Новости за 06.03.2016

A psychological theory which has influenced behavioural economics for almost 20 years is on the verge of collapse. “Ego depletion” holds that humans have a finite supply of willpower: the more we struggle against some temptations, the more vulnerable we are to others. The effect has been “confirmed” by hundreds of studies. But a closer look suggests that the studies merely confirm the bias of the researchers

Notes from a “particularly enjoyable” session on Mathematics and Music at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. Professor Noam Elkies of Harvard University concluded his talk with “a baroque-style repeating arpeggiation” for piano based on the digits of π. “The result was an intriguingly disorienting congress of order with randomness, evoking something like an inebriated Buxtehude”

Someone is wrong on the internet! How best to respond? Avoiding interminable arguments is “an important social engineering problem we’re really bad at”. The best short advice is probably to take the argument to email. “Email is private and removes the performative factor; I can’t say how many times a previously terrible discussion has become manageable and productive as soon as it gets outside the public eye”

Public defender seeks out the abusive parents of a young man facing execution for murder, hoping to find grounds for a last-minute appeal. Which may sound like a cliché; but this is a gripping piece of writing with scarcely a wasted word. The day of execution approaches: “They can come visit me the day before,” Marvin said. He smiled. “My whole family is going to come, everyone. We can say goodbye. It will be really nice. Nice for everyone”

Very probably the propensity to commit crime is in part transmitted genetically. Most propensities are. We don’t know for sure because we don’t want to know for sure. Criminologists — and social scientists in general — tend resist randomised controlled trials for ethical and practical reasons. At the level of science, that must be wrong. What kind of a scientist are you, if you don’t want to get things right?

The rudaalis of Rajasthan are poor women, taken as mistresses by the local Rajput lord, whose particular vocation is to serve as mourners when there is a death in the lord’s household. “Someone has to cry when the members of our royal families die. High-caste woman do not cry in front of commoners. Even if their husbands die, they need to preserve their dignity. These low-caste women, rudaalis, do the job for them”