Science of the SpiritS


People 2

Summarizing the evidence for sex differences in cognition

Christopher J. Ferguson
Quillette
Fri, 27 Dec 2019 18:34 UTC
brain skull model
In a previous post I examined the biological and social influences on sex and gender identity. Evidence suggests that biology plays a powerful role in the determination of sex as well as of gender identity, although social forces are also important particularly as they relate to gender role expression. In this essay I'll examine the evidence surrounding a related controversial topic: whether or nor there are cognitive differences between the sexes and, if so, whether they are biological or social in origin.

In what follows, I'll focus on individuals whose gender identity matches their biological sex. This leaves out nonbinary and transsexual persons, about whom there is far less research evidence. Nevertheless, given that transsexuals tend to have hypothalamuses that match their identified gender not their biological sex, it would be interesting to know if this produces cognitive differences as well. Some evidence suggests that the administration of sex hormones to those undergoing transition does influence cognition in expected ways. Other studies suggest that cognitive differences exist prior to hormone treatment, and that the cognition of transsexuals resembles that of their identified gender more than that of their biological sex (a finding that appears to lend further support to the hypothesis that gender dysphoria is produced by women's brains in men's bodies and vice versa).

This essay offers an exploration of mean group differences. Nothing here should be taken to imply that either sex should be excluded from certain cognitive tasks or professions. Nor should mean group differences, which are often quite small, be used to infer the capabilities of any given individual.
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NPC

Richard Dawkins discovers his ideal idiom and audience

David Bentley Hart
Church Life Journal
Sat, 28 Dec 2019 18:15 UTC
children painting
Some writers struggle for years to achieve a proper harmony in their work between style and substance. For some, that precious concinnity remains elusive till the end. So it is always something of a happy surprise when an author discovers his or her ideal idiom in the twilight of a long career. In a sense, Richard Dawkins has always been a writer of books for children — or, at any rate, for readers with childish minds — but not until now, it seems, has it occurred to him to write explicitly as a children's author. Tο this point, he has made a good living out of a relative paucity of gifts. As a third-tier zoologist, a popularizer of both scientific truths and pseudo-scientific speculations, and a tireless enemy of all religious beliefs (whether he understands them or not), he has gone far on an engagingly mediocre prose-style and an inflexible narrowness of mind. But, while his ambition has always been toward a certain intellectual gravity, even his putatively most serious (or most self-important) books have had an undeniably infantile quality about them. The Selfish Gene, for instance, was really little more than a cartoon of the molecular biology it pretended to explicate, a simplistic genetocentric reductionist fantasia so fraught with obvious logical errors and so prone to inadvertently and ineptly metaphysical claims that no truly mature mind could fail to recognize its fatuity. The God Delusion was, if anything, even more of a nursery entertainment: puerile rants, laboriously obvious jokes, winsomely preposterous conceptual confusions, a few dashes of naïve but honest indignation, attempts at philosophical reasoning so maladroit as to be touching in their guileless silliness. And I think it fair to say that nothing Dawkins has written for public consumption has lacked this element of beguiling absurdity — the delightful atmosphere of playtime on a long golden summer afternoon, alive with small figures shouting happily in shrill little voices and stumbling about in their parents' clothing, acting out scenes from what they imagine to be the daily lives of adults. But the bewitching effect has also always been diluted by his unfortunate failure to embody his ideas in a form suitable to their triviality.

Comment: Damning with faint praise at its finest. Dawkins is a childish mind writing for other childish minds. Thankfully there are still a few adults out there to bring balance to the universe.

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Magic Wand

Want to change your life? Ditch New Year's Resolutions for habit tracking

Caroline Roberts
Cnet.com
Thu, 26 Dec 2019 15:24 UTC
habit tracking
It's an age-old conundrum -- every time January 1st rolls around, millions of Americans set New Year's Resolutions, but by the time February rolls around, one third of us have abandoned every single one. So, if you want to make 2020 the year you finally organize your finances, get in shape or complete any other monumental task, you may want to forget New Year's Resolutions. Instead of writing down grandiose goals, turn your attention to your daily habits.

What is habit tracking?

Habit tracking -- the practice of monitoring the tiny things you do every single day -- helps you set small and achievable goals that add up over time to produce huge changes in your life. It's a powerful tool that will help you establish healthy habits that'll stick for years to come.

Habits are so important because they are ultimately responsible for any change we make in our life. I'll never be able to publish a novel if I don't sit down every day and put words on the page. I'll never be able to get stronger if I don't workout every day (or at least a few times a week.) I'll never be able to be a more mindful and enlightened person if I don't meditate every morning.

Any huge goal you want to accomplish is virtually insurmountable unless you break it up into bite-sized habits that will, over time, lead you to your final destination.
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Butterfly

The ripple effects of expressing gratitude

Jill Suttie
Greater Good
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
A new study shows that expressing gratitude affects not only the grateful person, but anyone who witnesses it.

Thank you, gratitude
Researchers studying gratitude have found that being thankful and expressing it to others is good for our health and happiness. Not only does it feel good, it also helps us build trust and closer bonds with the people around us.

These benefits have mostly been observed in a two-person exchange — someone saying thanks and someone receiving thanks. Now, a new study suggests that expressing gratitude not only improves one-on-one relationships, but could bring entire groups together — inspiring a desire to help and connect in people who simply witness an act of gratitude.

In this extensive study, Sara Algoe of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her colleagues ran multiple experiments to investigate how witnessing gratitude affects people's feelings toward the grateful person and the benefactor (the person who is being thanked).

Comment:

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Heart

Vagus Nerve: The mysterious nerve network that quiets pain and stress — and may defeat disease

Markham Heid
Medium
Thu, 19 Dec 2019 11:46 UTC
nerve
Take a deep breath. Hug a friend. Reach for the ceiling and stretch your limbs. Each of these simple acts bestows a sense of calm and comfort. And each works its soothing magic in part by activating a complicated system of nerves that connects the brain to the heart, the gut, the immune system, and many of the organs. That system is known collectively as the vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve is one of the twelve cranial nerves, which sprawl out from the brain and into the body like an intricate network of roots. These nerve networks act as lines of communication between the brain and the body's many systems and organs. Some of the cranial nerves interpret sensory information collected by the skin, eyes, or tongue. Others control muscles or communicate with glands.

The vagus nerve, also called the "10th cranial nerve," is the longest, largest, and most complex of the cranial nerves, and in some ways it's also the least understood. Experts have linked its activity to symptom changes in people with migraine headaches, inflammatory bowel disease, depression, epilepsy, arthritis, and many other common ailments. The more science learns about the vagus nerve, the more it seems like a better understanding of its function could unlock new doors to treating all manner of human suffering.

Vagus is Latin for "wandering," which is apt when one considers all the different parts of the body the vagus nerve reaches. "It seems like every year somebody finds a new organ or system that it talks with," says Tiffany Field, PhD, director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

Comment: Stimulate your vagus nerve through the breathing techniques and the meditation of Éiriú Eolas.

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Magic Hat

The Art and Science of Tricking Your Brain: What the research says about 'fake it til you make it'

Erman Misirlisoy
Medium
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 11:40 UTC
brain mask
During difficult times in your life, perhaps you've been told to "take a deep breath" or "try to smile more." Anxious about that big presentation at work? Just "stand up tall with confidence, and everything will be fine."

But to what extent is this kind of advice actually helpful? Can that forced smile trick your brain into believing that you're happy, and can that upright posture give you a feeling of confidence? Is it possible to change how you think or feel through physically changing your body?

The answer is yes.

But first, take a deep breath

Your body and mind are inextricably linked. So it follows that the way you breathe with your lungs can affect your mental state and the way you process stress with your brain.

Most people are aware that breathing deeply helps you to relax and has a powerful effect on how you feel. When you're stressed or overwhelmed, a deep breath can help bring your attention toward bodily sensations and away from whatever is making you feel anxious. It's harder for something to scare you when you're distracted by something else.
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Yoda

Best of the Web: Three Stoic lessons from a galaxy far, far away

Alex Barrientos
Classical Wisdom
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
Star Wars
Luke gazing into the sunset.
It is no secret, to those who are familiar with the saga, that Star Wars is filled with wisdom. Those not familiar with Star Wars are at least familiar with its iconography, such as the helmet of Darth Vader — that great symbol of the dark side of the force.

Some are also likely familiar with the little green Jedi master, Yoda (not to be confused with the cute little creature of the same species from the Mandalorian). Yoda is first introduced in The Empire Strikes Back, when Luke seeks him out on Dagobah to learn the ways of the Jedi. He appears again only briefly in The Return of the Jedi (but not without failing to impart some more wisdom), and is present throughout the prequel trilogy.

The great thing about being a reader of the Classics is that you can recognize almost immediately the Stoicism of Yoda's teachings (one may also locate some Buddhist elements as well, though I think that is to be expected given the similarities between the two). He preaches against attachment, cautions against giving into fear, and speaks of the Force with the same reverence that the Stoics spoke of Nature, among other things. So, let us look at some of the Stoic lessons we can learn from Yoda.

Comment: This also goes to show why a phenomena like the original Star Wars trilogy has had such a lasting cultural impression. The newer 'feminist' versions not included. The stories tell a classic archetypal hero's journey but also highlights differing modes of spiritual development through the Jedi and the Sith and a philosophical underpinning that is reminiscent of the ancient Stoics. See also:

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Info

Men think they are better liars says new research


University of Portsmouth
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 21:17 UTC
Men better LIars?
© University of Portsmouth
Men are twice as likely as women to consider themselves to be good at lying and at getting away with it, new research has found.

People who excel at lying are good talkers and tell more lies than others, usually to family, friends, romantic partners and colleagues, according to the research led by Dr Brianna Verigin, at the University of Portsmouth.

Expert liars also prefer to lie face-to-face, rather than via text messages, and social media was the least likely place where they'd tell a lie.

Dr Verigin, who splits her time between the Universities of Portsmouth and Maastricht, in the Netherlands, said: "We found a significant link between expertise at lying and gender. Men were more than twice as likely to consider themselves expert liars who got away with it.

"Previous research has shown that most people tell one-two lies per day, but that's not accurate, most people don't lie everyday but a small number of prolific liars are responsible for the majority of lies reported.

"What stood out in our study was that nearly half (40 per cent) of all lies are told by a very small number of deceivers. And these people will lie with impunity to those closest to them."

"Prolific liars rely on a great deal on being good with words, weaving their lies into truths, so it becomes hard for others to distinguish the difference, and they're also better than most at hiding lies within apparently simple, clear stories which are harder for others to doubt."

Dr Verigin quizzed 194 people, half men and half women, with an average age of 39.
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Microscope 1

'Gay gene' ruled out as biggest ever study on genetics and sexuality shows environment is major factor in homosexuality

Sarah Knapton
The Telegraph
Mon, 23 Dec 2019 18:10 UTC
gay pride parade
Genes play just a small role in whether a person is gay, scientists have found, after discovering that environment has a far bigger impact on homosexuality.

In the biggest ever study into the genetic basis of sexuality, researchers from more than 30 institutions including Cambridge University and Harvard, looked at the DNA of nearly 500,000 people in Britain and the US.

They found that genes are responsible for between eight to 25 per cent of the probability of a person being gay, meaning at least three quarters is down to environment.

Comment: They sure were nervous about announcing these results!

'Our findings prove that the vast majority of gays aren't born gay, but trust us, it's complicated nonetheless!'

It's not really that complicated. Society has gone to hell in a handbasket, and everything has 'gone fluid' in the process.

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No Entry

How to gracefully, but firmly, say No!

Alexa Erickson
Collective Evolution
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
how to say No
Saying no isn't always easy, but you can do it in a more graceful manner.
Sometimes we just don't want to say no. A friend asks you to go out on a Friday night. You want to... badly! But, you also know you have an early morning, and told yourself you needed to keep it mellow, give yourself some much deserved me-time, and simply reconnect to that beautiful feeling of nothingness. Do you give in and go because you want to? Or because your friend wants you to?

Sometimes it's that you really want to say no, but you're too afraid. A co-worker asks you for help with a project; a friend asks you for help moving furniture; you get asked to grab dinner with a friend. You say yes to all of them, because the fear of how the other person will respond to your denial is too much to bear.

Wanting to be liked by others is something many of us can relate to. And there's nothing wrong with it, but if you're compromising your well-being, who you are, and what makes you happy, it's time to take a step back.

Comment: How to stop being busy all the time - Do fewer things, better
The secret of being productive lies in choosing what to do - and doing it right - instead of doing more and more. When you are busy, you don't have time to think, reflect, or enjoy. You are running from one task to another without being present. Your mind needs space. Silence helps us reflect. Serendipity attracts new ideas. Distance brings perspective.

Declutter your life. When you say yes to everything, you are saying no to what really matters. That's the biggest issue with being busy: we end doing the wrong things.

Doing fewer things right, not being busy, should be a badge of honor.
See also: The importance of saying "No" in a healthy life

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