Aimless Ramblings

Hello all! In our 32nd episode we discuss learning, indoctrination and novelty.

Hello all! In our 31st episode we discuss dissent, loyalty and the margins of society.

Hello all! In our 30th episode, we discuss climate change and the issues facing adapting to and mitigating the threat. P.S. I mention the two below resources which are super useful for visualising the scale of the threat: - ND-GAIN index: https://gain.nd.edu/our-work/country-index/ - World in Data population projections: https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth 

Hello all! In our 29th episode, we discuss what it means to be a person, to be a citizen within a society, and what exactly both these things have to do with being human?

Hello all! In this episode we discuss beauty, its basis, and its role in the mind and society.

Hello all! In our 27th episode, we discuss biodiversity, whether resilience in a state is analogous to resilience in an ecosystem, what role humans have in 'gardening' the planet, and what role nature has in shaping culture.

Hello all! In our 26th episode, we discuss the post-industrial condition, presenteeism and the emergence of modern hermitage.

Hello all! In this episode, we discuss purity, law, and narcotics.

Hello all! In this episode, we discuss secrecy, corruption, and whistleblowing.

Hey everyone! In our 23rd episode, we discuss honour, morality, and more than a little biology.

Hello all! In this episode we discuss violence, words, and law.

Hello all, In our 21st episode, we look at how the way we use language can have an impact on the way we perceive and are perceived - and the fuzzy boundaries between groups of language and dialect users.

Hello all! After a hiatus we are back with episode 20 where we discuss crime, punishment, and the death penalty.

Hello all! In our 19th episode, we discuss goodbyes and farewells - both to people but also to places.

In our 18th episode we discuss running, evolution, and why anyone is crazy enough to expend their precious kilojoules. Interesting links  Emotions and trait emotional intelligence among ultra-endurance runners: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1440244011000454 The endurance running evolution hypothesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance_running_hypothesis 

Hello! In our 17th episode, we discuss fiction, its role in empathy, utility in the workplace, and the limits of censorship. Interesting reading: The case for reading fiction: https://hbr.org/2020/03/the-case-for-reading-fiction Fiction and hatred, the Turner diaries: https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/turner-diaries

Hello all! In our 16th episode we discuss boredom.  Interesting reading: Westgate, E. C. (2020). Why Boredom Is Interesting. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(1), 33-40. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419884309

Hi all! In our 15th episode we talk about capitalism and its response to crisis - in particular in regards to the Pandemic! No capitalism was hurt in the production of this episode.

Hello! In our 14th episode, we discuss men, violence, and primates. Interesting reading: Biology and Human Behavior: The Neurological Origins of Individuality, 2nd Edition https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/biology-and-human-behavior-the-neurological-origins-of-individuality-2nd-edition.html  Jeffries, S., & Newbold, G. (2016). Analysing trends in the imprisonment of women in Australia and New Zealand. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 23(2), 184-206. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2015.1035619 Incarcerated Women and Girls | The Sentencing Project. (2020). Retrieved 11 April 2020, from https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/incarcerated-women-and-girls/

Hello all! In our 13th episode, we discuss beer, its history, present and future. Interesting stuff: A history of the world in six glasses: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3872.A_History_of_the_World_in_6_Glasses Callejo, M. J., Tesfaye, W., González, M. C., & Morata, A. (2019). Craft Beers: Current Situation and Future Trends. In New Advances on Fermentation Processes. IntechOpen. doi: 10.5772/intechopen.90006 Fox, G. (2020). The Brewing Industry and the Opportunities for Real-Time Quality Analysis Using Infrared Spectroscopy. Applied Sciences, 10(2), 616. Tomski, P., & Dunay, A. (2019). Environmental Safety as a Challenge for Management Practice in the Brewing Industry in the Era of Craft Beer Revolution. System Safety: Human-Technical Facility-Environment, 1(1), 431-440. doi: 10.2478/czoto-2019-0056 An article on female brewers: https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/women-making-beer_n_5b914f13e4b0cf7b003d8263

Hello all! In our 12th episode, we look at the topical issue of disease, pandemics, fake news and fear. Some interesting resources: Some Coronavirus conspiracy theories: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-20/coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-spreading-like-wildfire/12062516 Fake news, misinformation and epidemics:  Mian, A., & Khan, S. (2020). Coronavirus: the spread of misinformation. BMC Medicine, 18(1), 1-2. Sharma, M., Yadav, K., Yadav, N., & Ferdinand, K. C. (2017). Zika virus pandemic—analysis of Facebook as a social media health information platform. American journal of infection control, 45(3), 301-302. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2016.08.022

Hello all! In our eleventh episode, we discuss jokes, bigotry and dictatorships. Interesting and related: Some philosophy bites episodes on humour: https://philosophybites.com/humour/  Chapman, A. J. (1983). Humor and laughter in social interaction and some implications for humor research. In Handbook of humor research (pp. 135-157). Springer, New York, NY. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4612-5572-7_7 Karakowsky, L., Podolsky, M., & Elangovan, A. R. (2020). Signaling trustworthiness: The effect of leader humor on feedback-seeking behavior. The Journal of social psychology, 160(2), 170-189. doi: 10.1080/00224545.2019.1620161

Hello all! In our tenth episode, we discuss art, making, humanity and D&D. Interesting and semi-related viewing: Why D&D is good for you (in real life) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PaHJqpQnyw&feature=youtu.be&app=desktop D&D therapy - https://www.meganpsyd.com/new-page-1 How Betty Crocker came to be - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBTI0qND1Dc&app=desktop  

Hello all!  In this episode, we discuss the ethics of eating - including cannibalism, plant cognition and sustainable farming! Semi-related and interesting reading Cannibalism: - Cannibalism of necessity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguayan_Air_Force_Flight_571 - Ironic cannibalism https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1080/1080-h/1080-h.htm Plant cognition: - https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-0690-1_7 - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0039368118302383 - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.4161/psb.2.4.4470 - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1360138506001646 - https://academic.oup.com/ilarjournal/article/52/2/175/659957 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_cognition   The cost of beef -https://www.charlesgracey.net/single-post/2017/05/11/How-Much-Grain-and-Water-Does-Beef-Cattle-Production-Require

Hello again and welcome back to Aimless ramblings! Today we discuss clothing, fashion, hierarchy, and capitalism.

In our seventh episode, we discuss the division between private and public rights in intervention.   Interesting and semi-related reading: When Should Children Be Permanently Removed From Their Parents? https://www.parents.com/parents-magazine/parents-perspective/when-should-children-be-permanently-removed-from-their-parents/ “No voice, no opinion, nothing”: Parents’ experiences when children are removed and placed in care https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/2018/03/19/no-voice-no-opinion-nothing-parents-experiences-when-children-are-removed-and-placed-care The Stolen Generations https://www.commonground.org.au/learn/the-stolen-generations As more Aboriginal children are removed from families, critics say government risks a second Stolen Generation https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-10-09/more-aboriginal-children-are-removed-families-critics-say-government-risks-second Kohlberg’s Moral Stages, http://ww3.haverford.edu/psychology/ddavis/p109g/kohlberg.stages.html Leviathan, https://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Thomas-Hobbes/dp/1463649932

Hello and welcome to our sixth episode where we discuss maps, lines and the blurriness in-between.   Semi-related and interesting reading: The genius of the London Tube map https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBErp8qvWZg Why are we changing maps? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLqC3FNNOaI Harry Beck https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/harry-beck Working Toward Whiteness https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4714309 The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia https://www.amazon.com.au/Art-Not-Being-Governed-Anarchist/dp/0300169175 This interactive map shows how ‘wrong’ other maps are https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/08/18/this-interactive-map-shows-how-wrong-other-maps-are/ Blackfishing: The women accused of pretending to be black https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-46427180

Welcome to episode 5, where we discuss labels and their use in society.   Interesting and semi-useful resources:   One of my earlier videos which includes a discussion on Aristotle’s taxonomy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB_OqyxjNyc De Plantis, one of the first scientific taxonomies: https://archive.org/details/deplantislibrixv00cesa/page/n4 CAS Registry explanation and site: https://web.archive.org/web/20080725010848/http://www.cas.org/expertise/cascontent/registry/regsys.html My own videos on Daoism: Laozi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFRU1MtUJ-8 Zhuangzi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUMy8FTN-As&t=4s Alan Watt’s introduction to Daosim, https://www.amazon.com/Tao-Watercourse-Way-Alan-Watts/dp/0394733118/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Alan+Watts+The+Taoist+Way&qid=1574580097&s=books&sr=1-1 Shepard counting systems in Britain, https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/yan-tan-tethera-pethera-pimp-an-old-system-for-counting-sheep/ Different cultures see different colours: https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2017/10/02/different-cultures-see-different-colours/ NPR: History of the use of the word ‘Racism,’ https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/01/05/260006815/the-ugly-fascinating-history-of-the-word-racism Social Justice argument for Racism redefinition: http://www.dismantlingracism.org/racism-defined.html Counter-argument to redefinition: https://areomagazine.com/2017/06/16/racism-does-not-equal-prejudice-power/ On being sane in insane places: http://www.bonkersinstitute.org/rosenhan.html TED talk on trying to leave a gang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qkSMkiGWdg The Atlantic: What’s Lost When Black Children Are Socialized Into a White World https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/11/how-black-mothers-prepare-their-children-school/599578/ Article on recent police shooting in NT, Australia in the context of structural disadvantage and accusations of racialisation in policing: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-16/yuendumu-police-shooting-charges-laid-against-zach-rolfe/11705986

Our fourth episode – we discuss the value of human life, peoples willingness to save others and ambulance drivers!   Semi-related and interesting sources   Article discussing the controversy around the death of David Sharp on Mt Everest in 2006. https://allthatsinteresting.com/david-sharp Short read on the bystander effect. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-bystander-effect-2795899 TED talk by Peter Singer about effective altruism.https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_singer_the_why_and_how_of_effective_altruism?language=en On Killing: The psychological cost of learning to kill in war and society, by Dave Grossman. https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Psychological-Cost-Learning-Society/dp/0316040932 Popular article on the idea of the ‘monkey sphere’ (Durban’s number). https://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-monkeysphere.html Slightly more academic article on the Durban Number as a limit to group size. http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2004/03/the_dunbar_numb.html Infographic depicting the statistical economic cost of life by country. https://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/how-much-does-human-life-cost-the-world-today.html A deceptively easy way to die – safety video by the NSS/CDS regarding deaths in cave diving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1iaa04rCf0 The price Sherpas pay for westerners to climb Everest. https://www.economist.com/prospero/2015/12/11/the-price-the-sherpas-pay-for-westerners-to-climb-everest Wrongful conviction in Australia. https://www.cla.asn.au/News/prisoners-australia-7-innocent/#gsc.tab=0 Article discussing assaults on Paramedics in an international context. http://theconversation.com/over-1-500-assaults-on-paramedics-a-year-but-new-law-wont-stop-the-violence-98734 George Carlin on the sanctity of life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScLQZEKn8zI

Our third episode! We look at fate, determinism and free will – with a dash of psychology, biology, physics and even some Anglo-Saxon literature! Wyrd bið ful āræd Interesting and semi-related sources: The wanderer: an old English poem: https://www.norsemyth.org/2016/02/the-wanderer-old-english-poem.html?m=1 A Famous Argument Against Free Will Has Been Debunked: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/09/free-will-bereitschaftspotential/597736/ Laplace’s Demon: https://www.informationphilosopher.com/freedom/laplaces_demon.html TED talk on desire lines (Goat Tracks) and design: https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_hulme_what_walkways_teach_us_about_design Twin studies: https://www.livescience.com/47288-twin-study-importance-of-genetics.html Source of Simon’s quote: https://vimeo.com/203940826 (nice Avatar reference...) Great Philosophical Debates: Free Will and Determinism: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/great-philosophical-debates-free-will-and-determinism.html

In our second episode, we tackle the issue of quantitativeness and its link to value.   *I also refer to metaobjects in this video – I actually mean hyperobjects, read Timothy Morton’s book below for more details   Semi-related resources: Bastos, W. Now or Never: Perceptions of Uniqueness Induce Acceptance of Price Increases for Experiences More Than for Objects. Journal of Consumer Psychology. doi:10.1002/jcpy.1099 Caprariello, P. A., & Reis, H. T. (2013). To do, to have, or to share? Valuing experiences over material possessions depends on the involvement of others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104(2), 199-215. doi:10.1037/a0030953 Waldfogel, J. (1993). The deadweight loss of Christmas. The American Economic Review, 83(5), 1328- 1336. doi: 110.145.166.154 Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World, Timothy Morton Courage Under Fire: Testing Epictetus’s Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior, James B. Stockdale

Welcome to the new series! In this episode we look at conversation, the role it plays in knowledge, self-talk and the common pitfalls of conversation. Go to the blog at foolishmusings.com or the foolishmusings Youtube channel for interesting and semi-related sources.