For anyone who’s read the news flashed around the world this week about the latest supposed differences between “gay brains” and “straight brains”. Cognitive researcher Mark Lieberman has a great piece here dissecting the bunkum statistics in this latest piece of junk science. (Thanks to Adrian).
Search
About the Blog
The Yale Man, described: "Not too far to the right, too far to the left or a middle-of-the-roader. Ready to give the ultimate word on every subject under the sun from how to handle the Russians to why undergraduates riot in the spring. Profound with a wit that bubbles up and brims over in a cascade of brilliance. You may have guessed who the leading candidate is, but there is a question about him: Is God a Yale man?"Iqra'i is like that, but in skirts.
About Us
Nicola Karras is a conservative feminist. She enjoys philosophy, politics, and transgression. When she grows up (which she plans to avoid for as long as possible), she wants to be an intellectual, or, failing that, an astronaut.Kate Maltby is cross that Nicola stole her self-descriptors. She wanted to be a public intellectual long before Nicola did, which is to say, a cosmonaut. A perfectionistic, feminist Anglican, she is far too self-conscious to comfortably accept self-definition through such crude medium as this.
Dara Lind is a communitarian. Her interests include culture (broadly defined), immigration, globalization and media. She wants to be employed when she grows up.
Most Recent Posts
RSS- “I’m kinda saving myself for the Scene…” by Dara
- Diplomas go better with Buckley. by Dara
- Textualist Nation by Dara
- Those damn Naderites! by Nicola
- I Got 95 Theses But A Pope Ain’t One by Kate
- Quotidiana by Nicola
- Faith, hope, love: two out of three ain’t bad. by Nicola
- Think Different by Nicola
- Rockin’ in the “Free” World by Nicola
- Pay no attention to Caesar. Caesar doesn’t have the slightest idea what’s really going on. by Nicola
Most Recent Comments
RSS- Madelyn Cox in Happiness is a warm puppy.
- Delmar Gobrecht in Shame, with Love at strife.
- samanta in Liveblogging the Sex Week Open Forum & Feedback Session
- Girls Webcam Free Shows in The purpose of an open mind is to close it, on particular subjects.
- Watch Cartoons Online in The purpose of an open mind is to close it, on particular subjects.
- Piese Utilaje in The purpose of an open mind is to close it, on particular subjects.
- Business Week MBA Forum in I happen to have Mr. McLuhan right here.
- Star Chick in I’ll have the primordial soup, please.
- Daniel Evans in With my freeze-ray I will stop the world…
- Margert Tidrington in I Got 95 Theses But A Pope Ain’t One
Categories
- Across The Pond (6)
- Arts (11)
- Extemporanea (84)
- Food (4)
- General Scholarship (8)
- History (9)
- Inexplicably Burke (10)
- Ladies (22)
- Links (3)
- Literary Factions (4)
- Media (35)
- Navel Gazing (43)
- Philosophy (32)
- Politics (73)
- Immigration (4)
- Social Theory (10)
- Technology (10)
- Yale (37)
- L'affaire Shvarts (5)
- Sex Week 2008 (6)
‘Junk science’ and ‘bunkum statistics’ are a little harsh, Kate. The laguage log post was correct that news media radically misinterpreted the results and that the paper was a little inpenetrable. It did not contest the basic premise, that sexual orientation correlates with brain structures that are determined pre-natally. This is still a big result.
Absolutely, most press outlets made it sound like you could diagnose homosexuality by tossing people in an MRI, but this is still a pretty awesome research result.