Weekend Tidbits Features
Today's Tidbit: Ethicists Have No Ethics
There are these people called "ethicists" or "moral philosophers". They make their livings by thinking about what is right and wrong and how to live a moral life. Does all this thinking get them anywhere?
Today's Tidbit: If You Like It Hot and Dry Outside, Eat Meat
It takes roughly 500 gallons of water to produce a quarter pound hamburger, and in the process, approximately six pounds of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere.
Today's Tidbit: Later Is Less Stressful Than Never
Nicole Mead and Vanessa Patrick had a bunch of dieters, one at a time, sit and watch a movie, each with a bowl of candy next to him. Some were told they shouldn't eat the candy, while others were told that they should hold off during the movie but could have the candy later.
Today's Tidbit: Altruism Doesn't Necessarily Mean Being Selfless
Altruism was first explained as kin selection: "I would lay down my life for two brothers or eight cousins", as J.B.S. Haldane put it.
Today's Tidbit: Statistics Beat Taste Buds
As discussed in a previous tidbit, people are over-confident in their abilities for many reasons. Here's an example...
Today's Tidbit: Sea Otters Help Us Fight Global Warming
Sea otters are the largest members of the weasel family. When people started hunting sea otters for their fur, their population fell from roughly 225,000 to about 1,500, until the International Fur Seal Treaty took effect in 1911. Since the international ban on otter hunting, the population has rebounded back to roughly 107,000.
Today's Tidbit: Lower Social Status = Weaker Immune System
Scientists are able to control hierarchy in rhesus macaques. They do this by introducing monkeys into groups one at a time, and at least initially the monkeys that are introduced first have higher status.
Today's Tidbit: More Is Less
There are two sets of baseball cards: A = Contains 7 top players.
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