Author: Stephanie Zvan

The Contraband Library

Stephanie Zvan16 Comments

File under Things That Made My Day: What could make a Catholic schoolgirl more appealing than running a lending library of books her school has banned?

Nekochan wrote about the recent book ban: “I was absolutely appalled, because a huge number of the books were classics and others that are my favorites. One of my personal favorites, The Catcher in the Rye, was on the list, so I decided to bring it to school to see if I would really get in trouble. Well… I did but not too much. Then (surprise!) a boy in my English class asked if he could borrow the book because he heard it was very good AND it was banned! This happened a lot and my locker got to overflowing with banned books, so I decided to put the unoccupied locker next to me to a good use. I now have 62 books in that locker, about half of what was on the list.”

This is a win all around. With Nekochan’s help, these kids are not only challenging the arbitrary authority of their school and their religion. They’re also getting a better education than they would even if the books were assigned.

Nekochan recognizes the risk that she could get in trouble for supplying her classmates with banned books, but she believes that she is in the right. “Before I started [the library], almost no kid at school but myself took an active interest in reading! Now not only are all the kids reading the banned books, but go out of their way to read anything they can get their hands on. So I’m doing a good thing, right?”

Absolutely right, Nekochan.

[ETA: See the comments for doubts raised about the truth of this story–some silly and some more serious.]

The Contraband Library
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On This Labor Day

Stephanie Zvan

On your (maybe) holiday, don’t forget:

  • In the middle of appalling un- and underemployment, our government is still clinging to fiscal policies that were largely designed to keep unemployment at their preferred rate, resulting in a semi-permanent group of the unemployed.
  • Despite coming into office in the middle of an employment crisis, Obama abandoned any kind of job plan after his initial stimulus, to the point where we don’t really know what he intends to say today when he “rededicates” himself to U.S. jobs, though we can be pretty sure that another direct stimulus is not on the table, no matter how successful the first was.
  • Many governments are using this opportunity to reduce employee wages and benefits and even to decide that unions may be denied any bargaining position.
  • In private industry, companies are posting record profits, but they’re mostly doing it by using fewer workers and paying them less in wages and benefits. Some of those profits come from mismanaged industries that forced concessions from their unions when times were bad and are improving life for management only now that profits are high.
  • Even this holiday was a tiny concession to the forces of labor, and holding it in September instead of May, when the rest of the world celebrates the power of labor, was a way of separating labor from the political movements that formally recognized their worth and rights.

But hey, enjoy your (maybe) day off with (maybe) pay.

Then it’s time to realize that the only way to get properly paid for our labor requires yet more labor. The president is making a speech, but he can’t enact legislation. Make sure your representative and senators know you want them to enact the policies. Tell them and the White House that you support the recent actions by the National Labor Relations Board. And tell them all that it’s time to get EFCA enacted, without waiting until we have nothing left to lose and so we’re not all fighting alone.

If enough of us do all of that, maybe we’ll have something to celebrate by next Labor Day.

On This Labor Day

We Are Indeed on a Slippery Slope

Stephanie Zvan7 Comments

By now, an awful lot of people have seen Rabbi Moshe Averick’s blatherings about how atheism will inevitably lead to pedophilia. They’ll have noticed that he quotes a couple of academic philosophers–those leaders of popular thought–to prove how we’re putting the world’s children at ever greater risk. They’ll have noticed that he claims that a religion without any textual prohibitions against sex with children is all that stands in our way. They’ll have recalled that the world’s single largest religious organization has a craptastic track record on using their authority to do anything other than perpetuate child sexual abuse. That’s all good, but that’s not what I want to talk about.

I want to talk about this slippery slope concept the good rabbi puts out there:

Since these values are nothing more than reflections of the prevalent subjective preferences they obviously will shift and metamorphose to accommodate changing needs and attitudes. In my own lifetime I have witnessed radical societal swings in moral behavior and attitudes regarding marriage and sexuality, homosexuality, the killing of unborn children, euthanasia, and the use of illicit drugs.

One can reasonably predict that as the infatuation with skepticism and atheism grows among the influential “intellectual elite” of our society, so too will their readiness to embrace more radical changes in moral values. Religious believers expressing dismay and horror at the ominous moral storm clouds looming on the horizon are met with smug derision, hysterical counter-accusations, or utter indifference. There is nothing that atheistic societies are incapable of rationalizing and accepting – including the sexual molestation of children.

Continue reading “We Are Indeed on a Slippery Slope” →

We Are Indeed on a Slippery Slope

Sam & Max Rules

Stephanie Zvan7 Comments

Apropos of yesterday’s post on humor and our cross-country adventuring, and relevant to this blog’s unofficial commenting policy, the following is a reprint:

A bit more than a decade ago, my husband and I played a bunch of LucasArts adventure games. Remember, this was pre-Episode One. Pre-Grim Fandango not being released for Macs for that matter. LucasArts was still okay then. In fact, they were pretty cool.

Sure, the Indiana Jones game was kinda dull, but Day of the Tentacle was a geek’s dream. Personally, though, I preferred Sam & Max Hit the Road. It’s still the most surreal game I’ve played, although Psychonauts came close. But even Psychonauts’ meat circus (really) didn’t quite compare to the combination of conspiracy theory, circus freaks and roadside attractions that was Sam & Max. Gator Golf, anyone? A bigfoot underground? How about a rotating restaurant atop the world’s largest ball of twine?

Still, my favorite part of the Sam & Max gameplay was the dialog. It was menu based. All the options tended to be snarky, but there were a few that would get a person decked in real life. Really funny, but nothing you’d actually say unless you wanted to end the conversation immediately.

The first time we came across one of these, we looked at each other, figured out how much progress we stood to lose, and picked the least helpful option. It got about the response we expected–a nasty, angry (silly) retort–but then the weird thing happened. We still had all our other dialog options left. There was no penalty for being nasty. This made a lot of sense in the game, since Sam and Max were both psychotic, but it took a little getting used to.

From that point on, we always chose the funniest, least productive dialog first. After all, if we picked the less-funny, productive stuff, we moved forward in the game and lost our chance at the funny.

Then we went even further. We decided we liked playing by Sam & Max rules, so we adopted them in real life. No penalty for the funny first response, even if it isn’t very friendly.

I don’t recommend this for everyone*, of course. It takes timing and a good sense of how much distance must be kept from the truth in order for something to be funny. Most of all, it takes both a willingness to explain and a willingness to listen when a joke goes awry.

For example, my husband has recently discovered caipirinhas and likes to have one in the evening. We even bought an ice crusher for making them. Since he had a final this weekend, he’s also been studying most evenings. Last week, as he was making a caipirinha and preparing to study, I joked that he was going to need to bring one to his final.

He got a little huffy and declared that it was one drink over several hours and–oops. I stopped him and invoked Sam & Max rules.

Then I explained. He’s never taken a psychology class, but luckily, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know anything about the subject.

“You know how context aids memory–you’re more likely to remember something in the same circumstances you originally encountered it?”

He nodded.

“Okay. This is one of the things that get mentioned in a variety of psychology classes. Every time it’s come up in one of my classes, there’s always one student who just has to say….”

He grinned. “So I guess I should bring beer to my finals.”

“Exactly.”

Thus was disaster averted. But that’s the thing about Sam & Max rules. You can’t play by them with someone you don’t trust or who doesn’t trust you. You can’t play with someone who won’t explain when the meaning isn’t evident, or with someone who won’t take explanations at face value, or with someone who can’t tell when the joke falls flat. Playing by Sam & Max rules takes a lot of work.

But when it works, it’s very silly fun.

————————–
* It’s taken me time, but I have eventually come to realize (not understand, mind you) that not everyone’s life and friends are a traveling comedy routine.

Sam & Max Rules

Darwin’s Twine

Stephanie Zvan2 Comments

Labor Day weekend in Minnesota signals the beginning of the end of motorcycle season, so it’s always a great time to hop on the bike and visit out-of-town friends. Yesterday, our trip took us through Darwin, Minnesota, the home of the world’s largest ball of twine created by a single individual. Being fans of Sam & Max, and the sort of people who visit places like the potato museum, we stopped.

I was expecting high kitsch and every available opportunity taken to separate us from our tourist dollars. I was pleasantly surprised. The museum itself was free, although it did offer souvenirs.

Darwin, MN
Sadly for Sam & Max fans, the museum is behind the ball of twine, not inside.

The whole place was closed, as you would expect late on a holiday-weekend Friday.

Closed

We had no problem seeing the twine. Seats were set out for us to sit and watch the captive.

Big Twine

We didn’t even need to go inside to find out why this thing was ever created.

Info

They very much wanted us to be able to sign the guest book, even with the museum closed.

Mailbox

And the guest book itself was clearly a work of love.

Guest Book

We couldn’t even spend money at the little cafe across the street.

Twine Ball Inn
Sam & Max fans will note that the restaurant is not actually atop the ball of twine.

So it was time to get back on the road, with one last look for good measure.

Ducati

It wasn’t at all what I expected, and I’m okay with that. I do wish the museum had been open, though. I suspect the folks inside would have been as much fun to talk to as the giant ball of twine was to visit.

Darwin’s Twine

Saturday Storytime: A Jar of Goodwill

Stephanie Zvan

Not much to say about this one except that Toby is one of the good ones and always worthwhile to read.

“Rape amendments to the contract?” I asked. I was going to be on a ship, unthawed, by myself, with crew I’d never met. I had to think about the worst.

“Prohibitive. Although, accidental loss of life is not quite as high, which means I’d advise lowering the former so that there is no temptation to murder you after a theoretical rape to evade the higher contract payout.”

“Fuck,” I sighed.

“Would you like to peruse their reputation notes?” the harbormaster asked. And for a moment, I thought maybe the harbormaster sounded concerned.

No. He was just being fair. He’d spent two hundred years of bargaining with ships for goods, fuel, repair, services. Fair was built-in, the half-computer half-human creature in front of me was all about fair. Fair got you repeat business. Fair got you a wide reputation.

“What’s the offer?”

“Half a point on the package,” the harbormaster said.

“And we don’t know what the package is, or how long it will take… or anything.” I bit my lip.

“They assured me that half a point would pay off your debt and then some. It shouldn’t take more than a year.”

A year. For half a percent. Half a percent of what? It could be cargo they were delivering. Or, seeing as it was a crew of scientists, it could be some project they were working on.

All of which just raised more questions.

Questions I wouldn’t have answers to unless I signed up. I sighed. “That’s it, then? No loans? No extensions?”

The harbormaster sighed. “I answer to the Gheda shareholders who built and own this complex. I have already stretched my authority to give you a month’s extension. The debt has to be called. I’m sorry.”

I looked out at the darkness of space out beyond Ops. “Shit choices either way.”

The harbormaster said nothing.

I folded my arms. “Do it.”

Keep reading.

Saturday Storytime: A Jar of Goodwill

Atheists Talk: Humanists at the Fair

Stephanie Zvan4 Comments

What is humanism? What are its core principles? On what topics do humanists agree and disagree, and how do they live these principles? Sunday’s show doesn’t promise to have all the answers, but the conversation should be illuminating. Listen to Scott Lohman, president of the Humanists of Minnesota, and friends discuss the topic during one of Minnesota’s greatest gatherings of humanity–the Minnesota State Fair. The panel at the live show at the AM 950 KTNF booth are Scott Lohman, Audreg Kingstrom and Mark Thoson.

Humanists of Minnesota

American Humanists Association

Listen to AM 950 KTNF on Sunday at 9 a.m. Central to hear Atheists Talk, produced by Minnesota Atheists. Stream live online. Call in to the studio at  952-946-6205, or send an e-mail to [email protected] during the live show. If you miss the live show, listen to the podcast later.

Atheists Talk: Humanists at the Fair

Humor Study Is Funny Peculiar

Stephanie Zvan10 Comments

This week, Scicurious and I are tandem blogging her Friday Weird Science paper. This one just had a bit too much weird for one person.

Point and Laugh
Heh. Heh. Heh.

A summer school theater teacher of mine from way back claimed to long for a unique career. He wanted to be a stand-up comedian for preschoolers. There were just one or two little problems. The kids don’t have a lot of disposable income to spend on entertainment, and the parents weren’t going to pony up for a grown man standing in front of a bunch of kids saying, “Pee-pee. Caca,” no matter how much the kids were, well, peeing themselves with laughter.

ResearchBlogging.org
My teacher understood humor at its most basic, and he would laugh his ass off if he were to read a recent evolutionary psychology paper on the topic, “Humor ability reveals intelligence, predicts mating success, and is higher in males.” If he didn’t have one of those common names that makes a person impossible to catch up with, I’d send it to him. It’s the sort of evo psych paper that ignores everything we know about inheritance, almost everything we know about the topic being studied, and much of what we know about sex to say, “Look! Correlation! Thus…selection!”

Continue reading “Humor Study Is Funny Peculiar” →

Humor Study Is Funny Peculiar

Moving Day

Stephanie Zvan1 Comment

After four-plus years of blogging independently (and as part of a group blog), I’ve been thinking for a while that it was time to join a blog network. While I’ve been invited to join elsewhere, it probably won’t surprise you to find my new home is at Freethought Blogs. Even before the rumors of its existence were confirmed, it struck me as the best fit for this eclectic little blog. Luckily, Ed agreed.

I think you’ll find it’s a nice place to visit. The neighbors are great.

But that’s just the original crew. We’re bringing in reinforcements.

So please, update your feeds and your links to follow me to the new place, look around, get to meet my new neighbors if you haven’t already. I’ll introduce you over the next few weeks. They’re a pretty cool lot, and the neighborhood is only getting bigger.

Moving Day

The Accommodationism Challenges

Stephanie Zvan18 Comments

Mike McRae, Tribal Scientist, indulged me in a discussion of his goals surrounding his latest salvo in the accommodation debate.

There are frequent olive branches thrown down in request of a ceasefire. Perhaps the most common is the plea for diversity. This call seems democratic, inclusive and reasonable. After all, if there are many different problems and many different audiences, there must be a need for many different methods. Let’s all live and let live, right? If one approach doesn’t work, another will.

The mediators are somewhat like a ring species for Accommodationis warminfuzziness and Newatheist confrontationist.

Yet there is an element of intellectual laziness in this view. Of course, no one approach in communication will reach all demographics, or solve all problems. Diverse approaches are indeed necessary. Yet this is not the same as saying all approaches are necessary. Some will conflict. Some will be resource hungry and have no hope of success for one reason or another. Identifying solutions to the problem of how best to communicate science in the face of religion will take more than guessing, hoping and shouting into echo chambers. Like anything in science, it demands research, critical thinking and evaluation. No act of communication should be above criticism or beyond the need for evidence, clarity and precision.

I wanted to know why he put up a snarky post. I wanted to know why he generalized his criticisms to the group instead of making them specific to particular behaviors and people. Basically, I wanted to know why someone critiquing communication was engaging in such nonconstructive criticism. His response:

You ask what I hope to accomplish? Culture change. Encouraging atheists to see that if they want to defend their choices, those values they appreciate so much in science don’t suddenly disappear and allow them to have robust opinions based on gut feelings and wishful thinking.

Based on the rest of my conversation with Mike, I’d like to offer a set of challenges to those advocating that “New Atheists” be more accommodating of others in their communications.

Continue reading “The Accommodationism Challenges” →

The Accommodationism Challenges