TED Talk - Michael Shermer: The pattern behind self-deception

TED 2010 - Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic Magazine, debunks myths, superstitions and urban legends — and explains why we believe them.

In this talk, Shermer "says the human tendency to believe strange things — from alien abductions to dowsing rods — boils down to two of the brain's most basic, hard-wired survival skills. He explains what they are, and how they get us into trouble."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Scientific American - the reliability of eyewitness accounts

Thank you to Lucas for bringing this piece to my attention.  Memory and eyewitness testimony come under heavy criticism in terms of their reliability, their bias and the way they are influenced by personal assumptions or experiences. This piece, by Scientific American, explores the controversy surrounding eyewitness accounts and the devastating effects these can have. Why Science Tells Us Not to Rely on Eyewitness Accounts
Read more

The Guardian - Allow me to womansplain the problem with gendered language

Image
In this opinion column, journalist Arwa Mahdawi explores the limitations of gendered language such as mansplaining  and girlboss. These neologisms seem to have been created to illustrate a criticism of gendered language, but end up having the reverse effect. Mahdawi explores how we create language to subvert the sexism within current phrases, titles or expressions, but in the end Mahdawi argues that  " It doesn’t tear down the sexism encoded in language, it reinforces it." Sophia Amoruso, who popularised the term girlboss, at the premiere of Netflix’s Girlboss TV show. The problem with gendered language
Read more

National Geographic - Video - Hawaiian Wayfinders

He’s Sailing the World Using Just the Wind, Stars, and Waves More than 40 years ago, Nainoa Thompson joined a movement of young Hawaiians interested in reviving the traditional art of Polynesian navigation known as wayfinding. They learned to sail across open waters using just the wind, sky and waves as their guide, voyaging without modern navigation tools. Since then, Thompson has honed his craft navigating Hōkūleʻa, a traditional Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe. Today, Hōkūleʻa is sailing the world to spread the message that we must live sustainably and protect our earth. Over three years, the crew will travel thousands of nautical miles years to connect with communities across the world.
Read more