I am experimenting with enriching our RSS feed. Since I do not have time to comment at length on everything I read, I decided to share the ones I found interesting by RSS. You can see the most recent ones on the sidebar, under Recently Read. I do not want to alienate you so I am conducting a survey. Register your opinion, or write a comment; don't be shy!

You might have noticed the blog got a makeover! Let us know if have any problems with it. I think the central column is a bit cramped but I am going to live with it until next year before making any decisive changes.

 I would also like to point out that we have an RSS feed if you do not want to visit the site to find out what is new.

An article I read today (Facing Their Scars, and Finding Beauty) reminded me of a subject I have been meaning to tackle. We all know that physically attractive people find mates more easily. What would happen to people’s mating strategies if, in the event of a catastrophe such as a nuclear war, an entire population became physically disfigured? Assuming they still had the ability to procreate, would they be able to overcome the physical repulsion? The underlying question, of course, is how important are physical attributes versus social attributes. Kubrick touched upon the subject in Dr. Strangelove, with two characters discussing the rebuilding of the population in the aftermath of nuclear war:

General “Buck” Turgidson: Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn’t that necessitate the abandonment of the so-called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?
Dr. Strangelove: Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious… service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.

I have always been envious of women’s uncanny ability to read emotions. It could be sample bias, but I have consistently found men to be pretty bad at this. Often I find myself walking away obliviously from a social encounter when a woman will remark to me, “Didn’t you notice such-and-such?” At least I have a gaydar!

People with this ability must be perceptive; to be able to subliminally interpret visual cues given off by other people. I’m way too absent-minded for this kind of thing. I have also noticed that it is a skill easily lost without practice.

Here is a short story: take a maladjusted man, give him a keen intuition and let him loose for a day. See how he takes advantage of his new sense.

With Mother’s Day close at hand, the Times published a fascinating article about infanticide and siblicide. In a previous entry, I wrote about cannibalism, which is a closely related subject. For example, the article states that fetal sharks feed on one another because the mother has no placenta. Imagine that happening in humans; having twins and expecting to find one stillborn. For all we have in common with other animals, this is something which makes one rejoice vive la difference!

I doubt siblicide, as it is practiced in other animals, is common in humans, but you do see cases of infanticide, especially in patriarchal societies, where the male is prized over the female. At least sacrificing children to god is on the way out.
It is remarkable how closely related eugenics, infanticide, siblicide and cannibalism are in selective breeding. As is modern birth control; a topic embroiled in debate here in America. First the question was whether or not abortion should be legal. Now the conservatives are debating whether or not birth control should be practiced at all (I kid you not). In other words, sex only as a means of procreation. Whatever one thinks in the abstract, this is never going to work in the real world. No amount of inculcation is going to make people accept that they should only have sex once or twice in their life. I think humans show enough restraint, acting against their basic instincts, by trying to be faithful to one partner.

Finally, I would like to note that Mother’s Day, in the United States, was first proclaimed in the town that I currently live in, as a tribute to peace.

Look ma, no hands!