All posts tagged: blame

What Do We Understand About Blame?

What Do We Understand About Blame?

Published by Jenni Sidey

We blame nature, we blame God, and we blame our enemies, spouses, and ourselves. We even blame politicians for never taking the blame! We use blame for the regulation of feelings, the reparation of harm, and the restoration of order on personal, interpersonal, and broadly social levels. In the best of circumstances, blame for wrongdoing, once acknowledged, results in apology, concessions to meet the demands of restorative justice, or punishment to meet the demands of retributive justice. With Toyota’s commercial truck company’s agreement to pay $1.6 million for faking emissions tests, we see evidence of justice resulting from blame. When a partner takes on the blame for their infidelity as the cause of heartache and disruption in a marriage, they restore trust, show love, and perhaps the possibility of reconnection. The Misuses of Blame Blame is complex and, like most human dynamics, rarely unfolds smoothly. The inability to blame, the projection of blame on others, and retaliation for blame with an imposed code of silence in the face of mistreatment are all misuses of blame …

The Blame ending explained: Who killed Sophie Madsen?

The Blame ending explained: Who killed Sophie Madsen?

Published by Daniella Wilson

This article contains references to sexual assault that some may find distressing. ITV1’s thriller The Blame has ended with more twists than a theme park full of rollercoasters. But did DI Emma Crane (Michelle Keegan) discover the identity of Sophie Maden’s (Matilda Feeman) killer? With 30 minutes to go, it appeared to be case closed with the murderer captured and Emma having lived to tell the tale. But with so much screen time left to fill, this six-parter wasn’t done with viewers just yet… Who did it initially seem was responsible? After turning up at the home of tech specialist Neil Shergill (Nigel Boyle) in search of help, Emma soon realised that he was the one responsible for drugging and raping a series of women whose complaints hadn’t been pursued by fellow officers at Wakestead police station. Having been lurking on the pernicious messaging group, Neil took advantage of his access and assaulted those who’d approached the police expecting help. How did Emma escape from danger? Michelle Keegan as DI Emma Crane in The Blame. David …

Ed Sheeran’s being a coward on Gaza. Can you blame him?

Ed Sheeran’s being a coward on Gaza. Can you blame him?

Published by Sam Flores

Looking closely at the top tier of popular music stars is a bit like measuring a coastline. What you thought at first was one solid mass that could be measured from A to B is more like an ever-shifting mess of minor variations. Assumed A-listers’ status is rapidly eroding, while newcomers are building up their section of the beach. The only way to not get lost in the fractals of who’s hot and who’s not is to set a standard of good enough and stick to it. In pop music, that standard is stadiums. Though “arena” and “stadium” are used somewhat interchangeably by fans, the latter is several orders of magnitude larger. Only the biggest names can fill multiple stadiums on a single tour. Olivia Rodrigo plays arenas, Taylor Swift plays stadiums. John Mellencamp plays arenas, Springsteen plays stadiums. Ella Langley is about to break the record for most consecutive weeks with Billboard’s No. 1 song in the US. She still plays venues that are three to four times smaller than those played by Garth …

New TV dramas to watch this autumn: From The Blame to Pride and Prejudice

New TV dramas to watch this autumn: From The Blame to Pride and Prejudice

Published by Daniella Wilson

The Blame – ITV1 In 2023, a report found the Metropolitan police service to be institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic. That year also saw the release of Charlotte Langley’s book The Blame, in which she investigates very similar themes. The body of a teenager is discovered in the fictional town of Wakestead – and it looks like she was with a police officer when she was murdered. At first, DI Emma Crane (Michelle Keegan) turns the other cheek at the toxic office politics and “jokes” in her male-dominated environment, but this crime forces her to confront what needs to change within the force. “I did identify a lot with Emma,” says Keegan. “There’s been so many times in my life where something’s happened and you sort of laugh it off, or sweep it under the carpet, like it didn’t matter, but it does. No one gets pulled up on it, but you just have to deal with it because you’re a woman. “I’ve been there and I’ve lived it, so doinga drama that shines a …

Have trouble sleeping in a new place? Blame the ‘first-night effect’

Have trouble sleeping in a new place? Blame the ‘first-night effect’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Whenever Robinson Leoni spends his initial night somewhere new, the pattern remains identical: drifting off takes longer, nighttime awakenings occur far more frequently, and his total rest suffers. At home, he averages seven hours. Spending an evening elsewhere—regardless of earplugs or mattress quality—drops his smartwatch total to roughly five hours. “I feel normal, you know, no stress, nothing, but it’s just I notice I wake up continuously,” said Leoni, a sales director for a tech company who travels once or twice a month for work. He is experiencing what sleep specialists call the first-night effect. The phenomenon has been confirmed by dozens of studies and is believed to have evolutionary roots, according to Anna Wick, a senior sleep researcher at the University of Freiburg in Switzerland. Ahmad Mayeli, a psychiatry professor and sleep researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, said most people experience trouble sleeping in new environments (Getty/iStock) “It’s assumed to be an adaptation response that the sleeping brain remains vigilant in this unfamiliar environment,” Wick said. Ahmad Mayeli, a psychiatry professor and sleep …

Are Men to Blame for the Birth-Rate Collapse?

Are Men to Blame for the Birth-Rate Collapse?

Published by Sam Flores

Society is running out of babies, and no one can agree on why. Most people around the world, including Americans, live in a country where overall fertility is below what demographers call the “replacement rate,” meaning that without migration, the population will shrink from one generation to the next. In some places, the birth rate is so low that each generation is set to be half the size of the previous one. A number of theories have been put forward to explain why this is happening. Some experts point to smartphones and social media, others to the cost of child care, still others to existential dread or overparenting. Claudia Goldin, the Nobel Prize–winning labor economist, favors another explanation: It’s the men. In a widely discussed new working paper, she argues that husbands still fail to do their fair share of housework and child care, forcing their wives to choose between procreation and career success. As a result, women are making the economically rational decision to have fewer kids. “The more that men can credibly signal …

Trump’s ‘Blame America First’ Doctrine

Trump’s ‘Blame America First’ Doctrine

Published by Daniella Wilson

Based on the FBI’s preliminary assessment, Iranian-linked hackers may be responsible for a coordinated cyberattack targeting the water-supply systems of at least seven states. No evidence suggests that the attack poisoned the water or made it unsafe to drink. But any attack on critical infrastructure is cause for concern. The very fact that these alarming hacks could be traced to Iran would seem to support President Trump’s claims about the danger the country poses to the United States. His response to the cyberattack, however, has been peculiar: Instead of crowing, “I told you so,” he has immediately sought to point the finger elsewhere. “They blame it on Iran,” Trump said, apparently referring to the FBI’s assessment. “I don’t think so. I think I blame it on Minnesota because they’re grossly incompetent.” Is he suggesting that Minnesota also attacked the other states? In keeping with his “America First” doctrine, Trump promised his supporters that the United States would get out of unnecessary wars and not start new ones. Instead, Trump has reportedly launched 20 military operations …

Shifting Blame is a Contagion

Shifting Blame is a Contagion

Published by Sam Flores

When we see others protecting their egos, we become defensive too. We then try to protect our own self-image by blaming others for our mistakes, which may feel good in the moment. Blame creates a culture of fear, and this leads to a host of negative consequences for individuals and for groups. By Teresa Neumann REPORTER’S NOTE: Wow, does this hit home! Blame shifting may not be human nature at its worst, but it’s directly related to some of history’s most abhorrent moments: Cain killing Abel, Saul’s hatred of David, and the Pharisees condemnation of Jesus, to name just a few. Perhaps this is a timely reminder for all of us to guard our hearts against it. I know it is for me. -Teresa Neumann, BCN. Though it should go without saying, new research from the USC Marshall School of Business and Stanford University reports that merely observing someone publicly blame an individual in an organization for a problem—even when the target is innocent—greatly increases the odds that the practice of blaming others will spread …

Why We Blame the Dead

Why We Blame the Dead

Published by Jenni Sidey

Fear not slander, censure rash; Thou hast finished joy and moan: All lovers young, all lovers must Consign to thee, and come to dust. —Shakespeare, Cymbeline A common saying holds that we should not speak ill of the dead; we should not blame them or draw attention to their shortcomings, moral or otherwise. An underlying reason for this might well be that the dead can no longer defend themselves. In response, one might say that this does not matter, as they are dead and therefore will never know that they are being blamed. They need no longer fear “slander, censure rash.” So it might seem that the living do not wrong the dead by blaming them, but they also do not achieve anything. Blaming the dead will not engender remorse in the target of blame. Nevertheless, people do often blame the dead for things they did when still alive. What exactly is it that people do when they blame the living or the dead? Blame, as philosophers understand it, is a very variable phenomenon; it …

Why Our Culture Is Obsessed With Blame

Why Our Culture Is Obsessed With Blame

Published by Jenni Sidey

We live in a culture of blame. Conflict and division occur daily in families, workplaces, and government. Blaming others for unwanted outcomes (blame-shifting) is a way of avoiding taking responsibility for errors or misjudgment. Most individuals are offended by others falsely accusing them. This leads to conflict, undermining of trust, and compromise of the relationship. Avoidance of consequences drives blame in circumstances involving illegal activities. In most circumstances, intentional commission of illegal acts and then covering them up by blaming others is associated with significant antisocial symptoms. These individuals are generally incapable of feeling shame. But in almost all other situations, blaming others is a way of avoiding feelings of shame. Unwanted outcomes resulting from choices or behaviors make individuals feel stupid, careless, defective, etc. because they have erred. Belief that others will see them in these terms makes them feel shame. Blaming others, or blame shifting, is a way of projecting feelings of shame onto someone else to avoid feeling shame. Following is a typical example. Liz and Dean were getting ready to attend …