About that lion

Ask this guy.

I've always loved philosophy, but there are certain schools of it that do nothing for me. Among these are logical positivism, analytical philosophy and schools that focus on things like grammar and language. Life's too short.

One person who has connections to those schools enjoys a huge international following: Ludwig Wittgenstein. I don't get the attraction.

A while back, someone loaned me a copy of what many people consider to be his masterpiece, Philosophical Investigations. I dutifully waded through it in hopes of changing my mind. It didn't happen, although there were a few good lines here and there.

I'm about to take issue with one of the most famous of those. In that book, Wittgenstein said, "If a lion could talk, we could not understand him." That might be true of things like sea cucumbers, but lions are mammals and we share a lot of similarities in the brain with them, especially in those regions of the brain that have to do with emotions.

I don't think that lions particularly need to talk, although one could argue that they already do non-verbally. But if they did, I think it would be pretty clear. I also have a feeling that most of what they would say would take the form of commands and declarative statements.

They probably wouldn't ask a lot of questions. Or need to.

CUTTING ALONE WON'T DO IT. People concerned about deficits would do well to think less about across the board cuts than about promoting economic growth, according to this analysis in the NY Times.

UPPER BIG BRANCH. Here's an interesting twist in the Massey mine disaster investigation.

PREJUDICE. Scientific research suggests it may be more ingrained than we like to think, but there are ways of countering it.

WANT TO BE HAPPIER? Try focusing. Wandering minds apparently gather negative thoughts.

MORE ON THOSE NEANDERTHALS. Maybe the human edge over our Neanderthal cousins had something to do with our slow growth to maturity.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Passion

I have a soft spot for the German philosopher Hegel, who once described world history--all too well--as "this slaughter-bench, upon which the happiness of nations, the wisdom of states, and the virtues of individuals were sacrificed..."

He also had this to say about what it takes to get things done:

We say, therefore, that nothing at all has come to pass without the interest of those whose activity is involved in it. And since we call an interest a "passion"--when all of one's individuality, to the neglect of all other interests and purposes one might have, is placed in the service of some cause; and every fiber of one's being, every last ounce of will-power is committed to it, so that all of one's needs and forces are concentrated upon it--we must assert as a general proposition that nothing great has been accomplished in the world without passion.

PREJUDICE is bad for your health.

YOU MIGHT NEED A (GOOD) WEATHERMAN or weather woman to know which way the climate change wind blows.

WHILE WE'RE AT IT, here's another one on the same subject.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Gender issues

We interrupt Goat Rope's regularly scheduled program to report due to a strange eruption of gender issues on the farm. It seems that our male turkey Diego (above, left) was in a state of confusion after his partner started sitting on eggs.

He responded by doing something that I think is pretty unheard of amongst normal males of his kind: stealing chicken eggs and sitting on them. Like a broody hen, he pretty much sits on them all the time. He's even been caught in the act of egg theft.

(I would go out and take a picture of him in the act but for the fact that a recent attack of sciatica or something makes it too painful for me to take any unnecessary steps.)

This is not normal. But then most of the animals around here would fit right in at the Island of Misfit Toys on the Rudolph Christmas special.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. As concerns about debt and deficits grow, a bipartisan group of lawmakers are calling for cuts in military spending.

HEALTH CARE REFORM will cost WV much less than the state Department of Health and Human Resources previously estimated.

UPPER BIG BRANCH MINE DISASTER. Here's the most recent NPR coverage.

FEELING YOUR PAIN. New research suggests that racial bias interferes with empathy.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

An image of a day

Yesterday was a day rich in images destined to be replayed for a long time to come. But for me, the most memorable image came unexpectedly, after the official events had been televised.

At the West Virginia Veterans Memorial outside the state capitol on a cold and windy afternoon, I saw a solitary African-American man carrying an American flag and walking calmly, silently, slowly and mindfully around the monument. It was at once a very public and very private act, full of dignity and gravity.

I could imagine any number of thoughts and feelings that motivated this walking vigil, any number of interpretations, such as memories of past sacrifices, a feeling of inclusion and pride, a veteran's solidarity with the fallen, or many other possibilities. But to have interrupted this solitary procession would have been a profanation.

I asked no questions. It was enough to stop, look and remember.

NOW WHAT? Here's one take on what lies ahead.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED? Esquire looks back at the last eight years here.

STUDIES OF PREJUDICE may suggest ways to overcome it.

THE FIRST AMERICANS. New genetic evidence suggests two separate early migrations to America.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ?

Talking sense

It's hard to keep your head above water these days.

It looks like another economic stimulus package is on the horizon, which is a good thing, especially if we get it right. There has been much debate about what the next stimulus package should contain.

Along with lots of other folks, I've argued many times here and elsewhere that a good stimulus package should be targeted at those who need help the most and at improving public investments in infrastructure. Those ideas are kind of mainstream now.

Here's what Business Week has to say:

Now that the banks have had a bailout, talk in Washington is turning to a broader rescue plan for the economy. Congress has been studying a possible $250 billion to $300 billion fiscal stimulus package—everything from new tax breaks to new-school construction. But success will depend on which stimuli are chosen, says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. Tax rebates such as those sent out under the 2008 Economic Stimulus Act are pretty effective in a short (six-month) recession, he says, with each dollar spent on the tax break yielding a $1.26 boost to GDP (chart).

But his analysis shows that extending unemployment benefits to 39 weeks, from 26, would yield a greater return, as would raising food stamp payments. And if the downturn lasts 12 months, as Zandi predicts, infrastructure projects—which can take months or longer to kick in—could also render a big payoff. What sorts of stimuli wouldn’t ripple through the economy so efficiently? The cost of corporate tax cuts, says Zandi, far exceeds the economic rewards.

According to Zandi, one dollar of government spending invested in increased food stamp payments would lead to a boost of $1.73 in GDP. Extending unemployment would yield $1.64 per dollar, while infrastructure spending would increase GDP by $1.59 per dollar invested. By contrast, corporate tax cuts would only increase GDP by .30 per federal dollar.

Damn...maybe the folks at Business Week have gone pinko too. And they're not the only ones.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, unemployment is at a 14 year high. And here's Paul Krugman talking New Deal.

VOTE WITH YOUR FORK. Here's an interview with Michael Pollan on the politics of food.

TOLERANCE can spread as easily as prejudice, according to recent psychological research.

URGENT SEA SNAKE UPDATE. They drink fresh water.

WASN'T THERE A MOVIE ABOUT THIS? Some scientists are hoping to clone extinct species.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: INSCRUTABLE

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS SELF

Caption: Wu (orange kitty) develops his sense of self by fighting with Seamus McGoogle.

El Cabrero is musing about sociology this week, although you will also find links and comments about current events. In particular, I've been thinking about that approach to the study of society that has been called symbolic interactionism, an approach that was first developed in this country.

Three pioneers of this approach are George Herbert Mead, Charles Cooley, and W.I. Thomas. Each deserves way more space that they're going to get here but here's a selection of their greatest hits that hold up pretty well.

George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) was a pioneer in this field. He believed that people develop a sense of themselves through interaction with others, a process that begins in childhood. Through play--which moves from simple imitation to complex games--children learn to take on the role of the other and begin to imagine how their own actions appear to others. He called this the sense of the "generalized other." Through the process of socialization, a child gradually develops a sense of the "I" or self as active subject.

Charles Cooley was an almost exact contemporary of Mead (1864-1929) who proceeded along similar lines. He is largely remembered today for his idea of "the looking glass self." This refers to the pretty much undisputed idea that we derive our sense of ourselves from how we are treated by others and how they respond to us.

Another theorist in this tradition was W.I. Thomas (1963-1947) who is most widely remembered today for what came to be called the "Thomas theorem," which goes like this:

If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.

It's hard to argue with this one either. If people think Martians are landing and wreaking havoc--as many did when Orson Welles aired his radio version of "War of the Worlds" in the 1930s--they're gonna act like the Martians are a-coming, even if they're not. We see the Thomas theorem in action pretty much every day in the news and maybe even in the living room.

One of the most interesting symbolic interactionists was Erving Goffman, but that'll have to keep until tomorrow.

THE OLD IDEA of the tradeoff between jobs and the environment needs to be retired. This item argues that aggressively attacking climate change could revitalize US manufacturing.

OH GOOD. New generations of "non-lethal" weapons might mimic schizophrenia.

WANT TO ADD SOME ZEST TO YOUR CAREER? Here are some suggestions.

A SPOT IN THE BRAIN. This is an interesting item on the physiology of prejudice.

IS BIGFOOT IN WV or have researchers just not met some of the guys I went to school with? Here's the Daily Mail on the subject.

HAVE YOU THANKED A FISH TODAY? Maybe you should. And don't forget a nod to cuttlefish as well.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED