Apr. 1st, 2008

monk222: (Default)
Psychologists have studied pranks for years, often in the context of harassment, bullying and all manner of malicious exclusion and prejudice.

Yet practical jokes are far more commonly an effort to bring a person into a group, anthropologists have found — an integral part of rituals around the world intended to temper success with humility. And recent research suggests that the experience of being duped can stir self-reflection in a way few other experiences can, functioning as a check on arrogance or obliviousness.


-- Benedict Carey for The New York Times

And here I thought that hazing was just an opportunity for the established players to discharge some of their sadistic tendencies on powerless newbies.
monk222: (Default)
Psychologists have studied pranks for years, often in the context of harassment, bullying and all manner of malicious exclusion and prejudice.

Yet practical jokes are far more commonly an effort to bring a person into a group, anthropologists have found — an integral part of rituals around the world intended to temper success with humility. And recent research suggests that the experience of being duped can stir self-reflection in a way few other experiences can, functioning as a check on arrogance or obliviousness.


-- Benedict Carey for The New York Times

And here I thought that hazing was just an opportunity for the established players to discharge some of their sadistic tendencies on powerless newbies.
monk222: (Elvis Comeback)
Oh, shit! We're going to rock this one.

I caught Elvis' "Reconsider Baby" as it was just beginning to play on the Elvis station, and it had been a long time since I just laid back and enjoyed it, and I cranked up the volume, losing myself in the bluesy mystery of the soul.

monk222: (Elvis Comeback)
Oh, shit! We're going to rock this one.

I caught Elvis' "Reconsider Baby" as it was just beginning to play on the Elvis station, and it had been a long time since I just laid back and enjoyed it, and I cranked up the volume, losing myself in the bluesy mystery of the soul.

Human Smoke

Apr. 1st, 2008 06:57 pm
monk222: (Mori: by tiger_ace)
The most horrible weapon in any arsenal is the madness of men. We see this time and time again, and sometimes the only way to stop them is by war. "War is an ugly thing," John Stuart Mill wrote, "but not the ugliest of things." Far uglier, he wrote, is the feeling that nothing in life is worth fighting for. World War II was fought for several reasons but above all -- and proudly -- because the only way to stop the killing was to stop the killers.

-- Richard Cohen for The Washington Post

Cohen is reacting to the new book by Nicholas Baker, "Human Smoke", in which Baker argues for the virtues of a pure and total pacifism, such that even World War II should not have been fought.

Human Smoke

Apr. 1st, 2008 06:57 pm
monk222: (Mori: by tiger_ace)
The most horrible weapon in any arsenal is the madness of men. We see this time and time again, and sometimes the only way to stop them is by war. "War is an ugly thing," John Stuart Mill wrote, "but not the ugliest of things." Far uglier, he wrote, is the feeling that nothing in life is worth fighting for. World War II was fought for several reasons but above all -- and proudly -- because the only way to stop the killing was to stop the killers.

-- Richard Cohen for The Washington Post

Cohen is reacting to the new book by Nicholas Baker, "Human Smoke", in which Baker argues for the virtues of a pure and total pacifism, such that even World War II should not have been fought.

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