Katherine Mangu-Ward, in an essay on Tor Books, says that the link remains strong.
Category Archives: Popular Culture
Too Much Self Esteem
Never before have so many been so proud of so little:
The findings, published in the November issue of Psychological Science, support the idea that the “self-esteem” movement popular among today’s parents and teachers may have gone too far, the study’s co-author said.
“What this shows is that confidence has crossed over into overconfidence,” said Jean Twenge, an associate professor of psychology at San Diego State University.
She believes that decades of relentless, uncritical boosterism by parents and school systems may be producing a generation of kids with expectations that are out of sync with the challenges of the real world.
“High school students’ responses have crossed over into a really unrealistic realm, with three-fourths of them expecting performance that’s effectively in the top 20 percent,” Twenge said.
Don’t they realize that half of them are below median intelligence? Probably not, because they got an “A” in math, even though they didn’t understand it.
One of the perverse and tragic problems with incompetence is that it generally includes an inability to recognize it.
I’d Always Wondered That Myself
Lileks has been musing on why the Three Musketeers never had muskets:
Where are their guns? They never have guns. They must have been a grave disappointment when they showed up. We are here, my liege! The Musketeers! Fine, fine, take up position on the parapet, and aim down at – say, where are your muskets? We have them not, my liege! We live life at swordpoint! All for one, and one for – Fine, you have a motto, I know, but I wanted guns. Why do you call yourselves musketeers if you don’t have any bloody muskets? Tres simplisme, monsieur! We must see the whites of our foes’ eyes, wide with fright! We must – Oh shut up and take these muskets and start shooting at something, for God’s sake.
Other amusing pop-cultural observations as well (and as usual).
Cottage Cheesy Ruminations
Did you know that there were regional styles of cottage cheese?
Neither did I, until I moved to Florida (and even then it took me over four years to discover it). I’ve been buying the stuff for a while, and mostly, I’ve been buying the store generic (Publix, if you must know), which I’ve never been that pleased with–liquidy and runny, regardless of curd size. Recently, Patricia tried a different, name brand. Same thing. So it’s not like they saved money for the store brand by adding water and/or other locally available liquids, such as alligator effluent.
But I was recently there, searching for some other kind, and I found a brand called “Friendship.” And on the side of the plastic container, it said, “California style.” And a light went on. That’s why the local cottage cheese sucked (at least to me). I’d been spoiled by eating the real stuff back in the Golden State for the previous quarter century. I bought it. It was dry, flavorful, ricotta like. Just the way I remembered from LA. One more reason that Florida sux (at least southeast Florida), though at least I can buy the exotic import here.
So, question. Why do the locals like it runny, and do they like it that way up in New York and New Jersey (whence came their ancient ancestors)? Are there other varieties in (say) the Midwest, or Mountain states?
Back To The Classics
The stick has been inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame. It’s got to be one of the world’s oldest toys. There are very few things that encourage and nourish the imagination to the same degree.
I don’t know if I’ve told this story before (now that this blog is seven years old last month, I’m bound to start repeating), but when I was a kid, my grandfather had a couple toys that he made. They consisted of a length of quarter-inch steel barstock, with one end bent into a handle, and the other bent sideways into a short axle, on which he put a kid’s wagon wheel. We had a blast pushing them around, and me and my cousins used to fight over who got to play with them.
[Evening update]
I should note that, while sticks make great toys, we shouldn’t allow NASA to play with them, if it’s going to cost billions of dollars and set the program back for years.
Well, That Sucks
Michael Crichton has died. I guess his cancer was a well-kept secret–I was certainly unaware that he was ill. One less voice for reason in political debate on scientific issues.
For Those Indulging In Drinking Games
Or for those just drinking. Here are some candidate-appropriate suggestions. I hate to confess that I would prefer the Obama Mama, because I am partial to dark rum (a nasty habit acquired from too many years in the Caribbean).
Brain Parasites
…and mind control. A suitable scientific topic for All Hallows Eve. I wonder if this could explain the Obama cult?
Rockin’
Barack Obama may be a better dancer than John McCain, but neither of them can hold a candle to sister Sarah rockin’ out to Red Neck Woman in blue jeans. No more Niemann Marcus for her.
And Elaine Lafferty (yes, the Elaine Lafferty who used to edit Ms. Magazine) thinks that Sarah Palin is a “brainiac.” Really:
…these high toned and authoritative dismissals come from people who have never met or spoken with Sarah Palin. Those who know her, love her or hate her, offer no such criticism. They know what I know, and I learned it from spending just a little time traveling on the cramped campaign plane this week: Sarah Palin is very smart.
I’m a Democrat, but I’ve worked as a consultant with the McCain campaign since shortly after Palin’s nomination. Last week, there was the thought that as a former editor-in-chief of Ms. magazine as well as a feminist activist in my pre-journalism days, I might be helpful in contributing to a speech that Palin had long wanted to give on women’s rights.
Now by “smart,” I don’t refer to a person who is wily or calculating or nimble in the way of certain talented athletes who we admire but suspect don’t really have serious brains in their skulls. I mean, instead, a mind that is thoughtful, curious, with a discernable pattern of associative thinking and insight. Palin asks questions, and probes linkages and logic that bring to mind a quirky law professor I once had. Palin is more than a “quick study”; I’d heard rumors around the campaign of her photographic memory and, frankly, I watched it in action. She sees. She processes. She questions, and only then, she acts. What is often called her “confidence” is actually a rarity in national politics: I saw a woman who knows exactly who she is.
Thoughts On “Himbos’
From Dr. Helen.
I’ve never been one, but not because I didn’t want to be (at least when I wasn’t in a relationship). I am, after all, a guy. But other (attractive) women have always governed my urge for promiscuity. It might be because I was never the “bad boy.”