Ranthropologist

Category: Daily Reads

  • Daily Reads: Statistical Inequality

    Daily Reads: Statistical Inequality

    Today’s read uses a specific example to highlight a broader problem that concerns me: the misleading use of statistics. Ezra Klein’s article from Vox discusses a recent statistic from Oxfam which states that the combined wealth of the richest 1% will be greater than the combined wealth of the remaining 99% within the next year. Taken by itself, this is indeed an alarming statistic, but as Klein illustrates, you have to drill down into Oxfam’s methodology to really see what this statistic is telling us. The article spells it out in detail, but the upshot is that the criteria used by Oxfam to calculate wealth takes into account debt as well as assets. What this means is that a poor rural resident of an underdeveloped part of the world who has no debt is considered “wealthier” than a resident of a developed nation whose debt exceeds her income. In other words, by Oxfam’s calculations, you could be making $150,000 a year – but if you owe $500,000 on a mortgage, you have a negative net wealth, which means you are “poor.”

    It’s well worth reading this article to see what calculations went into the statistic, and for Klein’s analysis of what we can learn from the overall Oxfam report. I have no doubt that inequality is an enormous global problem – but even when a statistic seems to support my position I want to make sure I am understanding that stat correctly. Sure, stats can make great soundbites, but I wish more people would make sure they knew what the stats they quote really mean.

    Be careful with that viral statistic about the top 1% owning half the world’s wealth

  • Daily Reads: Everybody Poops

    Daily Reads: Everybody Poops

    Ok, so maybe an article about poop isn’t the most important or thought-provoking thing in the world, but I thought it was pretty interesting. I definitely learned some things about the process of elimination, so to speak! Joseph Stromberg of Vox talks about 9 different things you may not know about poop. I knew most of these things already, but the list filled in some gaps in my knowledge – for example, although it makes sense in hindsight, I did not realize there were some fairly significant differences in male vs. female colorectal anatomy. So if you are looking for some bathroom reading, this article is the one to read the next time nature calls.

    Everybody poops. But here are 9 surprising facts about feces you may not know.

  • Daily Read: Your Brain on Multitasking

    Daily Read: Your Brain on Multitasking

    Today’s Daily Read is relevant to my latest post in the Technology and Its Discontents series in that it discusses the harm we are doing to ourselves through our addictions to our phones and screens. Daniel J. Levitin writes in The Guardian about the detrimental effects of information overload on our brains. In this new era of instant electronic gratification, we have fooled ourselves into thinking that we are getting more done, when in reality, the research shows that we are simply feeding our addiction to dopamine. I already know about the effects of dopamine and wrote about it here; but it’s funny how having knowledge of the harm and seeing how it affects me has still not been enough for me to stop spending so much time with screens. Levitin’s article is a bit lengthy but please don’t let that deter you; five to ten minutes of reading will reward you with some insights that may help you – or at least, inform you. Here’s a tidbit from the article that was new – and also surprising and worrying – to me: “Just having the opportunity to multitask is detrimental to cognitive performance. Glenn Wilson, former visiting professor of psychology at Gresham College, London, calls it info-mania. His research found that being in a situation where you are trying to concentrate on a task, and an email is sitting unread in your inbox, can reduce your effective IQ by 10 points. And although people ascribe many benefits to marijuana, including enhanced creativity and reduced pain and stress, it is well documented that its chief ingredient, cannabinol, activates dedicated cannabinol receptors in the brain and interferes profoundly with memory and with our ability to concentrate on several things at once. Wilson showed that the cognitive losses from multitasking are even greater than the cognitive losses from pot‑smoking.”

    Why the Modern World is Bad for Your Brain

  • Daily Reads: Labeling Knowledge

    Daily Reads: Labeling Knowledge

    This article in the Washington Post by Ilya Somin proposes an interesting idea about the scientific literacy of the general public: we don’t need to be highly knowledgeable about science – or many other topics, for that matter – to get by in our daily lives. So when a survey comes out such as the one with which the article opens, illustrating that 80% of the American public would support labeling of foods that contain DNA, it is misleading for us to assume that 80% of Americans are stupid. Yes, it pains me greatly to realize that that many people don’t know what DNA is and that it is present in just about everything we eat, but Somin is correct in concluding that with the vast quantities of information that exist, it is unrealistic to expect people to be knowledgeable of everything. (This principle is used in tongue-in-cheek “warnings” about the substance dihydrogen monoxide – otherwise known as water – and how dangerous it can be. This capitalizes on people’s lack of knowledge about chemical names and trades in the rather elitist assumption that people who don’t know the chemical structure and name of water are stupid, rather than merely untutored.) That said, I think this is why critical thinking is so important. People need to be taught to admit that they don’t know things and that they may need more information before coming to a conclusion. If we all realize and admit how much we don’t know, rather than forming opinions without doing more research, then I think perhaps a lot of our problems with scientific misunderstandings would end.

    Over 80 percent of Americans support “mandatory labels on foods containing DNA”

  • Daily Reads: The Real Cause of Obesity

    Daily Reads: The Real Cause of Obesity

    I do a lot of reading about health and nutrition because I find it to be interesting both anthropologically and personally. I have long come to embrace the conclusion that diet-related health issues such as obesity are linked to social and cultural causes and not (just) to personal decision-making. Thus, today’s Daily Read is about that very topic. James Hamblin of The Atlantic writes about a meeting he attended with policy makers, researchers, and medical professionals where the link between culture and the obesity crisis was the topic. What I found most interesting about the article was a study showing how attitudes towards obesity split along political lines – that is, liberals are more likely to see obesity as a societal problem that requires government intervention than conservatives are. But even more fascinating, to me, is the fact that most people still don’t seem to link social causes with obesity and instead are much more likely to pin it on personal choice, which as Hamblin points out, is an extremely reductionist approach to a complex problem.

    Body Weight, Clash of Ideologies

  • Daily Reads: Go To Sleep!

    Daily Reads: Go To Sleep!

    Do you wish you could get more sleep? Or do you brag about how you can manage on much less than the standard 8 hours a night? Or both? Then this article from Mother Jones by Indre Viskontas is for you. It summarizes nine main reasons why we should get more sleep. The information comes from an interview with sleep researcher Matt Walker conducted by the Inquiring Minds podcast (which I listened to this morning and which I highly recommend if you enjoy podcasts and science). I was surprised to hear some of the information presented in the podcast – especially about things like the effects of sleep deprivation on immune function and on regulation of blood sugar. So read the article, listen to the podcast, and don’t feel guilty for sleeping long nights or taking an afternoon nap. And if you feel like you just don’t have time in your life for more sleep – you have kids, long work hours, a social life to maintain – perhaps it’s worth looking at those obligations and seeing if you can find ways to make your own health a higher priority. I bet your ability to tend to those other obligations will improve!

    9 Reasons You Really Need To Go To Sleep