Abu Ghraib and Ordinary People as torturers
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: ON ORDINARY PEOPLE AS TORTURERS (references in article)
Social psychological evidence emphasizes the power of social context; in other words, the power of the interpersonal situation. Social psychology has accumulated a century of knowledge about how people influence each other for good or ill [1]. Meta-analysis, the quantitative summary of findings across a variety [...]
drug war game not working
If drug laws make no difference in drug use, why bother having them? (disclaimer: I’m anti-drug…and anti-drug war…)
AJPH – Abstracts: Reinarman et al. 94 (5): 836
With the exception of higher drug use in San Francisco, we found strong similarities across both cities. We found no evidence to support claims that criminalization reduces use or that [...]
a chance to listen to Dr. Laura at the LA Times Festival of Books
I went to the Los Angeles “Festival of Books” and there happened to be space at Laura Schlessinger’s (known as “Dr. Laura”, though I don’t think she’s a doctor) discussion of her new book (The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands?), hosted by Marta Waller. I was prepared for an hour of “fair and balanced” [...]
the logic of American Politics leads to anger
I have no misconception about changing Republican votes in November, but I think we all (me too) have to look at where we fall into the classic poli-sci trap of believing what we want to believe. Everyone wants to believe that they’re candidate is right on every issue because nobody likes to make value tradeoffs. [...]