Archive | Humanity

Is it Manly to Cry?

Ok, men are allowed to cry. Most enlightened men know this. It’s ok. Some men, in some cultures, cry as a matter of routine. When Odysseus was reunited after 20 years with his son Telemachus, they held each other and cried. And their cries sounded like the cries of birds of prey when their babies, […]

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Know Thyself

photo credit: The Welsh Poppy Aaaaand I’m back! I was gone for a week, and then came home and went for another week, and then came home and was exhausted. But let’s leave all that behind us and sally forth, shall we? I present to you three anectodes: ONE I spoke with an Australian woman […]

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Clones

photo credit: Ryan Somma Old joke, updated: Do you have any Neanderthal in you? Do you want one? Ok, so you may have heard that all humans of non-African descent have a small percent of Neanderthal genes buried away in our double helix. So that’s exciting. In other Neanderthal news, there’s a discussion about whether […]

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Cloning Neanderthals

photo credit: Ryan Somma Old joke, updated: Do you have any Neanderthal in you? Do you want one? Ok, so you may have heard that all humans of non-African descent have a small percent of Neanderthal genes buried away in our double helix. So that’s exciting. Now, there’s a discussion about whether it would be […]

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The Best Way to Lose Weight

This isn’t a joke. I’m serious. If the goal is to lose weight, and you’re an ordinary person, then quit exercising. Exercising makes you hungry. Running around in circles (or cycling, for you, Bruce) burns calories, which is great, and it definitely helps you stay healthier in about ninety million ways. Exercise is an important […]

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The NAACP Vs. The Universe

Have you heard this one? Hallmark sells a card about graduates taking on the universe. At one point it taunts black holes, saying, “you’re so ominous, oooh.” Then it ends with, “planets, watch your back.” Some of the leadership of the NAACP claim that they hear, “black whores” instead of black holes. I think they’re […]

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The Other

This may not be earth-shattering news, but I’ve been noticing something that a lot of people seem to do. You bump into someone at work and get to talking about X. You’re surprised, because this guy does Xa, whereas you’ve always done Xb. So you say, “huh, I always did it Xb.” Really! Crazy! I […]

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Inflammation = Bad

Every time I turn around, I hear about inflammation. I think that inflammation is the scourge of humanity. I’m not joking. I once attended a bunch of lectures given by lots of different doctors on different subjects. The lectures were not linked by content, but practically every doctor said two things: 1. In my field, […]

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Don't Blow Second Chances

I was once in a large, heavy, canoe-like boat with about 6 other people. We had docked next to several similar boats, and as the waves heaved, the boats knocked and banged against each other. While we were waiting to get out, a guy next to me rested his hand over the top edge of […]

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Speaking of Empathy

I just posted about chimps, yawning, and empathy. Now I’m thinking about human kids. Toddlers don’t have empathy. And certainly infants don’t. Sometimes toddlers play empathic roles, pretending to really care, but when it doesn’t amuse them any more, they stop. There have been all kinds of studies about when kids really start to develop […]

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