Virginia Hughes looks at the way children process the concept of death, and the prevailing research on their timetables for comprehension. She focuses on the three key aspects of death that children grasp at different ages, two of which stood out to me from my own experiences both as a parent, and from when I was a child. I’m going to take them out of the order in which Hughes presents them, and begin with the last and most advanced... Read more
Jonathan H. Liu at GeekDad is putting a temporary ban on comic books for his fifth-grade daughter. Because of the violence? The sexist depictions of women? Because comic books are an inferior art form? Nope on all counts. He found that his smart, curious daughter was, in fact, leaning on comics and easy, action-oriented books for all her reading, while even kid-friendly books like Harriet the Spy took several attempts and an unreasonably long time. Comic books, in other words,... Read more
Tim Kreider on the disorientation that results from accidentally discovering what people think of you: Hearing other people’s uncensored opinions of you is an unpleasant reminder that you’re just another person in the world, and everyone else does not always view you in the forgiving light that you hope they do, making all allowances, always on your side. There’s something existentially alarming about finding out how little room we occupy, and how little allegiance we command, in other people’s heads.... Read more
Following my previous post on introversion, the delightful Emily Hauser directed my attention to a piece by Jonathan Rauch from 2003 that not only acknowledges the difficulty of being introverted, but also advises extroverts on how to help the introverts they love. First off, he makes a refreshing clarification: we’re not, by virtue of our aversion to social situations, dicks. Introverts are not necessarily shy. … Rather, introverts are people who find other people tiring. . . . after an... Read more
Some studies are suggesting that introverts don’t know what’s good for them, and that by acting like extroverts, they will be happier. From the Wall Street Journal: “Introverts kind of underestimate how much fun it will be to act extroverted,” said Dr. [John] Zelenski. “You don’t think you want to go to a party and then go and have a great time.” Dr. Zelenski and other researchers also considered whether people acting in a way that goes against their natural... Read more
Anger: What do you mean I have to give a presentation?! I don’t have time to put this together at such short notice! I have too much other stuff on my plate! Weaseling: I did one last year. Other people are covering what I’d cover anyway. This would be pointless. Redundant. Acceptance: Fuck it. I’ll just do it. I’ll slap something together, I suppose. Pride: Hey, this is coming out pretty good. I have some genuinely useful things to say... Read more
I’m still hung up on this fantasy notion of the United States being a little less united, as I find speculations on a divvied-up sectioning of the country by region to be fascinating. Obviously, we have a cultural identity problem and a governing crisis with the values of one region of the country have folks set on things like teaching creationism in school and deifying firearms, and another seems to think that gays and science are pretty cool, and then... Read more
With a new tech gadget, particularly one made by Apple, I feel an overwhelming urge to keep it pristine, to the point where it is almost a mania. I want its resale value to be as high as possible, sure, but I also tend to view my Apple kit as art or jewelry. Let the kid play his Curious George app on the wife’s iPad. Mine’s not gonna come near his grubby, sharp-nailed fingers. And a small defect can be... Read more
Photo taken by Kathy Santamore. Read more
The Nate Silver saga: Silver leaves the New York Times for ESPN, and the Times’ public editor says, essentially, we didn’t want him anyway: I don’t think Nate Silver ever really fit into the Times culture and I think he was aware of that….His entire probability-based way of looking at politics ran against the kind of political journalism that The Times specializes in: polling, the horse race, campaign coverage, analysis based on campaign-trail observation, and opinion writing, or “punditry,” as... Read more
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