I try and follow the events in Iran over Twitter and linked news feeds, periodically, as I manage between other distractions.  (I have developed a severe attention deficit, but I spend most of my time at the computer reading articles and social network updates these days.)  I've been following ABC reporter Lara Setrakian on Twitter (@ LaraABCNews), ( Read more... )

Yesterday I borrowed The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment by Paul R. and Anne H. Ehrlich from the local library.  Each chapter begins with a quote, and the quote beginning the fourth chapter, "Of Genes and Culture," was this:

"If you think we are hard wired [by our genes]-that is, everything is deterministic-there should be a ( Read more... )

Over time, I've gained an increasing fascination with systems, how things work in aggregate, and how different systems interact with each other.  It's a substantial part of my interest in the social sciences, especially my interest in sociology and not just anthropology.  Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex was a major catalyst of this interest ( Read more... )

In response to the article I linked last night, I've just sent this message to the Free Hugs Campaign:

I recently read this article in the New York Times --- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/style/28hugs.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&hp --- about how junior high and high school students have increasingly been hugging as a greeting, which itself makes me ( Read more... )

(Reprinted without permission from National Geographic's June 2009 issue; unavailable on the Web site.)

After Israel invaded Gaza last winter, protests sprang up in Europe. Firebombs and tear gas were part of the mix-though not in Sweden, thanks to a new kind of crowd control ( Read more... )

The U.S. Census Bureau produces a Statistical Abstract of the United States, which includes a document on Income, Expenditures, Poverty, and Wealth (Section 13).  In this document, there is a section on Personal Income and Its Disposition: 1990 to 2006 (Table 656).  According to that table, net personal current taxes1 have risen from $593 billion ( Read more... )

My next assignment for introductory sociology is this:
"Select one (1) form of behavior which is defined as deviant in US society; state why it is deviant; identify and explain what you believe to be the best explanation of the selected behavior."
So my question for everyone is, what sort of deviant behavior do you think would be interesting to ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

..how silly you are:  my_first_cult.

Found while searching for sociology communities.  I did find a good number of actual sociology communities as well.  It's hard to pick between them, but joining them all doesn't seem like a good idea.