All posts tagged: universal

Is Morality Universal? | Susan Neiman

Is Morality Universal? | Susan Neiman

Published by Jenni Sidey

Every August the Irish village of Killorglin puts on the Puck Fair. A local girl on the cusp of puberty is chosen to be Queen Puck, and a wild male goat is captured in the neighboring mountains, paraded through town, crowned King Puck, and then caged on a high platform around which thousands of people sing, dance, and drink for three days and nights. On the side streets, small stands sell bad food and plastic trinkets, while a few Travellers, Ireland’s indigenous nomads, work rival fortune-telling franchises. Recent concerns about animal welfare have led to the hiring of a veterinary surgeon who ensures that the goat is healthy when it’s returned to the wild. There’s no agreement about when and why this custom began, so there’s no way to explain its purpose; speculations about its origins range from ancient pagan fertility rites to gratitude for the goat that alerted residents to the approach of Oliver Cromwell’s troops in the mid-seventeenth century. Killorglin advertises the Puck Fair as Ireland’s oldest festival; some claim it has taken …

Dolly Parton’s TV specials showed her sparkle was universal

Dolly Parton’s TV specials showed her sparkle was universal

Published by Sam Flores

Funnily enough, when Dolly Parton made her debut on “The Porter Wagoner Show,” she wasn’t wearing any rhinestones. Faux jewels, sequins and shiny baubles were Parton’s signature once she became a household name. But in that 1967 episode, when she was still an unknown, the only glimmer to behold was embroidered on the host’s jacket.  “Here’s a little gal that I know you’re going to really learn to love,” Wagoner told his audience, calling Parton a fine singer and “one of the finest little gals that I’ve ever met” as he introduced her to perform “Dumb Blonde.” “She ain’t no dumb blonde, though,” Wagoner tossed off, almost as a merry aside, in a small moment some might call prophetic. Wagoner’s viewers didn’t initially take a shine to Parton, the 21-year-old replacement to his longtime co-star, Norma Jean Beasler. But Parton’s golden charisma shone ever brighter over the 218 episodes she appeared in until her departure in 1974. Parton’s time on “The Porter Wagoner Show” laid the foundation for an extraordinary career bridging pop and country …

Acceptance and Rejection Are Universal

Acceptance and Rejection Are Universal

Published by Jenni Sidey

Relationships are voluntary. Acceptance or rejection are self-chosen personal processes that generate affect states such as liking or disliking, trust or distrust, sincerity or insincerity, and the potential for voluntary relational engagement or disengagement. None of these can be externally coerced. This is not a limitation of individuals or societies but a universal feature of human consciousness and the structure of all relationships (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Heinämaa, 2020; Korsgaard, 1989; Pietromonaco & Barrett, 1997). This universality begins before consciousness emerges. Human beings are born with biological, neurobiological, and neuromuscular systems that develop to discriminate among survival-relevant stimuli. Newborns show unlearned reactions to sweetness and bitterness (visible in facial expressions and physiological changes), demonstrating sensory evaluation at birth. Early sensory judgements are biologically established and active from the first moments of life. These innate responses are part of holistic, biologically developing systems that guide early orientation towards comfort, safety, and caregiving, long before consciousness and complex cognitive learning are established (Blass & Watt, 1999; Bowlby, 1982; Rosenstein & Oster, 1988). Ongoing …

There Is No Universal Neurotype

There Is No Universal Neurotype

Published by Jenni Sidey

I was recently talking with a very bright college freshman who excels in science and foreign languages. She was telling me about her friends, the people she studied with, and the travels she had completed, including a recent visit to Japan. We also talked about organic chemistry and some of the nuances of chemical crystal structure. It was clear that she had an inherent desire to learn and a breadth of interests she was happily pursuing in college. I have been very fortunate indeed to have been a college professor for more than 40 years and to have met quite a number of students such as this young woman who are passionate about learning, highly intelligent, and an absolute delight to teach. But this conversation took a different turn when she told me that some of her friends were pointedly asking whether she was “neurodiverse.” Some were even suggesting she is “on the spectrum,” referring to the autism spectrum. Evidently, for some, the term “neurodiverse” can be synonymous with being “on the spectrum.” I wondered …

What 122 Universal Basic Income Experiments Actually Show

What 122 Universal Basic Income Experiments Actually Show

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authroed by Vance Ginn via the Daily Economy, Artificial intelligence has become the latest excuse for reviving one of the oldest bad ideas in economic policy: a universal basic income. Recent pieces in Newsweek, the LSE Business Review, and Fortune have all helped push the idea that AI may soon wipe out so many jobs that Washington will need to send everyone a check. That makes for a catchy headline. It also makes for terrible economics. The right question is not whether AI will disrupt work. Of course it will. The right question is this: after more than 100 local guaranteed-income experiments, what have we actually learned? The answer is much less flattering to UBI than its promoters would like. What 122 UBI-Style Pilots Show A new AEI working paper by Kevin Corinth and Hannah Mayhew gives the best recent overview of the evidence. Per their study, there were 122 guaranteed basic income pilots across 33 states and the District of Columbia between 2017 and 2025. Those pilots allocated about $481.4 million in transfers to …