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sprague's review
4.0
Includes a chapter by Steve Sailor and the high percentage of Iraqis and other middle easterners who marry their first cousins.
iluxan's review
4.0
Another gem. The article in this one are shorter and there are more of them, which is all good. Highlights:
"Caring for your Introvert" - a four-page article that everyone in the world should read. Not the most deeply scientific piece ever, it's openly derisive of extroverts and oversimplifies the issues quite a bit. But it is funny and insightful, and I feel like it should be required reading in school. "I am an introvert. You are a wonderful person and I like you. But now please shush."
"We're All Going to Die!" - an amusing escapade that examines all the common over-hyped disaster stories that are common in our times. It's a great primer for all the basics, covering everything from the exotic (nanomachine grey goo and universe-destroying black holes) to the almost-mundane (killer asteroids and chemical/biological weapons). Good as a gift for your sensationalist friends.
"The Cousin Marriage Conundrum" - a serious piece examining the socio-political implications of the very high rate of cousin marriages in many countries in the Middle East and North Africa. "Cousin marriage averages not much more than 1 percent in most European countries, and under 10 percent in the rest of the world outside that Morocco-to-southern-India corridor." No sweeping statistics are given, but the rate is implied to be at least 50% in countries like Iraq and Pakistan. This has huge implications on society overall since a person's primary loyalty is not to the country or even a religion, but to the extended family clan to which he or she belongs. Very interesting article, although I wish there was more substantive data presented along with the great arguments.
"Far-Out Television" - if you've ever watched a program on TV about the mysteries of the ancient builders of the pyramids which implies that some forces unknown to us were used to build them, and links all the real and mythical ancient sites in the world by one unifying mystery that we are still trying to uncover to allow us access to the great powers of the ancients which build the spaceship landing strips in the Andes and possessed great powe... Read this article. Interesting account of what the science archeology is about and what it has in common with the TV programs that are created for entertainment.
"Bugs in the Brain" - another light-hearted and somewhat tongue-in-cheek article that argues for the absurdity of the argument that states that evolution is a progression - from least-evolved single-cell organisms and viruses towards most-evolved mammals and, of course, humans. By examining the ability of tiny creatures, bacteria and viruses to manipulate and in a way control complex mammals this argument is made powerfully while also exploring very interesting interactions - like the rabies virus and the common cold.
Overall, though, this collecton wasn't _quite_ as high-quality as some of the others from this series, as a number of articles didn't resonate with me so well.
"Caring for your Introvert" - a four-page article that everyone in the world should read. Not the most deeply scientific piece ever, it's openly derisive of extroverts and oversimplifies the issues quite a bit. But it is funny and insightful, and I feel like it should be required reading in school. "I am an introvert. You are a wonderful person and I like you. But now please shush."
"We're All Going to Die!" - an amusing escapade that examines all the common over-hyped disaster stories that are common in our times. It's a great primer for all the basics, covering everything from the exotic (nanomachine grey goo and universe-destroying black holes) to the almost-mundane (killer asteroids and chemical/biological weapons). Good as a gift for your sensationalist friends.
"The Cousin Marriage Conundrum" - a serious piece examining the socio-political implications of the very high rate of cousin marriages in many countries in the Middle East and North Africa. "Cousin marriage averages not much more than 1 percent in most European countries, and under 10 percent in the rest of the world outside that Morocco-to-southern-India corridor." No sweeping statistics are given, but the rate is implied to be at least 50% in countries like Iraq and Pakistan. This has huge implications on society overall since a person's primary loyalty is not to the country or even a religion, but to the extended family clan to which he or she belongs. Very interesting article, although I wish there was more substantive data presented along with the great arguments.
"Far-Out Television" - if you've ever watched a program on TV about the mysteries of the ancient builders of the pyramids which implies that some forces unknown to us were used to build them, and links all the real and mythical ancient sites in the world by one unifying mystery that we are still trying to uncover to allow us access to the great powers of the ancients which build the spaceship landing strips in the Andes and possessed great powe... Read this article. Interesting account of what the science archeology is about and what it has in common with the TV programs that are created for entertainment.
"Bugs in the Brain" - another light-hearted and somewhat tongue-in-cheek article that argues for the absurdity of the argument that states that evolution is a progression - from least-evolved single-cell organisms and viruses towards most-evolved mammals and, of course, humans. By examining the ability of tiny creatures, bacteria and viruses to manipulate and in a way control complex mammals this argument is made powerfully while also exploring very interesting interactions - like the rabies virus and the common cold.
Overall, though, this collecton wasn't _quite_ as high-quality as some of the others from this series, as a number of articles didn't resonate with me so well.
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