Will Shetterly's Blog, page 154

is it harder for black people to get a taxi in the US? or About the Taxi Test

When you talk about race in the US, you're likely to hear someone say it's harder for black folks to catch a cab. Most of the country became very aware of that in 1994 when Michael Moore did the "taxi test” on TV Nation: Yaphet Kotto, a black actor, and Louie Bruno, a white felon, hailed taxis to see who would be picked up. Most cabbies passed Kotto to pick up Bruno.

But a much better test had a different result.

Kotto filed a complaint with the city of New York, and in 1999, May...

From Up on Poppy Hill - mini-review

Loved it. It's simpler and more mature than many Miyazaki movies, which may've disappointed the reviewers who were disappointed. Perhaps I'm simpler and more mature now.

To place me on the Miyazki spectrum, my favorites are Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, and Spirited Away.

Wikipedia has details: From Up on Poppy Hill

is Buddhism now the world's most warlike religion?

"...the most warlike religion in the modern world, measured by the proportion of countries at war where it has a significant following, is actually Buddhism." —Andrew Brown, "Why are religion and violence now so closely linked?"

The history of the world's religions is a history of military conquest, which is to say, a history of slaughter, and Buddhism is no different. It was spread by Ashoka the Great who conquered the Indian state of Kalinga. Buddhist apologists say Ashoka gre...

Regarding Scalzi's "Lowest Difficulty Setting" and Teaching Intersectionality through Halo

I just left this comment at All Skulls On: Teaching Intersectionality through Halo:

This test has the same problem as the essay that inspired it: how do you compare the opportunities of a rich black woman with those of a poor white man? In a capitalist society, wealth has to be the default for the easiest setting. Saying that Herman Cain’s daughter is playing at a harder setting than a working-class white man from North Dakota or Appalachia is just silly. 

And, no, this does not deny...

"Altruistic punishment": the rationalizing animal and the internet

From Amanda Knox: She was acquitted of the Meredith Kercher murder. Why do people still hate her so much?:

"Experiments show that when some people punish others, the reward part of their brain lights up like a Christmas tree. It turns out we humans avidly engage in something anthropologists call “altruistic punishment.” 

What is altruistic punishment? It is when a person punishes someone who has done nothing against them personally but has violated what they perceive to be the norms o...

Altruistic punishment: the rationalizing animal and the internet

From Amanda Knox: She was acquitted of the Meredith Kercher murder. Why do people still hate her so much?:

"Experiments show that when some people punish others, the reward part of their brain lights up like a Christmas tree. It turns out we humans avidly engage in something anthropologists call “altruistic punishment.” 

What is altruistic punishment? It is when a person punishes someone who has done nothing against them personally but has violated what they perceive to be the norms o...

Stop CISPA

How to join today's April 22 CISPA protest | ZDNet

does anyone know if this scam has a name?

I vaguely remember hearing about a scam that requires a lot of potential marks who have no contact with each other. The scammer makes a prediction about something succeeding, telling half the group it will and half the group it won't. When the answer's known, he stops contacting the people who think he failed and divides the rest in half for the next prediction. Repeat several times. The group that thinks he has always been right keeps getting smaller, but for them, he soon seems infallible....

what we think of others tells more about us

I just left this comment elsewhere: Humans project. What people think of others can tell you too much about them.

The best piece of dating advice I ever saw—and I wish I could remember where I saw it—was to pay attention to how your date treats the people who serve you. People who treat some people badly will treat anyone badly.*

In Dogland, the father tells a story my dad used to tell: A man is thinking about moving to a town, so he asks a local what the people are like. The local asks t...

in identity politics, identitarian is an identity

In Fascinating tumblr arguments, MattBruenig discusses identitarian logic and notes, "...if you belong to identity A, you can appropriate from identity B, so long as someone in identity A is also in identity B and supports that appropriation. The person who is simultaneously in both identities cannot be accused of appropriating from themselves — a nonsense notion — and others are allowed to ally with that person and what they have to say."

The wrinkle is that the validating per...