Ruchira S. Datta

"From their very first days, newborns' cries already bear the mark of the language their parents speak, reveals a new study published online on November 5th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The findings suggest that infants begin picking up elements of what will be their first language in the womb, and certainly long before their first babble or coo." - Ruchira S. Datta

Something resembles to Abhimanyu's experience in Mahabharat - Abhishek Tiwari

"...unlike many critics of IQ testing, Stanovich and other researchers into rational thinking are not trying to redefine intelligence, which they are happy to characterise as those mental abilities that can be measured by IQ tests. Rather, they are trying to focus attention on cognitive faculties that go beyond intelligence - what they describe as the essential tools of rational thinking. These, they claim, are just as important as intelligence to judgement and decision-making." - Ruchira S. Datta

What is useful to ask IQ? - Ami Iida

I call on any libertarian to read Ch. 17 and explain to me how this would have played out in their utopia. - Ruchira S. Datta

Ch. 18. Some of the language used to sink a 1933 bill attempting to give teeth to the FDA is sounding very familiar: 'The patent-medicine lobbyists...warned that the drugstores would be "sovietized,"...and predicted that if passed the new law would turn the FDA into a "powerful, sinister machine" wielding the "heavy, cold, clammy hand of bureaucracy" over hardworking American businesses.' - Ruchira S. Datta

It will be good to have my representative there for the House health care reform vote! - Ruchira S. Datta

Note to aspiring politicians: if your name is Harmer, CHANGE IT. - Ruchira S. Datta

"Martin’s book is brimming with ideas. The basic premise of the book is that many sorts of individual and group action (and the subsequent meanings generated in that context) can be explained by basic principles of local structure...He offers an intriguing way to link micro-macro without relinquishing all of the explanatory power to one level over the other. In a way, I suppose this is what Levi-Strauss was about as well. His agenda was to explain the particularities of local structures. Rather than jump right to institutions and history as an explanation, the origin of an explanation was to analyze how the interactions within that structure worked and how/why individuals continued to reproduce those relationships over time." - Ruchira S. Datta

post post-structuralism? - Cliff Gerrish

Always is. - Jordi Soler

Well, another way to put it was that FB was being particularly *unreliable* yesterday. - Ruchira S. Datta

"No pain, no gain applies to happiness, too, according to new research published online in the Journal of Happiness Studies. People who work hard at improving a skill or ability, such as mastering a math problem or learning to drive, may experience stress in the moment, but experience greater happiness on a daily basis and longer term, the study suggests." - Ruchira S. Datta

Want some candy? - Ruchira S. Datta

"By embracing Darwin's ideas, they emphasized that Christianity alone was in conflict with science." - Ruchira S. Datta

The article is behind a pay-wall. I wonder how it squares with: http://www.economist.com/world... - Simon

"Eager to get his revolutionary approach to teaching math into the hands of teachers, John created a not-for-profit organization called JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies). Today, JUMP is getting spectacular results with all kinds of kids. For instance, after working with JUMP, an entire class of Grade 3 students, including so-called slow learners, scored over 90% on a Grade 6 math test. A group of British children who had been written off as too unruly responded so enthusiastically and had such impressive results that the school board adopted the program." - Ruchira S. Datta

Thanks for sharing, Ruchira! I've just added 'The End of Ignorance' to my Amazon wishlist. - April Buchheit from iPhone

'151 members of the House and Senate currently receive government-funded; government-administered single-payer health care - Medicare. On the list of recipients are 55 Republicans who have steadfastly opposed other Americans getting the public option, like the one they have chosen. Weiner said, “Even in a town known for hypocrisy, this list of 55 Members of Congress deserve some sort of prize. They apparently think the public option is ok for them, but not anyone else.”' - Ruchira S. Datta

My guess is my friends' comments only appear in my FB feed if the person commented upon is also my friend? I went to my friend K's profile, and see a few messages like "K commented on J's status". I can click on "status" and see it although J is not my friend. Presumably this is because J's profile is open. - Ruchira S. Datta

However, I see certain messages that say "K commented on M's link". I can click on M and go to M's profile, but when I click on "link" it says "M has not posted any links yet." Is the link obscured because M is not my friend? Or is this just a FB bug? - Ruchira S. Datta

Quotes an essay by Jon Elster: " I argue that actual agents are intrinsically less sophisticated than the models assume they are, and that the various proposals to sustain the models by appealing to “as-if rationality” all fail....Finally, I offer some speculations to explain the persistence in the economic profession and elsewhere of these useless or harmful models." - Ruchira S. Datta

The researcher's name is "Chris Bird". Wonder what led him to investigate avian intelligence. - Ruchira S. Datta

"Join us for an evening of lively conversation between Michael Lewis and Dacher Keltner. Known for his puckish humor and inimitable commentary, Lewis--author of _Liar's Poker_, _The Blind Side_, and _Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood_--will talk with Keltner about the economic meltdown, sports, and parenthood. Director of the Greater Good Science Center and author of _Born to Be Good_, Keltner's contrasting viewpoint is inspired by his research on happiness, compassion, and altruism." - Ruchira S. Datta

Friday, Oct. 23rd, 7:30 pm at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall. - Ruchira S. Datta

Can I have an invite if you have extras? - Harsh SIngh

Alas, I've been asked this already and it doesn't seem like I got any. - Ruchira S. Datta

No problem, just got a nomination so I am fine =) Google Wave time = Wooot!!! - Harsh SIngh

"The current moral position is a sort of 'biological egalitarianism'....We believe that this position, although well-intentioned, is illogical and even dangerous, as it implies that if significant group diversity were established, discrimination might thereby be justified. We reject this position." - Ruchira S. Datta

"[A]cceptance of human genetic diversity in its totality necessarily leads to the rejection of unidimensional rankings of the capacity of human individuals or groups. If anything, the study of genetics is taking us towards an ever greater appreciation of the multidimensional nature of human potential. Genetic diversity is a strength not a weakness of humanity. It is time to acknowledge, embrace and celebrate this strength." - Ruchira S. Datta

This is why the "X is biologically determined" argument (e.g. for X = "homosexuality") is dangerous as an argument against discrimination. - Daniel Dulitz

"Far from representing a spontaneous upwelling of populist rage, the protests were tightly orchestrated from the top down by corporate-funded front groups as well as top lobbyists for the health care industry." - Ruchira S. Datta

"They found that two brain regions were bigger in the meditators than in the non-meditators, while non-meditators showed no advantage in any brain region. The regions that had greater volume in the meditators have both been linked to our ability to manage our emotions; one of them, the hippocampus, located in the temporal lobes of the brain, near the ears, has also been found to play a role in our skills of attention. Additionally, the authors found evidence that meditation may actually improve the hippocampus’ ability to grow new neurons into adulthood, which may be particularly important to keeping our brains sharp as we age." - Ruchira S. Datta

It finally arrived! - Ruchira S. Datta

It finally arrived! - Ruchira S. Datta

"The Senate is poised to vote today on 27 amendments proposed by Senators McCain and Coburn about transportation. If they get their way, major transit projects in places as diverse as California, Tennessee, Utah, Michigan, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Texas will all get the axe. Senator Coburn is even trying to block the Department of Transportation from spending any money at all on clean transportation alternatives." - Ruchira S. Datta

generally transportation is a good investment, however im unfamiliar with these particular projects - Mike Chelen

"WHEN AMALGAMATED Transit Union workers strike Monday morning, bringing BART to a halt and tying up Bay Area traffic, and then seek public sympathy, don't feel sorry for station agent Tiffany C. Li. For the most part, her job requires her to sit in a booth watching the fare gates and answering patrons' questions. She's required to have a high school diploma. Last year, she earned $115,053. And don't worry about train operator Ron Gadola. He is supposed to make sure his train doesn't run into the next one on the track, to announce stations as they're coming up, and to look out the window at each stop to make sure everyone is aboard. He, too, needs a high school diploma. Last year, he earned $136,330." - Ruchira S. Datta

making sure trains dont run into each other is kind of an important job - Mike Chelen