Tag: Linkonomicon

Daniel Dennett: I talk therefore I am

What makes us human? In the New Statesman, philosopher Daniel Dennett argues it’s language:

I think it is quite obvious that language is what sets us apart from all other animals. But what is less often recognised is how language enables all the other distinctly human phenomena, transforming inherited “animal” dispositions, instincts, desires and tastes into forms that bear scant resemblance to their ancestral forms…

So utterly does language transform our minds that it is almost impossible to launder its influence from our imagination when we think of the “minds” of other species.

Language utterly and irrevocably changes our relationship with the world.

Trollslaying, digital style

English: Logo of the Electronic Frontier Found...
English: Logo of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is pursuing an interesting strategy to protect podcasting from patent troll, Personal Audio. Hopefully the newest targets of lawsuits, CBS and NBC, will use their considerably legal firepower to crush the troll instead of settling. That does not necessarily help smaller organizations or individuals. The EFF is starting a campaign to identify “prior art” that will invalidate Personal Audio’s patents for all time.

*Hat tip to Marc Maron. You should watch his new TV show on IFC.

Insurance Industry: 4 on Dubiosity Scale

Contrary to political posturing, there are more than two positions on the climate change issue. There are political conservatives who accept anthropogenic climate change, but prefer using market forces to address the problem. These individuals rate a 4 on my Dubiosity Scale (1 is the most dubious).

According to an article in the NY Times by Eduardo Porter, the US insurance industry may also rate a 4. It accepts the scientific consensus position, but is reluctant to engage in political squabbles, because the threat of punitive regulation is a bigger risk than increased payouts due to worsening weather:

Yet when I asked Mr. Nutter what the American insurance industry was doing to combat global warming, his answer was surprising: nothing much…Instead, the focus of insurers’ advocacy efforts is zoning rules and disaster mitigation. – Eduardo Porter

Porter summarizes the position of a 4 on the Dubiosity Scale in his last sentence:

And that’s the best hope for those concerned about climate change: that global warming isn’t just devastating for society, but also bad for business. –Eduardo Porter

But, what happens when the issue is so politicized that the market forces are responding to the politics and not the market?

Thinking about Angelina

Writing in Forbes, David Kroll has a very thoughtful take on Angelina Jolie’s announcement that she had a preventative double mastectomy after learning that she was at exceptionally high risk for developing breast cancer. While taking nothing away from Jolie’s bravery in writing about her choice, Kroll raises concerns about health care access, gene patents, “certainty” in medicine, and the influence of celebrity (which could be both positive and negative in this case):

On the one hand, I am stunned by the bravery of this high-profile woman to not only undergo such a transformative surgery and then write about it in the nation’s newspaper of record less than three weeks later…On the other hand, I do worry that the ensuing publicity surrounding her announcement might evoke some magnitude of panic in women with breast cancer, particularly those who don’t have BRCA1/2 gene mutations or cannot afford to have the testing done…My primary concern is that some women with breast cancer may think that they are not being aggressive enough with their current treatment plan. – David Kroll

You are probably going to be ok

Vaughan Bell penned an insightful piece for The Guardian about psychologically recovering from disasters. Evidence and expert opinion from world leading health agencies supports the statement that the vast majority of people who experience a “disaster-level” trauma recover, psychologically, on their own.

The evidence does not support the trendy notion of “psychological debriefing” – one-off counseling immediately after events to help people “process” – in fact it shows that it is worse than doing nothing. The actual experts in disaster relief seem to be wise to the research and using methods to help identify those people who do need help, rather than “helping” people who do not need it.

*Hat tip to Ed Yong.