culture
Put a Little Science in Your Life, Extended
Submitted by Paul Grobstein on Wed, 06/04/2008 - 12:39pm.Brian Greene in the June 1, 2008 NYTimes makes some very important points about science education. Those in turn have some important implications for thinking about science and how scientists present it to the world, some of which Greene makes explicit and others of which warrant some amplification.
Creativity, Brain, Indeterminacy
Creativity, the Mind, and the Brain:
From Van Gogh to Indeterminacy and Beyond
Geetanjali Vaidya
December 2007
This paper was prepared as a senior thesis in
biology at Bryn Mawr College, and is made available to encourage
continuing explorations of the nature and significance of of
creativity. Comments and continuing discussion are welcome in the on-line forum at the end of this paper.
I'm in UR Internetz, Revolutionizin' UR Genres
Submitted by M. Gallagher on Fri, 05/16/2008 - 12:30pm.I'm in UR Internetz, Revolutionizin' UR Genres
“How many telegrams did you send when you had to dictate them over the phone to a
Western Union operator? How many emails do you send now that you can clatter them
Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved – A Book Review
Submitted by heather on Fri, 05/16/2008 - 12:03pm.Frans de Waal’s Primates and Philosophers is an intriguing exploration of animal and human behavior, and a fierce attempt to link them intrinsically and inseparably. De Waal attacks the notion that morality is a uniquely human trait – opposing those who believe that homo sapiens is a loner in ethics, and that our species rose magnificent out of the barbaric and uncomplicated ashes of our ancestors.
East vs. West: A book commentary on "The Geography of Thought"
Submitted by Mahvish Qureshi on Fri, 05/16/2008 - 11:51am.Cultural Cognition Theory
Submitted by jrieders on Thu, 05/15/2008 - 5:40pm.Julianne Rieders
Continuation on the Cultural Cognition Theory
In my last paper analyzing Richard E. Nisbett’s theories about Cultural Cognition, I asked if stereotypes of the East and West affect research on this topicwithout elaborating on what these stereotypes are. Furthermore I failed todiscuss why China, Korea, and Japan could be considered a cohesive group, whichI called East Asia, in which members share similar ways of thinking.
The Blogging Genre: Identity, Anonymity, and Consistency—Why We Blog
Submitted by Christina Harview on Thu, 05/15/2008 - 4:25pm.Recently, a new
genre has been receiving the attention of internet users: the weblog. Using
blogs, we can filter out the facts of our offline world and develop a new online
external identity. This paper will discuss the nature, use-value, and appeal of
this online external identity, discuss the importance of the consistency of the
external self-both online and offline, review the relevance of the unverified
information in blogs, and talk about how anonymity affects the way we perceive
our own identity. Additionally, I hope to shed some light on the blog as an
emerging genre and talk about what the blog's worldwide success reveals about
human nature and psychology (and vice versa).
The Blog
Brain and Culture: The Crossroads Between Humanity and Biology
Submitted by Angel Desai on Mon, 05/12/2008 - 9:31pm.
Throughout
the course of the semester, the Bio 202 class has attempted to formulate an
understanding between mechanisms of the brain and subsequent human behavior.
One of the core areas of discussion has been the integrated action of neurons
and its consequences on human accomplishment. Of particular interest is the way
in which sensory stimulation from the external world can interrelate with
groups of neurons and actually mediate change in an individual’s behavior. The
book “Brain and Culture,” by Bruce E. Wexler takes the fundamental issues
discussed in Bio 202 and applies them to larger ideological and socio-cultural
