Science news of the day thread.

[macdoc]

wow


https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/scienti ... -1.5902739

[rainbow]

wow


https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/scienti ... -1.5902739

Meh.
Cellulose reinforced epoxy resin.

[Brian Peacock]

People with extremist views less able to do complex mental tasks, research suggests.

Our brains hold clues for the ideologies we choose to live by, according to research, which has suggested that people who espouse extremist attitudes tend to perform poorly on complex mental tasks.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge sought to evaluate whether cognitive disposition – differences in how information is perceived and processed – sculpt ideological world-views such as political, nationalistic and dogmatic beliefs, beyond the impact of traditional demographic factors like age, race and gender.

The study, built on previous research, included more than 330 US-based participants aged 22 to 63 who were exposed to a battery of tests – 37 neuropsychological tasks and 22 personality surveys – over the course of two weeks.

The tasks were engineered to be neutral, not emotional or political – they involved, for instance, memorising visual shapes. The researchers then used computational modelling to extract information from that data about the participant’s perception and learning, and their ability to engage in complex and strategic mental processing.

Overall, the researchers found that ideological attitudes mirrored cognitive decision-making, according to the study published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

A key finding was that people with extremist attitudes tended to think about the world in black and white terms, and struggled with complex tasks that required intricate mental steps, said lead author Dr Leor Zmigrod at Cambridge’s department of psychology.

“Individuals or brains that struggle to process and plan complex action sequences may be more drawn to extreme ideologies, or authoritarian ideologies that simplify the world,” she said.

She said another feature of people with tendencies towards extremism appeared to be that they were not good at regulating their emotions, meaning they were impulsive and tended to seek out emotionally evocative experiences. “And so that kind of helps us understand what kind of individual might be willing to go in and commit violence against innocent others.”...

[JimC]

Violent, simplistic, lacking in self-control, unable to perceive complexities, fearful of the "other"

MAGA to a T!

[Cunt]

Violent, simplistic, lacking in self-control, unable to perceive complexities, fearful of the "other"

MAGA to a T!

It's why some groups aren't famous for positive outreach.

[Brian Peacock]

Just a pint of the usual for you then Cunt.

[pErvinalia]

Violent, simplistic, lacking in self-control, unable to perceive complexities, fearful of the "other"

MAGA to a T!

It's why some groups aren't famous for positive outreach.

What does the Texas power failure have to do with fascism?

[Brian Peacock]

NASA release the sounds of Mars recorded from the Perseverance rover.

https://soundcloud.com/nasa/first-sound ... self-noise

[JimC]

Violent, simplistic, lacking in self-control, unable to perceive complexities, fearful of the "other"

MAGA to a T!

It's why some groups aren't famous for positive outreach.

What does the Texas power failure have to do with fascism?

And more to the point, where are any other groups with a given purpose, political or otherwise? Why aren't we seeing all the members of a golf club there?

[Tero]

There was no antifa here. So they can't come to help either. It was entirely an invention of Trump and pals. there were people demonstrating George Floyd and Brianna Taylor et al.

[pErvinalia]

Violent, simplistic, lacking in self-control, unable to perceive complexities, fearful of the "other"

MAGA to a T!

It's why some groups aren't famous for positive outreach.

What does the Texas power failure have to do with fascism?

And more to the point, where are any other groups with a given purpose, political or otherwise? Why aren't we seeing all the members of a golf club there?

Exactly. Where's Cunt's people, like The Proud Boys and the MRA crowd?

[Cunt]

Exactly. Where's Cunt's people, like The Proud Boys and the MRA crowd?

Those aren't 'Cunt's people', though I understand you wishing they were.

I mean, organizations you condemn are pretty meaningless. I like Warren Farrell, not as crazy about that 'I love sluts' guy. Depends who you mean by 'MRA'.

[JimC]

Exactly. Where's Cunt's people, like The Proud Boys and the MRA crowd?

Those aren't 'Cunt's people', though I understand you wishing they were.

I mean, organizations you condemn are pretty meaningless. I like Warren Farrell, not as crazy about that 'I love sluts' guy. Depends who you mean by 'MRA'.

Way to miss the point. Your antifa caption, effectively attacking them for not rushing to help poor Texas, was just a right-wing troll. It had zero logic or point, well illustrated by the obvious rejoinder that the same goes for literally any social group, club, movement or whatever..

[pErvinalia]

I didn't see the Yellowknife Running Club doing any work there..

[Hermit]

Meanwhile, back at the science news of the day, here is a video of Perserverance Rover's touchdown on Mars.