Recommendable!
Showing posts with label society and culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label society and culture. Show all posts
Monday, October 19, 2026
Saturday, October 17, 2026
Thursday, October 08, 2026
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
71% of Ukrainians Say They Are Happy Despite Russia’s War, Poll Shows
Positive news from a country under siege since 2022 by Putin the Terrible!
If they are happy, then I am happy too! 😊
"... according to a survey released by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). ...
The latest figure also matches the level recorded in December 2021, two months before Russia launched its full-scale invasion, when 71% of respondents considered themselves happy. ...
KIIS surveyed 2,007 Ukrainian adults by telephone between May 7 and June 3. Respondents lived in areas controlled by the Ukrainian government, although the sample included internally displaced people who had left Russian-occupied territories.
Residents of occupied areas and Ukrainians who moved abroad after Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, were not included. ..."
Saturday, September 05, 2026
Wednesday, September 02, 2026
Dysfluency: A Hidden Crisis in Middle and High School Literacy. Really!
Could it be that at the beginning of the second quarter of the 21st century the relevance of traditional reading objectives are fading? Nothing unusual in the human history of culture and values!
We are living now in the digital age and the age of AI!
Who has the attention span anymore for long-winded, verbose text in the age of Twitter/X?
Caveat I did not read the study.
"Key Points
- When students struggle to make sense of text, there’s a good chance that dysfluency (the inability to read with sufficient accuracy, automaticity, and prosody) is a contributing factor—quite possibly the dominant one.
- Fluent readers recognize words “at the speed of sight” and read with proper expression and intonation.
- The path to stronger reading in middle and high school starts with refocusing on fluency by prioritizing shared, oral reading in class.
...
The importance of fluent reading is routinely underestimated, especially as it applies to middle and high school students.
Far from a mere primary-grade issue, fluency is a prerequisite to reading comprehension at every level. Dysfluency is a hidden crisis in American schools, and the decline in recreational reading among children has compounded the problem. ..."
Monday, August 31, 2026
Want less spoiled kids? Have more kids
Food for thought! This is a very old adage and often repeated news story!
Are single children or one child per family more spoiled and egoistic than children growing up with siblings?
Saturday, August 29, 2026
750,000 Russians voted against a move of the Alexander Pushkin monument away from the Kremlin in Moscow
Is this all the apathetic and lethargic Russian Slav(e)s can accomplish given the four years of the Russo-Ukrainian War committed by the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible!
"Nearly 750,000 people voted on whether to move a nearly 40-foot-tall bronze statue of Alexander Pushkin—considered one of the country’s greatest poets. Critics viewed the trivial vote as a stark reminder of how public debate under President Vladimir Putin has been reduced to low-stakes urban planning. Ultimately, residents voted to keep the monument in place, just a short walk from the Kremlin."
"The Moscow mayor’s office website said Moscow will hold a vote on August 28, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., on whether to move the Alexander Pushkin monument to the other side of Tverskaya Street. Residents can take part either online or at one of 132 polling stations opening specifically for the vote. ..."
What’s Left of Russian Democracy? Some Say a Debate Over a Statue "Residents in Moscow got a rare taste of direct democracy when they were asked to a weigh in on a monument to Alexander Pushkin"
40-foot-tall bronze statue of Alexander Pushkin
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Graffiti: A tool of resistance | Inside Latin America
Recommendable! It has a little bit of a leftist bias.
Monday, August 24, 2026
'Being nude in public can make one feel better about one's bodies
Food for thought! Some societies are more prudish than others. The research cited in the article below is older.
In Germany, e.g. topless in parks or at public swimming pools or nude at some beaches is common. In the US prudishness is common (except for nudity for sale).
For centuries nudity in public was considered uncivilized/primitive or a moral/religious vice in Western societies.
"In the summer of 2020, Berriman bought herself a bikini to wear during a heatwave. She hadn't worn one in 20 years, having struggled with body dysmorphia (a condition where someone fixates on perceived flaws in their appearance) for most of her life. Around a year later, her husband introduced her to naturism.
"Naturism is engaging in social nudity with no expectation, no presence of sexual stimulation," says Kerem Soylemez, assistant professor of psychology at Regent's University London. ...
A quick history of social nudity [this history appears to be very incomplete]
• Some indigenous cultures and tribes have perhaps the longest history of wearing little to no clothing
• In the Western world, athletes often competed in the nude in ancient Greece's Olympics
• In late 19th-Century British India, modern naturism clubs emerged
• In the US, organised naturism traces its origins to 1929 when three German residents of New York met to discuss founding a nudist association in the Micholob Café
• In 1974, the New York Times reported that social nudity was experiencing a wave of popularity in the US
• In the 1920s and '30s, naturism gains popularity in the UK
..."
From the abstract:
"Body image dissatisfaction is a serious, global problem that negatively affects life satisfaction.
Several claims have been made about the possible psychological benefits of naturist activities, but very little empirical research has investigated these benefits or any plausible explanations for them.
In three studies—one large-scale, cross-sectional study (n = 849), and 2 prospective studies (n = 24, n = 100) this research developed and applied knowledge about the possible benefits of naturist activities.
It was found that more participation in naturist activities predicted greater life satisfaction—a relationship that was mediated by more positive body image, and higher self-esteem (Study 1).
Applying these findings, it was found that participation in actual naturist activities led to an increase in life satisfaction, an effect that was also mediated by improvements in body image and self-esteem (Studies 2 and 3).
The potential benefits of naturism are discussed, as well as possible future research, and implications for the use of naturist activities."
'You're fully accepted': Being nude in public can make us feel better about our bodies "Research suggests that naturism, the practice of non-sexual social nudity, can help people improve their body image. Naturists and experts tell the BBC how it works."
Naked and Unashamed: Investigations and Applications of the Effects of Naturist Activities on Body Image, Self-Esteem, and Life Satisfaction (open access, appeared in the Journal of Happiness Studies in 2017)
Fig. 1 Relationship between naturist activity and life satisfaction, mediated by body-image and self-esteem in Study 1. Note *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001
Sunday, August 23, 2026
Gallup survey: Americans say they are gambling less than they were a decade ago. Really!
Maybe the survey design was flawed? Maybe some individuals do not self report their gambling activities anymore as they used to? Maybe other or novel forms of gambling are preferred, but not surveyed?
Notice in chart 1 below there was a 5 percentage point gain of which 4 percentage points came from a new category of gambling (i.e. fantasy sports games).
Notice in chart 3 below that the method of survey taking makes already an 8 percentage point overall difference.
"Americans say they are gambling less than they were a decade ago. According to a recent Gallup poll, 45 percent of US adults reported gambling in the past 12 months in 2026, down from 64 percent in 2016."
Fewer U.S. Adults Say They Gamble (original news release) "Among all major subgroups, reported participation in a range of gambling activities is lower"
Chart 1 (Source)
Chart 2 (Source)
Chart 3 (Source)
Friday, August 21, 2026
Manilas Nordfriedhof: Der lebendigste Friedhof der Welt
Eine makabere Schlagzeile? Oder wenn der Día de los Muertos (ein mexikanischer Feiertag) zum Alltag wird. Vorsicht Satire!
Es scheint so als ob z.B. die South China Morning Post dieses Thema schon vor einem Jahr aufgegriffen hat (siehe YouTube video Living among the dead in a Manila cemetery Oder Slate Magazin in 2017.
Friday, August 14, 2026
Friday, August 07, 2026
Why Millions of Women Watch Porn. Why not?
Recommendable! Not unusual in the age of gender equality! 😊
Women may not watch the same porn so!
Dr. Rena Malik is a US born and trained physician of Indian-American background. (Google Search & AI). According to Google Scholar her lifetime citation count is only 1471 that is very low (as of 8/8/2026).
Thursday, August 06, 2026
French Trans female basketball player dominating French women's league responds to calls to play in the US WNBA
The French people allowed this to happen! What went wrong with cherchez la femme? Mon dieu! Mon amour! Ne me quitte pas! J'accuse!
Why did the French female players not boycott or protest biological male? No vive la résistance! C'est dommage!
This transgender women is not even tall!
Should I ever be sentenced to jail, I will become a woman too! I wonder how many other sentenced guys would follow me? Just kidding!
"He's only been a woman for five years, but he's ready to bring his hard-nosed style of play to the WNBA.
Julie Tétart is not just one of the best players in a league in France; the center absolutely dominated the 2025-2026 season in every relevant category.
'It's a childhood dream just like for any female basketball player.'
The Monaco player, who stands at 6'2"-6'3" depending on the source, ran through France's Ligue 2 opponents last season ..."
Wednesday, August 05, 2026
The Seven Obsessions That Explain India with Palki Sharma
Very recommendable! Gold hoarding, weddings, cinema (Bollywood), education and more.
Your personality changes more across your life than you think, according to new study. Really!
Junk science or junk science journalism or both? It has been well known for ages that personality traits change over lifetime of an adult (not every adult) e.g. due to life experiences.
Are people so ignorant as claimed by this study (based on only 887 individuals)? I seriously doubt it. I bet the use of the "nationally representative US-sample" is seriously flawed when it comes to lifetime changes in Big Five personality traits.
"... the Big Five personality traits—extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness—as some of the most stable characteristics of a person's life. ...
A follow-up analysis of data from eight large-scale longitudinal data sets involving 166,971 individuals across the United States, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands told a different story. It revealed that the Big Five traits changed just as much as other life factors, both year to year and over a lifetime. For instance, conscientiousness, which is the tendency to be careful, diligent and responsible, doesn't remain the same when someone is a teenager compared with when they are 90 [???]. ..."
From the abstract:
"Historically, personality traits have been viewed as highly stable and “set like plaster” once people reach adulthood. Although decades of research have refuted this claim, it remains unclear how much personality traits actually change compared to other aspects of life and whether these relative change patterns align with public beliefs.
Across two studies, we investigated these questions using a multimethod, comparative approach with the Big Five traits and more than 20 variables from several life domains.
First, using a nationally representative US-sample (n = 887), we found that lay people [???] rated the Big Five traits as having less change across the lifespan than nearly all other characteristics.
Second, analyses using eight large-scale longitudinal datasets from the US, Germany, Australia, and Netherlands (n = 166,971) revealed that standardized yearly and lifespan mean-level changes in the Big Five were comparable to, and often greater than, changes in variables like life satisfaction, subjective health, income, and self-esteem.
Together, these results uncover widespread misconceptions of stability that diverge from empirical evidence [???] and are seemingly unique to personality traits. We discuss potential implications of these findings for how people view human potential for change, improvement, and adaptation."
Personality traits are less stable than people think (open access, but in press)
Monday, August 03, 2026
What Makes Bahrain Different? | The 5,000-Year Story No One Tells
Very recommendable! A melting pot and at the crossroads of major trading routes.
China bans AI “boyfriends” and “girlfriends” over addiction and birth rate concerns in July 2026
All too human! All too authoritarian regime! Government paternalism!
How serious is the AI partnership issue in Western countries?
What will the West copy? 😊
"... Companies must now build in instant-exit options, regular reminders the AI is not real, and limits on long-term emotional memory. Study and work tools are exempt.
ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent chose to suspend their AI companion features entirely rather than comply, according to The Independent. ..."
"... Millions of Chinese users watched their AI companions vanish overnight after regulations took effect on July 15, 2026, forcing platforms to kill features that had become, for many, the most consistent relationship in their lives. ..."
New ‘Spider-Man’ Movie Scores Hollywood’s Second-Biggest Debut Ever. Really!
Hollywood movies have become so boring! In my estimation, this has been going since the beginning of the 21st century if not since the end of the 20th century!
I personally never much liked the Spider Man cartoons as I grew up. Spider Man cartoons were first published in 1962!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)