LINKS - March 1st, 2023
Welcome to LINKS — my attempt to provide Rhapsody readers with five interesting stories that tell us something about what it means to be human. LINKS is published every Wednesday. Have a link you want to share? Drop it in the comments.
Many Differences Between Liberals and Conservatives May Boil Down to One Belief
By Jer Clifton, Scientific American
“But new research by psychologist Nick Kerry and me at the University of Pennsylvania contradicts that long-standing theory. We find instead that the main difference between the left and right is the belief that the world is inherently hierarchical. Conservatives, our work shows, tend to have higher belief than liberals in a hierarchical world, which is essentially the view that the universe is a place where the lines between categories or concepts matter. A clearer understanding of that difference could help society better bridge political divides.”
(This article in Scientific American explores some of the ideas I wrote about in this piece below, albeit from a much different perspective with a different thesis. There’s something sort of ironic, though, about my headline in the context of the Scientific American article’s conclusion lol)
Anyone can discover a fossil on this beach—if you wait out the tides
By Robin Catalano, National Geographic
“While researchers make most of the discoveries in this less visited province, citizen scientists—students, local residents, and even visitors—have been involved in a number of significant finds. It’s a welcome assist in a place where a piece of the ancient history puzzle might vanish as quickly as it emerges."
Anxiety can be created by the body, mouse heart study suggests
By Sara Reardon, Nature
“Emotions such as fear and anxiety can make the heart beat faster. Now a study in mice has found that the reverse is also true — artificially increasing the heart rate can raise anxiety levels.”
How Loneliness Reshapes the Brain
By Marta Zaraska, Quanta Magazine
“Of course, the chicken-and-egg question about all these findings is: Do differences in the brain predispose us to loneliness, or does loneliness rewire and shrink the brain? According to Bzdok, it’s not currently possible to solve this puzzle. He believes, however, that the causality may point both ways.”
2,200-year-old flush toilet — oldest ever found — unearthed at palace ruins in China
By Aspen Pflughoeft, The Ledger-Enquirer
“Archaeologists were excavating two large palace buildings at the heart of Yueyang City, the Institute of Archaeology at the China Academy of Social Sciences said in a Wednesday, Feb. 15, news release via Xinhua News Agency. The Yueyang City site was used as a capital city under multiple ancient Chinese dynasties.
“While excavating one of these buildings, archaeologists stumbled upon a toilet, the release said. They found part of an indoor toilet seat and pipe leading toward an outdoor sewage pit. The upper portion of the toilet was missing.”