There is a concept in psychology called the “just world hypothesis”, also known as the “just world fallacy”. In its essence, this concept refers to our tendency to infer that the world operates as it should – goodness is rewarded and iniquity is punished. Where the fallacious component of this phenomenon crops up is when …
Monthly Archive: April 2011
Apr 08 2011
Movie Friday: Outnumbered
I had a discussion/debate with Scary Fundamentalist about the strength of kids’ “bullshit detectors”. My basic stance was that, given the opportunity and a set of unbiased facts, kids are pretty good at sorting out what is real and what isn’t. However, when you tell them that something is real, they tend to believe you because… …
Apr 07 2011
Well India is apparently stupid too
In case you were wondering, it turns out that India is also stupid: A controversial book on Mahatma Gandhi has been banned by the government in his native state of Gujarat. Chief Minister Narendra Modi said that its contents were “perverse and defamed the icon of non-violence”. The book by Pulitzer Prize winning author Joseph Lelyveld contains …
Apr 06 2011
Anyone but Harper
If you’re planning on voting strategically (i.e., vote for the non-Conservative candidate to make sure you don’t split the vote and usher in a Conservative candidate), then check out this resource. Type in your postal code, and it gives you an idea of who has a chance to beat the Conservative candidate in your riding. …
Apr 06 2011
Fuckin’ privilege? How does that work?
My experiences dealing with other people, as well as my own recollections of how my opinions have changed over the years, have imprinted upon me the need to be as even-handed as possible to those whose positions oppose mine. As hard as it is to do sometimes, I have to constantly remind myself that it …
Apr 05 2011
Additions to the blog roll
So in addition to the new site design (I made that header myself – be proud), I’m also updating the blog roll that is on the right sidebar of this page. As threatened, I have removed some that are no longer being updated and have added some new ones that I am following: (Not So …
Apr 05 2011
There’s an election coming up!
In case you are completely disconnected from what is going on around you (as too many of my friends are, sadly), there is a federal election happening next month in Canada. I gather that the majority of my readers are Canadian, but I know a lot of you aren’t. Right now we have Canada’s equivalent …
Apr 05 2011
Freedom of religion… inherently contradictory?
Okay, not usually, but maybe in this case? A polygamous society “consumes” its young. It hurts people. It hurts society. Because of that, polygamists ought to be criminally prosecuted, not shielded by constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion, expression or association. That’s the position laid out by the B.C. attorney general’s lead lawyer Monday as the reference …
Apr 04 2011
The value of the ‘spiritual’
I have a few close friends who describe themselves as ‘spiritual’. In fact, for the intervening period between leaving religious dogma and rejecting god-concepts altogether, I described myself along similar lines. When I said it, and I suppose when my friends say it, it meant that while I did not adhere to a particular religious …
Apr 03 2011
The new layout
Hey readers, I thought I would spice things up a bit by changing the layout. Let me know what you think in the comments – do you like the change or should I go back to the old style?
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