Interesting Links for 16-08-2012

[andrewducker]

• R.I.P. Harry Harrison, creator of the Stainless Steel Rat, Bill the Galactic Hero, and Soylent Green
  (tags: scifi death )
• 16-year-old Amina Filali Who Was Forced To Marry Her Rapist, Commits Suicide
  (tags: rape suicide Morocco )
• Scotland is one of the most genetically diverse nations on the planet (And porridge played a big part in its history)

Comments

[momentsmusicaux]

OMFG. Can we just smack her in the face and tell her that's how we greet people in OUR culture?

[andrewducker]

That was pretty much my feeling too.

[alitheapipkin]

"Harm is a socially constructed term" is the biggest pile of crap I've read in a long time! I know I'm a biologist but really, what planet does this woman live on??

[andrewducker]

The thing is that _all_ terms are socially constructed. That's how language works. Now, she might be saying that the people who are chopping girls labia off don't believe they're causing harm, and that they're entitled to their opinion. But, personally, I'm willing to discount the opinions of people who are chopping bits off of children without a very good medical reason.

[nancylebov]

The unbreakable glass video is a hoot-- but using glass like that for bank security is why social engineering was invented.

[xenophanean]

The C-word, a lot more reasonable than the last one I complained about. There's much better positive advice, in there even if she doesn't like the type of person she's advising.

That said, I never disagreed with her first post, it was the Scalzi one I had a problem with.

[daveon]

I thought the Scalzi one was pretty reasonable too.

I'm a little freaked out by all the comments about how and when to touch strangers.

Let's start from DON'T and move on from there? kthxbye...

I hate touchers. It's very creepy, man or woman.

[xenophanean]

For the argument about the Scalzi one, that was on an earlier link-dump, about a week ago. Don't really want to get back into it.

http://andrewducker.livejournal.com/2766744.html

[momentsmusicaux]

I really like that 'Liberal America' kickstarter. I like the way it's all about factfinding. It's rather like crowdsourcing academic research...

[andrewducker]

I agree. That's why I threw him a few pounds.

It'd be great to have a research kickstarter. If you can get 50 people to throw a tenner at a researcher to research something small, and then make the data open afterwards...

[nancylebov]

I'm a libertarian, and I like it, too-- let's try finding something out instead of just arguing about theory.

[steer]

Re: Harm is socially constructed -- did you ever read "Speaker from the dead"? If you did think back to the passage where they discover how the piggies are born from their first life and where the humans discuss it -- I'm being vague to avoid spoilers.

[andrewducker]

I haven't read Speaker For The Dead.

But I have Three Worlds Collide: read http://lesswrong.com/lw/y5/the_babyeating_aliens_18/

which covers different definitions of harm, in an...interesting manner.