2006 World Question: What is your dangerous idea?

There are too many respondents to keep my interest, so I just looked for psychologists I knew. These were especially interesting:

Richard Nisbett
Steven Pinker
David Lykken
David Myers
Susan Blackmore

I absolutely agree with Nisbett that we can't report on the reasons for our own behavior. I was already convinced of this by Skinner's About Behaviorism. Social psychologists and Behaviorists can finally agree on something!

I also agree with Pinker- groups differences, even if they are genetic, shouldn't be important. Knowing that women score lower on spatial reasoning tests on average tells you nothing about whether you should hire a particular woman for your job that depends on strong spatial reasoning skills. I think it's a common cognitive error to apply average group differences as if all group members were the same.

I agree with Lykken to an extent about parental licensure, but I sure wouldn't say it in public! Lastly, I agree with Myers. I hope in the near future, banning gay marriages will seem as ridiculous to common sensibility as banning interracial marriages seems now.

Link courtesy of Lifehacker

I was going to post a summary of my horror-story travels yesterday, but I don't feel like reliving it to tell it. Suffice to say, my 11am flight was canceled, I was put on the 8pm flight, which took off at 11pm, getting me to Moline about 12 hours late. Oh, and Daniel's car wouldn't start when we got to Moline, so we had to track down a starter kit at 2:00 in the morning. I don't want to fly ever again.

More pleasant, random aside: I'm so hooked on "What can I say" by Brandi Carlile. I need more friends hooked on Grey's Anatomy (where I first heard it). I think it's my new 50-times-in-a-row, relaxing study song. Previous such songs have been "Chariots Rise" (Lizzie West), "Maps" (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), "It's my life" (No Doubt), and "Selah" (Lauryn Hill). I have listened to each of these songs for upwards of 2-5 hours straight. "Chariots Rise" has been played 723 times in my windows media. Why do I do this? Crazy.