Sunday, June 28, 2009

Puzzle solving or evolving?

Is the fact that the beak of the New Zealand wry-billed plover slopes to the right, thereby helping the right eye quide the beak toward food under small river stones, related to the fact that right and left handed people respond more quickly to unexpected stimuli with their left hand?

This article suggests that the left brain in vertebrates supports solving behavior & in humans language. The right responds to the unexpected.

Which side do you rely on most?

Monday, June 8, 2009

Taste in questions?

There are empirical reasons to think that the appeal of black-and-white answers to uncritically-chosen questions is especially difficult to resist for communities under stress. This may be why demagogues sometimes thrive in bad economic times.

Hence it's probably a good idea to beware of folks who enthusiastically criticize others by monoscale categorization or in true-false terms. That's because ill-chosen questions, with simple answers, are likely one path by which complex life on our planet will begin to fold up its tent.