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POPSHearing Voices (of advertisers) Serious ethical issues are raised by some of the potential uses of hypersonic sound, because the projected messages are imposed upon people against their will, and could perhaps be used to subtly manipulate behaviour.
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POPSDelayed gratification and the science of self-control: "This and subsequent research has led us to believe that the ability to delay gratification for better rewards in the future is a fundamental skill in success, probably because it looks at how emotions and motivations interact with a more rational appproach to reasoning. We know what's best, but can we keep temptation at bay to reach it?" The article is a compelling exploration of this key ability and the subsequent research that has sprung up around it to help explain how we manage to keep those cheap instant hits at bay.
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POPSThrough Gritted Teeth "This concept of grit is not just perseverance, it's also about keeping relevant long-term goals in mind. When psychologists have researched 'goal-directed action' in the past, they've almost always been thinking about the here and now. Reaching, immediate problem solving and short-term achievement. This is slowly starting to change and some cognitive scientists are now attempting to understand the psychology and neuroscience of what we might call 'life goals'.
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POPSThe 14 characteristics of a fascist society Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, wrote an article about fascism which appeared in Free Inquiry magazine, a journal of humanist thought. Dr. Britt studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). He found the regimes all had 14 things in common, and he calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The article is titled "Fascism Anyone?," and appears in Free Inquiry’s Spring 2003 issue on page 20.
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POPSTime for Jackson and Sharpton to Step Down This article really does a good job to put things in perspective. As a white person who doesn't like or listen to Imus, him getting fired for his poor comments seems to be taking the direction of the situation to a very hypocritical level. Read the entire article, as it's probably the deepest and most well thought out one I've read about this topic.
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POPSDistraction is a human right! As I’m trying to devote my attention exclusively to one single task – writing an article – for an entire week, I suddenly realize that the absence of distraction equals some kind of mental imprisonment.
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POPSRepublicans: Crazy, Or Nuts?
Who in their right mind would argue with the observations in this article? More: "The Republican Party has become an aggregation of people who prefer to live in a world of fantasy -- and their first fantasy, the Ur-myth on which the entire conceit rests, is (classically) "we are the realists." "It degrades, into farce and Newspeak, from there. The perpetrators and defenders of the outing of a CIA agent are "patriots." Tom DeLay is a "leader" and Newt Gingrich is a "visionary." The President plays guitar while New Orleans drowns, causes a hundred thousand Americans and Iraqis to be killed or injured, and outsources torture, and it's the Democrats who, per the repellent Ramesh Ponnuru, are the "party of death." "It has gotten so that you have to muster all the compassion and understanding of which you are capable just to think of the Republicans as a party of greedy corporatists manipulating the credulous, the provincial, and the bigoted. That's the nice way of putting it.”
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POPSPIMPIN OUR DAUGHTERS In the words of Hillary Clinton ' It takes a village' why does it take scientific studies and polls to make us aware of what is going on in our own families and culture? I mean does it really require society to tell us what is wrong with our families? DADS must someone else tell you what is appropriate behavior for your sons and daughters? As long as there is pop culture and idols are made of television stars our young people will be tempted to look like what they see on TV and in the movies. Perhaps a return to decency and a little old fashion modesty is in order?
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POPSChurch apologises to Charles Darwin over theory of evolution But Dr Brown says everyone makes mistakes, the church included. "When a big new idea emerges that changes the way people look at the world, it's easy to feel that every old idea, every certainty, is under attack and then to do battle against the new insights,'' he writes.
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POPSWhy Slow Sex is Better http://www.mensfitness.com/advice/224 Like a bottle of fine wine, great sex takes time This article is way too scandalous for a conservative such as myself...... OMG so embarrased for posting this.... NOT
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POPSThe Denial Industry very interesting article on climate change denial, its deniers, frontgroups, funding & the so called 'debate'. must read
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POPSThe Simulated Universe ... In this article, I provide an exposition of the Simulated Universe argument and explain why some philosophers believe that there is a high possibility that we exist in a simulation. I will then discuss the type of evidence that we would need to determine whether we exist in a simulation. Finally, I will describe two objections to the argument before concluding that while interesting, we should reject the Simulated Universe argument. This article is a critique on Nick Bostroms article Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?
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POPSFascism: How It's System And Society Works In this article, we'll look closely at fascism, find out what the term really means and how the ideology has been used to unite nations and divide the world. Prominent Fascist Regimes * Fatherland Front, led by Engelbert Dollfuss, Austria (1934-1938) * National Fascist Party, led by Benito Mussolini (1924-1943) * National Socialist German Workers (NAZI) Party, led by Adolf Hitler, Germany (1933-1945) * National Union, led by Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, Portugal (1934-1968) Fascist regimes use violent suppression to maintain control of the State. Mussolini inspects the "Shock Troops" of the Fascist Militia during celebrations in Rome.
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POPSDecoding antiquity: Eight scripts that still can't be read "What do you do when you dig up an ancient inscription, but don't know what it means? New Scientist takes a tour of the world's tantalisingly undeciphered writings." Entire article: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227106.000-decoding-antiquity-eight-scripts-that-still-cant-be-read.html?full=true
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POPSTechnology Doesn’t Dumb Us Down. It Frees Our Minds. Paul Saffo, the futurist, says he could divide the technology world into two kinds of people: engineers and natural scientists. He says the world outlook of the engineer is by nature optimistic. Every problem can be solved if you have the right tools and enough time and you pose the correct questions. Other people, who can be just as scientific, see the natural order of the world in terms of entropy, decline and death. Those people aren’t necessarily wrong. But the engineer’s point of view puts trust in human improvement. But over the course of human history, writing, printing, computing and Googling have only made it easier to think and communicate.