Interesting Links for 21-05-2014

[andrewducker]

• Why Do People Persist in Believing Things That Just Aren't True?
  (tags: truth belief )
• Possibly the angriest music review of all time
  (tags: music review funny )
• Psychologists finally notice that favouritism is actually more damaging than negative discrimination
  (tags: psychology discrimination )
• What would a UKIP of the left actually look like?
  (

Comments

[apostle_of_eris]

*) Why Do People Persist in Believing Things That Just Aren't True?
False beliefs, it turns out, have little to do with one’s stated political affiliations and far more to do with self-identity
That is to say, "political affiliations" are an expression of "self-identity". No shit, Sherlock.

*) What would a UKIP of the left actually look like?
That's an oxymoron. “It stands to reason that self-righteous, inflexible, single-minded, authoritarian true believers are politically organized. Open-minded, flexible, complex, ambiguous, anti-authoritarian people would just as soon be left to mind their own fucking business.”
-- R.U. Sirius

Please read some George Lakoff!

[naath]

But the left isn't always "anti-authoritarian"...

[andrewducker]

Exactly. Labour are both left _and_ authoritarian.

[a_pawson]

Do people still consider Labour to be on the left anymore? I certainly don't.

[bugshaw]

I am disheartened that the NHS building where I work has banned use of e-cigs on the premises. After a couple of fire alarms, they reckoned e-cigs were the most likely trigger culprit.

[andrewducker]

That's a real shame. I'm in favour of e-cigs because they stop people smoking horrible tar things.

(And also generally in favour of people's rights to smoke anything they like so long as it doesn't make the places I like stink horribly)

[a_pawson]

The vapour does unfortunately set off fire alarms, or at least the ones that utilise an optical sensor (which is the vast majority of installations). Steam is similarly effective.

Interesting Links for 21-05-2014

[livejournal]

User d_c_m referenced to your post from Interesting Links for 21-05-2014 saying: [...] Originally posted by at Interesting Links for 21-05-2014 [...]

[kerrypolka]

Isn't Left Unity an attempt at being a lefty UKIP focused on socialism? It's a baby party at the moment, but I'm surprised it didn't merit a mention.

[andrewducker]

I've heard of it vaguely - but is it even polling 1% at the moment?

[kerrypolka]

I mean probably, but I read that post as saying "why doesn't this thing exist?", when as I understand it it does exist, even if it's not doing very well.

[cartesiandaemon]

I was really annoyed at the title, but reading the article I think what they were trying to say, is why was there not a left wing protest party equally successful as UKIP.

Of the list of depressingly UKIP-esque parties on my list, No2EU were explicitly anti-UKIP and anti-racist and pro-socialist, all of which I like, but they were literally left-UKIP in that they were still anti-Europe and I agreed with what they said was wrong, but I still thought Europe was a better chance for socialism than not-Europe.

I skimmed the front page for Left Unity when you linked to it. Squeee! They mention feminism and socialism on the same page, wow. But I don't know if there's some horrible bigotry hiding elsewhere (all the other parties seem to have :( )