. Among other locations, it is found at Victoria Falls National Park, which is very beautiful and full of animals:
The common egg eater is a medium-sized snake, 40 to 46 inches long, with a surprisingly slender body for an animal that eats large, round food items. They have a light underside and a grayish-brown back with dark “rhomboidal” markings that just look like zigzags to me, like someone was practicing with the features on their sewing machine.
With an exclusive diet of birds’ eggs, the common egg eater has no real teeth, only a texture of its jaws that helps to grip eggshells. Its jaw opens very wide, surrounding the eggs. The eggshell is cut by bony projections from the snake’s spinal vertebrae; these are called vertebral hypapophyses. The snake spits out the shell and swallows the embryo, yolk, and other nutritious content.
This gray snake is D. medici, which is native to Zambia and Zimbabwe, but is not on the list of Reptiles of Victoria Falls. There are 18 species in the Dasypeltis genus.
D. scabra looks quite a bit like the venomous rhombic night adder, Causus rhombeatus, which is found in much of the same habitat. It is always wise to avoid snakes in the wild. The common egg eater, when threatened, will open its mouth very wide and coil, making a rustling or hissing sound by rubbing its scales together. This is a typical behavior of Dasypeltis and is very different from the adder’s huffing sounds and rapid strikes.
Common egg eaters are a species of Least Concern. They are found in a variety of habitats, but not in the desert or thick forests. Threats include the conversion of wild land to agricultural land and collection for the pet trade. It’s not easy to get them to eat in captivity, because you can’t always find very fresh, fertilized eggs. They may go months without eating, which is perfectly healthy in the wild but is unnerving to a pet owner.
This species is oviparous – egg-laying – and a female may lay two clutches of 6-25 during the dry season.
A snakey! And it seems to know some geometry. I was going to have scrambled eggs for breakfast, but then I decided to do that tomorrow instead. I do carefully remove the shells before cooking.
I'm off to Greenfield; my MIL fell this morning, cracking her other knee, and developing goose eggs on her head.
Last night Katie told me Janet had a cold during the quilt retreat, and didn't do well. So I'm not surprised this happened.
Oh, dear.
Clearly not as much grant money for the soft sciences as there are for hard sciences. In my field, we're not expected to bring in grant money.
it is true we deal with "latent" variables, which cannot be directly observed, like they can with the physical sciences. And ours operate in much wider environments, where other things can more easily influence outcomes and results. Gravity is as well, but to a much lesser amount, and it can be easily modeled.
Where I am most concerned is when politics enters academia. A recent study (in finance and economics) failed to replicate some widely accepted studies on diversity and firm performance. It's controversial, because DEI is in many ways a faith, not a science. And yet, none of us want to try to run studies on it because it labels us as cranks, goofballs, non-serious, having an axe to grind, etc. Economists, because they embrace that image, can do it....
Where the soft sciences shine is when they help explain why we see differences in people, why what works for A won't work for B.
I think a lot of the “personality inventory” stuff is on shaky ground. And when you read how it’s made, the DSM almost in its entirety.
As BikerChick noted, a lot of it has to do with common sense, although some of it is less obvious.
One of the most pertinent critiques has involved the “WEIRDs”: the fact that most of the test subjects are American/Western college undergrads, often from prestigious schools. The findings apply to a small demographic subset that are Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and, uh, Delightful.
Still, I read summaries of the social psychology (and other stuff) and think the research ideas are quite novel and very often persuasive. But some of the results in the past, at least, were often read to be more conclusive than warranted due to publish-or-perish career urgency.
Research on controversial topics would be an interesting application of well-developed AI.
ETA: Best wishes for your MIL recovery.
Who made the rule we need scientific proof for everything? Sometimes good ol’ fashioned common sense is enough for me.
The common sense factor is hard to disagree with. But then, it depends on who’s describing the methodology. I know for me the most entertaining—and hair-raising—description of how the DSM manual came from Jon Ronson’s book “The Psychopath Test.” I had heard of the weird circumstances of the original coming into being, but when you read what a freak show the first conference was and the pushy personalities of the researchers lobbying for their pet “disorder” to be included, you just come away thinking most of it is way too subjective to assess clearly.
At the same time, it makes it easier to understand why it is that just about anyone can read about an established “disorder” and wonder to oneself: “Do I have that? Isn’t that a lot like *me*?”
Many years ago, my mother did a sampler that read "The wisdom of the wise is an uncommon degree of common sense." I always liked that.
Common sense depends on shared experience. Right now, in dealing with my mom, my brothers and I are discovering the degree to which our common sense does not coincide. And there is a definite gender difference. Sigh.
Good morning.
Sometimes behavior is so troubling it can't be ignored. Something must be done, if only for the sanity (sanity! Is it real?!) of the observer, even if the proper tools have yet to be discovered.
We have to start somewhere but also have to recognize crude tools may obscure more than they reveal.
A geologic study of the sediment in a field will yield a good idea of how it will erode during a heavy rain. But plow it, grade it, mix up all those individual, unconnected particles and the same rain event would carve a different pattern.
Once again, the juvenile Northern Mockingbirds are hopping around the yard screaming at their parents to bring them food. They're annoying me and making Jake very anxious. I don't know if it's a single family or more than one. I suspect the latter, based on the number of hostile adults.
As we were listening to the Masters golf tournament on our way to pickleball, I was enjoying listening to the birds sing in the background, not caring much about the golf. Not 10 minutes later my husband said “you know they pipe in the bird sounds?” No, I did not know that. 👎🏻
They probably also pipe in the golf clap.
Our daughter has recently taken an interest in crows and grackles. I spent 5 minutes trying to find the crow in the huge loblolly pine out side the church office so I could photograph it for her.
She would love ravens.
Ravens aren't supposed to live around here. The crows sure are huge, though.
I saw a hawk grab a mockingbird a little while ago.
We had a raven around here a couple years ago. It sounded like a crow in slo-mo, or with a hangover. The crows absolutely mobbed it—probably killed it.
But was it murder?
Hmm. Murder by a mob? Or mobbing by a murder?
Oops.
Owls were a previous thing, too.
We get enormous crows around here. Thor the Son likes to say that they're signs of his Allfather's approval.
Literate offspring are a joy.
We let Thor hang around here because he makes us laugh using a ton of background knowledge.
Good morning. Another warm sunny day.
The mothership is reporting on the missed and drone attacks by Iran on Israel over the weekend. All but a few attacks were intercepted by Israeli, US, UK and Arab nation forces, resulting in only minor damage and one injury. The mothership also reports on the start of Donald Trump’s first criminal trial, regarding false reporting of hush money payments to a porn star with whom Trump slept.
Something for everyone. Serious news and tabloid trash.
From CNN’s story on the start of the trial: “it could reflect poorly on Trump’s character and ethics as voters weigh their decisions in November.”
C’mon, CNN! Ya gotta be kiddin’. What character? What ethics?? Donald Trump never had either!
I have to wonder if the reporter wrote that with a straight face.
Or maybe they were trying to be neutral.
Its as if you argued with yourself throughout your entire essay.
The OCD part of me will now want to rewrite it until I’m happy with it. I.e. every Monday from now until the sun expands to engulf the earth.
OCPD. OCD is much more debilitating.
And Jonathan Haidt will no doubt appear in every version. Are you his publicist?
Is there an opening?
Always. You just have to keep showing your mettle. Of course, I could be playing mind games with you....
Today’s special animal friend is the Common Egg Eater, Dasypeltis scabra. Also known as the rhombic egg eater, this nonvenomous snake is native to sub-Saharan Africa, Saudi Arabia, and other parts of the Middle East. Among other locations, it is found at Victoria Falls National Park, which is very beautiful and full of animals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQmGiJe41rE
The common egg eater is a medium-sized snake, 40 to 46 inches long, with a surprisingly slender body for an animal that eats large, round food items. They have a light underside and a grayish-brown back with dark “rhomboidal” markings that just look like zigzags to me, like someone was practicing with the features on their sewing machine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasypeltis_scabra#/media/File:Eierschlange_frisst_Zwergwachtelei.jpg
With an exclusive diet of birds’ eggs, the common egg eater has no real teeth, only a texture of its jaws that helps to grip eggshells. Its jaw opens very wide, surrounding the eggs. The eggshell is cut by bony projections from the snake’s spinal vertebrae; these are called vertebral hypapophyses. The snake spits out the shell and swallows the embryo, yolk, and other nutritious content.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx_Q4oR8io4
This gray snake is D. medici, which is native to Zambia and Zimbabwe, but is not on the list of Reptiles of Victoria Falls. There are 18 species in the Dasypeltis genus.
D. scabra looks quite a bit like the venomous rhombic night adder, Causus rhombeatus, which is found in much of the same habitat. It is always wise to avoid snakes in the wild. The common egg eater, when threatened, will open its mouth very wide and coil, making a rustling or hissing sound by rubbing its scales together. This is a typical behavior of Dasypeltis and is very different from the adder’s huffing sounds and rapid strikes.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eXJ2tBxaOUE
Common egg eaters are a species of Least Concern. They are found in a variety of habitats, but not in the desert or thick forests. Threats include the conversion of wild land to agricultural land and collection for the pet trade. It’s not easy to get them to eat in captivity, because you can’t always find very fresh, fertilized eggs. They may go months without eating, which is perfectly healthy in the wild but is unnerving to a pet owner.
This species is oviparous – egg-laying – and a female may lay two clutches of 6-25 during the dry season.
A snakey! And it seems to know some geometry. I was going to have scrambled eggs for breakfast, but then I decided to do that tomorrow instead. I do carefully remove the shells before cooking.
I had fried eggs for breakfast today - no shells. I was out of yogurt.
If you could merge them with wombats, you’d have an animal that eats oval things and excretes cubes.
Excellent point. Only in Australia ...
I'm a Frequent Egg Eater...
I bet you don't swallow them shells and all.
Sometimes I do it just for a yoke...
Go practice that after you head out the 🚪
I feel seen.
Good morning. It's Monday here. *yawn*
"Knowledge that produces revenue and profit has proven itself to exist in the most practical way."
Tautologically!