Space

Astronauts Behaving Badly

Wow. Talk about the wrong stuff.

Dr. Sanity (a former psych profiler for NASA) has some thoughts on a culture of toxic narcissism.

Unjustified astronaut worship is one of the unfortunate consequences that lingers on, almost half a century after the Cold-War space program began. Just one more reason to try to privatize things ASAP. And of course, this is going to unfairly reflect badly on all the astronauts who really do have the “right” stuff.

[Late morning update]

Heh. Comment #50:

As another famous pilot once said,

“a trench coat and wig and, a knife, BB pistol, rubber tubing and plastic bags….Gosh a feller could have a pretty good time in Vegas with this stuff.”

[Afternoon update]

It’s already been added to her bio at wikipedia.

I see that she’s only flown once, last July. I wonder when this behavior started? Several astronauts have been profoundly affected by their trips into space. Some have gotten religion, some became addicted to various substances. The Overview Effect isn’t always benign. I wonder if we’ll find out that she had a personality change after her flight?

[Late afternoon update]

I’m a little surprised to see that this has become the news story of the day, at least on Fox. But maybe I shouldn’t be. There’s probably a TCS column or two in this somewhere.

[Another update a couple minutes later]

I fearlessly predict that some kind of “space adaptation derangement” will play a key part of the defense. I say this because I already heard it on John Gibson’s show. Seriously, I do think that it will be played as insanity and a crime of passion. And I wouldn’t rule out the Overview Effect.

Science And Society

He’s Just Not That Into Ewe

Here’s some interesting data on sexual orientation of sheep that, if it holds for humans as well, would seem to confirm my thesis (actually, a better exposition of it is found here):

A bare majority of rams turn out to be heterosexual. One in five swings both ways. About 15 percent are asexual, and 7 percent to 10 percent are gay.

That seems, to me, empirically to be about right for humans as well.

Does anyone here really believe that there are Freudian explanations for this among sheep? Well, I think the ones for humans are just as bogus.

And the potential consequences?

The more likely path is gentler. Science will gradually convince us that sexual orientation is innate, more like the color of your skin than like the content of your character. Condemnation of homosexuality as a sin will subside. Freed from the culture wars, we’ll turn to the biological differences between race and sexual orientation: Homosexuality defies the aspiration to procreate with your mate, and it’s easier to isolate and alter in embryonic development. Resentment will give way to pity. We’ll come to view homosexuality as a kind of infertility

Science And Society

He’s Just Not That Into Ewe

Here’s some interesting data on sexual orientation of sheep that, if it holds for humans as well, would seem to confirm my thesis (actually, a better exposition of it is found here):

A bare majority of rams turn out to be heterosexual. One in five swings both ways. About 15 percent are asexual, and 7 percent to 10 percent are gay.

That seems, to me, empirically to be about right for humans as well.

Does anyone here really believe that there are Freudian explanations for this among sheep? Well, I think the ones for humans are just as bogus.

And the potential consequences?

The more likely path is gentler. Science will gradually convince us that sexual orientation is innate, more like the color of your skin than like the content of your character. Condemnation of homosexuality as a sin will subside. Freed from the culture wars, we’ll turn to the biological differences between race and sexual orientation: Homosexuality defies the aspiration to procreate with your mate, and it’s easier to isolate and alter in embryonic development. Resentment will give way to pity. We’ll come to view homosexuality as a kind of infertility

Science And Society

He’s Just Not That Into Ewe

Here’s some interesting data on sexual orientation of sheep that, if it holds for humans as well, would seem to confirm my thesis (actually, a better exposition of it is found here):

A bare majority of rams turn out to be heterosexual. One in five swings both ways. About 15 percent are asexual, and 7 percent to 10 percent are gay.

That seems, to me, empirically to be about right for humans as well.

Does anyone here really believe that there are Freudian explanations for this among sheep? Well, I think the ones for humans are just as bogus.

And the potential consequences?

The more likely path is gentler. Science will gradually convince us that sexual orientation is innate, more like the color of your skin than like the content of your character. Condemnation of homosexuality as a sin will subside. Freed from the culture wars, we’ll turn to the biological differences between race and sexual orientation: Homosexuality defies the aspiration to procreate with your mate, and it’s easier to isolate and alter in embryonic development. Resentment will give way to pity. We’ll come to view homosexuality as a kind of infertility

Media Criticism

That’s Rich

Christopher Hitchens isn’t very impressed with the New York Times theater critic’s latest blast at George Bush:

Now, “truthiness” is a laugh-word invented by Steven Colbert who (along with his friend Jon Stewart and the other heroes of Comedy Central) is the beau ideal of what Rich considers to be the ironic. In this book and in his regular column, he gives “truthiness” a workout whenever he can. He clearly wishes he had coined it himself, and he has kept it going for perhaps a touch longer

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