neuroscienve

[neuroscienve]

i just found the best research article and i want to share with you all:

"The Complex Relation Between Receptivity to Pseudo-Profound Bullshit and Political Ideology"

that title in simple terms: are liberals or conservatives more susceptible to fake-deep bullshit?

the critical results is that people whose morality is based more heavily on loyalty to one's groups, deference to authorities, and moral purity are waaaay more susceptible to this kind of fake-deep bullshit.

that effect was so strong it wiped out a lot of other results in their data. for example, endorsing tradition/resisting change and being socially conservative were strongly associated with being more susceptible to bullshit, but those factors stopped predicting susceptibility once these moral foundations were accounted for.

arguably, the reason this happens is because "social conservatism" is almost shorthand for holding strong loyalty/authority/purity morals. like, a long series of research papers have found that political (especially social) conservatism is predicted by endorsing loyalty/authority/purity morals.

Not to make everything about fandom, but I've been confident for a long-ass time that fanpol antis largely base their morality on these moral foundations (loyalty/authority/purity). antis are loyal to the group consensus and get harshly rejected and excluded by other antis when they have a dissenting opinion (loyalty); they tend to be obsessed with canon validation and harass creators on social media, not to mention their deference to cult leader-like big name fans (deference to authority); and of course it's in the name: fandom purity culture.

(if you want a detailed write-up on that feel free to ask, i have thoughts)

Meaning, ultimately, i spent like 2.5 hours reading this paper and writing this post just so could write the research-supported assertion that:

Antis are particularly susceptible to bullshit

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additional description of the paper's other results under the cut, unrelated to fandom, for anyone who wants to know more of the political results but can't access the paper

a) social conservatives, people who endorse holding to tradition / who are resistant to change, and people who base their morality more heavily on loyalty to groups, deference to authority, and moral purity are definitely more susceptible to bullshit.

b) people who take the middle of the road it comes to fighting for greater societal equality (measured e.g. by asking about creating greater economic equality) are maybe slightly more susceptible to bullshit. this is apparently related to 'centrism theory' which they discuss as saying, and i quote, "less intellectually sophisticated individuals tend to avoid deviating from the mainstream" uhh ????. rather than interpret this as related to intellect, i'd sooner argue (especially with the other factors they've already taken into account like cognitive reflection), this result is mostly indicating that conforming to the middle/centre means more susceptibility to bullshit (because you don't challenge the status quo, you don't challenge the bullshit).

c) economic leftists are sometimes more susceptible to bullshit. this effect only appears when controlling for other things like social conservatism, resistance to change, and morality based in loyalty/authority/purity though.

this is possibly (they don't report enough detail for me to say for sure) because being economically right is correlated with being more socially conservative, meaning that this relationship being economically right and bullshit susceptibility only occurs when you compare people at the same level of political orientation (leftists to leftists, right-wing to right-wing).

d) swedish voting patterns are associated with susceptibility to bullshit in particular ways, related to their social and economic orientations, as you might imagine. socially left but economically right voters were among the least susceptible to bullshit. interestingly, voters for a particularly socially and economically left party were among the most susceptible to bullshit.

e) at the most basic correlations level (without getting into more complex analysis, so taking with a grain of salt), susceptibility to pseudo-profound bullshit is correlated with: being receptive to profoundness in general, worse numericity skills, engaging in less cognitive reflection, more tendency toward confirmation bias, being socially conservative, being resistant to change, basing your morality on loyalty/authority/purity, basing your morality on justice and harm (this one surprises me, but is also why we go deeper than just looking at correlations), endorsing more traditional religiosity, being spiritual, being younger, and being less educated.

Notes:

As an important caveat, this study was done in Sweden, and what looks socially and economically left vs. right in Sweden may not map on to your own country that well, especially when it comes to voting patterns. Having frequent conversations with a Danish friend who moved to Australia, her perspective on what politically 'conservative' means changed a lot after seeing what that means here vs. in Denmark.

The general results for left/right should largely hold across the board because those were personality-based results, not specific to country-specific voting patterns and thus should apply broadly (although there may be some more idiosyncratic culture-specific effects).

The results for values should hold pretty much globally, because a ton of the research on moral foundations has been done cross-culturally and specifically came from a cross-cultural lens arguing that psychology focuses way too much on western liberal morality and is missing most of the globe's different moral reasoning and values.

[neuroscienve]

my supervisor/advisor/PI figured out that i really don't want to do a part of my project that involves creating something from scratch (again) and that i really like what I have been doing instead.

and i've been kinda terrified of telling her because she's really invested in it/i don't like disappointing people/i said i would do it so now i don't want to flake.

but typing this out, it seems dumb. like she's been saying all along to tell her what parts i like so i can keep on doing them. but i was always assuming that she was just saying that and not meaning it. guess she does mean it. (to be fair to me, she does do this thing where she says one thing and really means another. and i have been trying to be better at just taking her at her word to try and force this two-sidedness to stop. but i guess i haven't been taking my own advice since it's scary over a large project-type thing.)

so i might suddenly like my project a lot more now. i think i would be happy to help someone else get this technique going but i really don't want to do it just by myself.

fuck. i'm still processing the fact that she figured it out/noticed and wow am i glad she just pulled me aside to mention this to then talk about later because if she'd said that to me in our 1:1 meeting, I might not have been as bold but i'm also super shaky and almost crying right now. and i'd rather not do that in front of her.

but holy shit my life would be so so so much better. so so so much less dread.

#my stuff #lab #supervisor

[neuroscienve]

Cannot wait for my supervisor to ask why I have not made more progress on my draft.

"Sorry, I was a little bit distracted by the onset of World War III, a few countries away, and I am still somehow struggling with the ongoing worldwide pandemic, but sure, I will work on my draft this Sunday."

#me tomorrow when I tell my PI that #nope ive not worked on the review #history keeps happening

[neuroscienve]

Very important update: Russians are protesting.

They had protest on the streets against Putin and his actions, and are begging the world for forgiveness. One and a half thousand people got arrested.

They don't want this war as much as everyone else.

[neuroscienve]

i just made a quiz pls take it

#thriller #psychological where nothing is explained by the end #like the lighthouse #or shutter island #yeah this tracks

[neuroscienve]

Want to learn something new in 2022??

Absolute beginner adult ballet series (fabulous beginning teacher)

40 piano lessons for beginners (some of the best explanations for piano I’ve ever seen)

Excellent basic crochet video series

Basic knitting (probably the best how to knit video out there)

Pre-Free Figure Skate Levels A-D guides and practice activities (each video builds up with exercises to the actual moves!)

How to draw character faces video (very funny, surprisingly instructive?)

Another drawing character faces video

Literally my favorite art pose hack

Tutorial of how to make a whole ass Stardew Valley esque farming game in Gamemaker Studios 2??

Introduction to flying small aircrafts

French/Dutch/Fishtail braiding

Playing the guitar for beginners (well paced and excellent instructor)

Playing the violin for beginners (really good practical tips mixed in)

Color theory in digital art (not of the children’s hospital variety)

Retake classes you hated but now there’s zero stakes:

Calculus 1 (full semester class)

Learn basic statistics (free textbook)

Introduction to college physics (free textbook)

Introduction to accounting (free textbook)

Learn a language:

Ancient Greek

Latin

Spanish

German

Japanese (grammar guide) (for dummies)

French

Russian (pretty good cyrillic guide!)

[neuroscienve]

spotify wrapped is HERE! send me a number 1-100 and I’ll tell you the song it corresponds with on my top 100 playlist

[neuroscienve]

I think the moment that convinced me the operating logic of our society is truly fucked in a way that cannot merely be reformed was after that eclipse in 2017 when the articles started coming out about how much money had been lost by productivity dropping from people stopping momentarily to watch it happen. To measure the world by the metric of the dollar to such a devotion that any cult leader would be jealous of that you would look at one of the most sublime experiences in nature which we, our ancestors, and even a not insignificant number of non-human species, have been observing in awestruck wonder for millennia, and decide that such a moment of profundity is something to be fought and preferably expunged from the human experience because it briefly impacts quarterly revenue.

It's a feeling that has been coming up repeatedly, but with increasing frequency in the last few years. That being: what is all of this for? Where are we going? Nobody who defends the status quo can seem to answer it. What's the point of an uninterrupted quarterly revenue stream if we can't even look at an eclipse every few years? What's the point of hustling and grinding 50, 60, 70 hour weeks if you never have time to have dinner with your friends, talk to your family on the phone, but on a bigger spectrum, what's the point of all of that if you still don't have any way of retiring in the future? With the way that our lives are being increasingly monetized and squeezed every second, what is there to look forward to?

[neuroscienve]

i don’t think violence, or greed are the roots of human nature. i think warping looms and making soups are.

[neuroscienve]

Anne Sexton // A. M. Homes

[neuroscienve]

spooky season’s finally here so i made a quiz to celebrate: which female horror archetype are you?

please tag your results, i need to know which of you fellow freaks i’m compatible with.

#the witch

[neuroscienve]

[neuroscienve]

This is a compiled list of some of my favorite pieces of short horror fiction, ranging from classics to modern-day horror, and includes links to where the full story can be read for free. Please be aware that any of these stories may contain subject matter you find disturbing, offensive, or otherwise distressing. Exercise caution when reading. Image art is from Scarecrow: Year One.

PSYCHOLOGICAL: tense, dread-inducing horror that preys upon the human psyche and aims to frighten on a mental or emotional level. 

“The Frolic” by Thomas Ligotti, 1989

“Button, Button” by Richard Matheson, 1970

“89.1 FM” by Jimmy Juliano, 2015

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1892

“Death at 421 Stockholm Street“ by C.K. Walker, 2016

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1973

“An Empty Prison” by Matt Dymerski, 2018

“A Suspicious Gift” by Algernon Blackwood, 1906

CURSED: stories concerning characters afflicted with a curse, either by procuring a plagued object or as punishment for their own nefarious actions.

“How Spoilers Bleed” by Clive Barker, 1991

“A Warning to the Curious” by M.R. James, 1925

“each thing i show you is a piece of my death” by Stephen J. Barringer and Gemma Files, 2010

“The Road Virus Heads North” by Stephen King, 1999

“Ring Once for Death” by Robert Arthur, 1954

“The Mary Hillenbrand Cassette“ by Jimmy Juliano, 2016

“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, 1902

MONSTERS: tales of ghouls, creeps, and everything in between.

“The Curse of Yig” by H.P. Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop, 1929 

“The Oddkids” by S.M. Piper, 2015

“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” by Richard Matheson

“The Graveyard Rats” by Henry Kuttner, 1936

“Tall Man” by C.K. Walker, 2016 

“The Quest for Blank Claveringi“ by Patricia Highsmith, 1967

“The Showers” by Dylan Sindelar, 2012

CLASSICS: terrifying fiction written by innovators of literary horror. 

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1843

“The Interlopers” by Saki, 1919 

“The Statement of Randolph Carter“ by H.P. Lovecraft, 1920

“The Damned Thing” by Ambrose Pierce, 1893

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving, 1820 

“August Heat” by W.F. Harvey, 1910

“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1843

SUPERNATURAL: stories varying from spooky to sober, featuring lurking specters, wandering souls, and those haunted by ghosts and grief. 

“Nora’s Visitor” by Russell R. James, 2011

“The Pale Man” by Julius Long, 1934

“A Collapse of Horses” by Brian Evenson, 2013

“The Jigsaw Puzzle” by J.B. Stamper, 1977 

“The Mayor Will Make A Brief Statement and then Take Questions” by David Nickle, 2013

“The Night Wire” by H.F. Arnold, 1926 

“Postcards from Natalie” by Carrie Laben, 2016

UNSETTLING: fiction that explores particularly disturbing topics, such as mutilation, violence, and body horror. Not recommended for readers who may be offended or upset by graphic content.  

“Survivor Type” by Stephen King, 1982

“I’m On My Deathbed So I’m Coming Clean…” by M.J. Pack, 2018

“In the Hills, the Cities” by Clive Barker, 1984

“The New Fish” by T.W. Grim, 2013

“The Screwfly Solution” by Racoona Sheldon, 1977

“In the Darkness of the Fields” by Ho_Jun, 2015 

“The October Game” by Ray Bradbury, 1948

“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison, 1967 

HAPPY READING, HORROR FANS!

#to read

[neuroscienve]

peak interior design to me is maximalism with dark green or black walls

[neuroscienve]

Do you have any Tips for Academic Success?

Have You Considered A Deal With The Devil 

[neuroscienve]

eid mubarak to all those who are celebrating this beautiful holiday. may Allah bless you with sincere happiness and inner peace, bring an end to your struggles and heartache, reward you for all of the sacrifices that you have had to make in order to stay afloat, and grant you the glad tidings and relief that you have been waiting so patiently for.

[neuroscienve]

Man called Owen Wilson made these posters (found here on Twitter) and the English are going absolutely bonkers with fury, cancelling holidays and supposedly “reporting” him to various UK authorities…and he’s just like, “off you pop,” “Wales isn’t in England” lmao