Monthly Archives: October 2010

Sociologists study belief in paranormal activity

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According to a new book (Paranormal America) written by three sociologists, many Americans believe in paranormal phenomenon. The authors claim this is the first random sample study of the topic and they link religiosity to paranormal beliefs:

“Roughly two-thirds of people believe in the possibility of one paranormal item, which includes astrology, UFOs, psychic abilities, Atlantis, Bigfoot, ghosts and haunted houses,” Bader said.

People from more conservative religious traditions tend to be less willing to believe in the paranormal than those from more moderate traditions, Mencken said.

“People who are more moderately religious tend to believe in the paranormal,” Bader said. “If you are not at all religious, or highly religious, it is not likely that you will believe. Someone who attends church once a month is much more likely to believe in the paranormal than someone who attends church on a weekly basis.”

It sounds like some religious involvement leads to more belief in the paranormal. Why exactly is this the case?

Also, it would be helpful to know how these figures compare to other historical periods. On one hand, we live in a technologically advanced age, one built on science which seems to leave little room for paranormal activity. And yet even with all of our complicated natural and social science methods, there are many people who still wonder about the paranormal.

Two economists explain why college has come to cost so much

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Two economists first summarize some of the arguments for why a college education has become so expensive and then provide their own overview based on “the technological forces that have reshaped the entire American economy”: rising costs relative to the price of goods associated with the time necessary to build relationships between faculty and students, a highly educated workforce, and the necessity for schools to purchase expensive technology devices to keep up with particular fields of research.

Taking this sort of view suggests that it won’t be easy to reduce costs of education since the issues present in colleges and universities are issues the entire economy faces.

h/t Instapundit

Considering the legacy of FarmAid

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Certain moments in the history of rock music stand out as instances where multiple musicians came together to fight for a common cause. The Concert for Bangladesh. Live Aid. Farm Aid. Live 8.

A short piece in Time considers the legacy of Farm Aid, first held on September 22, 1985. While farmers still have needs, these concerts have helped raise awareness for a nearly forgotten piece of American life. This is also a good example of how celebrities, musicians in this case, have tried to make aid for farmers a social problem that is worthy of more attention.

I wonder how effective concerts like these are. I remember watching Live 8 mainly for some of the musicians I enjoy listening to and not so much for the issues about which the musical acts were trying to raise awareness.

Vatican newspaper says Homer J. Simpson is a Catholic

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The Vatican’s newspaper recently said that they consider Homer Simpson to be a Catholic:

But in an article headlined “Homer and Bart are Catholics”, the newspaper said: “The Simpsons are among the few TV programmes for children in which Christian faith, religion, and questions about God are recurrent themes.”

The family “recites prayers before meals and, in their own peculiar way, believes in the life thereafter”…

“Few people know it, and he does everything he can to hide it, but it is true: Homer J Simpson is a Catholic,” insists L’Osservatore Romano.

This must be a very loose definition of what a Catholic is or how one should act. In fact, it strikes me as a very American sort of idea: Homer’s Catholicism is a grab-bag of practices and beliefs of his own choosing. Is Homer’s approach to religion really much different than many Americans?

But one point the newspaper makes seems accurate: the Simpson’s portray “old-fashioned family values” in a way that few other shows do today.

The four easy steps to writing a novel

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Writing a novel in one month has become a popular goal: “just head over to the NaNoWriMo website and check out how many people have actually done it: More than 165,000 people participated in 2009, and more than 30,000 managed to crank out the 50,000-word goal.”

This sort of guide from Wired that reduces a novel this size to four smaller steps is actually a good reminder of the writing process. It is a common perception that writers are geniuses, able to crank out inspired complete works in one extended session. In reality, writing requires sitting down, working on small chunks, and repeatedly doing this. With this method, reaching 50,000 words isn’t actually that hard – what would be much harder would be to write those 50,000 words and then edit and re-edit everything to craft a coherent and interesting work.

The difficulty of defining culture

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The term “culture” can be tricky to define – as is evidenced in a story from the New York Times about culture and poverty. One writer tries to sum up the definition and the argument:

The important thing is, you can’t isolate culture as one element of a society and change it without changing anything else. You can’t ignore the roles racism, lack of fundamental necessities, and social isolation play in shaping culture, and you can’t use it as a convenient way to blame poverty on the individuals who suffer from it.

While I would agree that it is difficult to separate culture from other areas, sociologists of culture tend to stress that culture is “patterns of meaning-making.” All people do this: develop narratives and ways of understanding their surroundings.

What seems to be the new wave of research is looking at how culture and structures (such as unemployment, isolation, lack of opportunity) interact with and influence each other.

Fighting “cultural addiction to shoes”

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A professor from Liberty is on a “crusade to challenge America’s cultural addiction to shoes.”

The barefoot movement is gaining attention, particularly among runners who say it is more natural to run barefoot.

I would be curious to know what kind of conversations this professor has with people in public. He is breaking a basic social norm that most people wouldn’t think twice about.

Another question: are stories like these generally positive for professors?

New Urbanists explain side effects of sprawl

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Two New Urbanists, Andres Duany and Jeff Speck, argue that sprawl contributes to two more issues that some might not think of: climate change and rising health-care costs (obesity and car crashes).

h/t The Infrastructurist

The miners are rescued – now the true stories can come out

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It appears the Chilean miners agreed to a pact that they would not tell the worst things that happened between them while trapped underground. But a few members of the group have suggested that they may break the pact in order to cash in.

Much of the media coverage up to this point has been positive: this is a remarkable story of how these men were able to stay alive, stay sane, and wait to be rescued. And yet, it couldn’t have been easy and there must have been some difficult moments. Which narrative will win out in the end: the composed miners who maintained a sense of civility and dignity while trapped in a terrible situation or the miners who barely were able to keep it together as they lost hope? Apparently there is a lot of money to be had if some of the miners tell of the darker side of their ordeal. How long until we get the first TV movie on the subject?

Overall, we should expect that there are both good and bad sides to this story. We are not served well by an overall story that only focuses on the heroic. This is human nature: being cooped up with anyone for that long, let alone at the bottom of a mine shaft, is bound to lead to some antagonism and strife. What might make the story even more remarkable is knowing that they were able to overcome difficulties and issues and still be rescued. How exactly did they band together? What kept their hope alive?

(This reminds me of Lost and the agreement made by the Oceanic Six to tell a certain story after they had been rescued. Who will be the first to crack and provide the “true” story?)

Different definitions for welfare

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Apparently the gubernatorial race in Maine has included discussions about how welfare provided by the government might be defined differently:

“Essentially, we all get welfare in some fundamental form or another,” said Luisa Deprez, a sociology professor at the University of Maine.

Unemployment, Social Security, school lunches, subsidized college loans and even federal tax refunds can be considered forms of public assistance, according to those who favor a broader definition.

In the context of the gubernatorial campaign, however, welfare has been discussed in its more common, narrow definition: public anti-poverty programs that help provide basic needs, such as food and shelter.

I’ve other studies that suggest the public favors government intervention more when it is called something like “government assistance” as opposed to “welfare.”

This is a reminder that there are very few people who really want no government involvement in the lives of individuals. In reality, people who are supposedly at different ends of the political spectrum are debating how much government should be involved. How many people, of any political persuasion, are willing to completely give up unemployment benefits, Social Security, or Medicare?