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Mugwump
Joined: 28 Jul 2007
Location: Between London and Melbourne
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^ I think the last chart shows that maths tends to make you depressed ....
😏
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Two more flags before I die! |
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K
Joined: 09 Sep 2011
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^ Perhaps anything that makes you confront reality tends to make you depressed. 
But as long as you're wealthy all is well. |
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K
Joined: 09 Sep 2011
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| K wrote: | ...
Retirement (Pinker's EN, Fig. 17-2)? International tourism (EN, Fig. 17-8 )? We'll have to let David report what these figures look like and are supposed to signify. But they are really at best first-world luxuries, at worst just trivia. And death is bad, but since the author cares only about aggregate numbers, why talk about deaths by lightning strikes (EN, Fig. 12-9)?? Surely, that's always been a minuscule fraction of total deaths? Not to mention his focusing on (presumed) reductions in fatality rates in modes of death that simply did not exist a century ago.
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While we're discussing what variables are worth looking at, perhaps I should expand on the last sentence above. Here are examples in EN:
Fig. 12-3: Motor vehicle accident deaths (1921 on);
Fig. 12-4: Pedestrian deaths (1927 on);
and in particular Fig. 12-5: Plane crash deaths (1970 on).
About a century ago, your chance of dying in a plane crash was zero, unless you happened to be, say, one of the Wright brothers. Whatever the author says about deaths in plane crashes from 1970 (which must feel to some like yesterday), it strikes one as a bit absurd. (And someone should tell him to look up the Qantas data.) Of course, automobiles and aeroplanes have increased humanity's geographical mobility. If he wanted, he could have discussed what the world has gained as a result of that increased mobility. He could have plotted something relevant to that increased mobility. (If he really wanted to talk fatalities, I guess he could have tried to establish some sort of comparison with deaths in horse-back accidents, etc. ...)
There's a lot that can be said about the road toll... perhaps in another post. |
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think positive 
Side By Side
Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Location: somewhere
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Is Dave still following this? Gees it’s depressing!
I reckon we all just need to slow down, appreciate the ability to breathe, and go from there.
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You cant fix stupid, turns out you cant quarantine it either! |
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David
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda
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| Bucks5 wrote: | There would be many variables affecting the results.
The weather at the time, a popular sports team may have won (or lost) an important match the days before, even a Royal wedding can effect the average mood of a country on any given day. |
Good point – the last royal wedding depressed me for days!
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All watched over by machines of loving grace |
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K
Joined: 09 Sep 2011
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^ Did it dash your hopes of marrying the bride?
I wonder if commoners marrying into the royal family end up happier or unhappier as a result. Maybe this depends on which royal family. |
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K
Joined: 09 Sep 2011
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| think positive wrote: | Is Dave still following this? Gees it’s depressing!
... |
I actually found the last bunch of pics and accompanying subject rather amusing. Perhaps this indicates I have a dark sense of humour.
I mean, different guys ask different questions (ladders --- hmm....) at different times and get different results (presumably markedly different results, though it's not so easy making out country names in that first pic). They must surely realize the fragility of their results (with or without catastrophically confounding royal weddings), but they plough on regardless. It seems they are happy to play some sort of make-believe game, at least until they start contradicting each other.
At the end of the game, it seems --- lo and behold! --- that money may indeed buy happiness. That's if you are convinced by Mr. Wolfers (and his partner in work and life). (Do you trust the "dismal science" to opine on human dismay?) This contradicts Mr. Easterlin, who comments (see article linked below pic) that the results could just reflect cultural differences in how people respond to poll questions. (Who would have thought that, huh? Do these cultural differences matter only when the results contradict his?)
Was that really depressing? What sort of comedy do you like? |
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David
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda
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| K wrote: | ^ Did it dash your hopes of marrying the bride?
I wonder if commoners marrying into the royal family end up happier or unhappier as a result. Maybe this depends on which royal family. |
I certainly wouldn't mind marrying one of the continental European royals. They seem fun (and probably don't have to do much).
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All watched over by machines of loving grace |
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K
Joined: 09 Sep 2011
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| Yes, I was thinking one of those Scandinavian countries might be nice. (Do they all have royal families? Which European countries do not have royalty?) |
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David
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda
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Here's a good run-down! There are 12 monarchies in all, including the UK and (for some reason) the Vatican City. Andorra's a weird one, in that the 'co-princes' are actually the French President and a Spanish bishop, so once you take them and the Vatican out, there are only nine continental European countries with royal families: Belgium, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchies_in_Europe
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All watched over by machines of loving grace |
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K
Joined: 09 Sep 2011
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How Commoners Are Saving the Royal Families of Europe
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a14537493/commoners-marrying-royal-family-members/
I don't know if this article comments on whether they live happily ever after. If someone reads this article before I do, please let us know!
Okay, let's just assume for now that we would indeed live happily ever after. Now we need a plan.
How to Marry an Actual Real-Life Prince
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/how-to-marry-prince-harry-meghan-markle-wedding-royalty-a8074996.html
Unlike the Independent, we in the VPT are not at all sexist, so let's also assume for now that it's basically the same idea if you are looking to marry an actual real-life princess.
I'll let you all absorb the words of wisdom in the article, but let me quickly highlight a few things here. Note tip 5: "Be careful with social media". David, I told you to give up FB forever. Now, will you listen to me? And here's tip 6: "Have an interest in charity". Does following the Pies count?
The article concludes with the following:
'While marrying a prince and becoming a princess is certainly possible, "although luck does play a huge part in it," Mr. Fitzwilliam wants to stress to would-be princesses that "winning a prince certainly comes at a price" and that "being a princess is a hell of a job." But, you do get to wear a tiara.'
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K
Joined: 09 Sep 2011
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| K wrote: | ...
And then there are [measures] Pinker uses that just reflect his own set of political ideologies and prejudices (e.g. vegetarianism, which certainly does not have near-universal support as being "better"). But let me leave that topic for another post. |
Okay, let me say a bit about the above.
His BA book includes Fig. 7-28: Vegetarianism in the US & UK (1984 on). It is simply his ideology that eating meat is bad. I'm not aware that anyone here is a vegetarian. Certainly, the thread "What's for dinner" indicates otherwise, so unless there are some guilty meat-eaters among us it seems no one here shares this particular ideology with him.
Another example: capital punishment (BA, Figs. 4-3, 4-4, & 4-5). Given that there is an active thread here about the death penalty, I guess many (though certainly not all) posters here think it is a good thing. I don't think anyone supports executions that are political assassinations, but as punishment for murder, for example, the death penalty continues to have strong support in the US. Maybe capital punishment is bad, or maybe it's good; there is no concensus on this matter and logical arguments alone are unlikely to change that in either direction.
What about disciplining of children? BA, Fig. 7-17: Approval of spanking in the US, Sweden & NZ (1954 on), Fig. 7-18: Approval of corporal punishment in schools in the US (1954 on), Fig. 7-19: American states allowing corporal punishment in schools (1954 on), ... Perhaps if the author had been spanked more at home and in school he would now have more integrity. Perhaps not. Who knows?
The point is not that I think all of the author's social, political and moral ideologies and prejudices are "wrong". One would think that there must be some beliefs one shares with him, and I won't vote here on any of the above examples (they have their own threads!). The point is that he seems not to realize that they are just debatable, subjective ideologies and prejudices. He seems to act and write as if they are objective truths that no one can disagree with. He does not separate them from objective data and logical arguments. |
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K
Joined: 09 Sep 2011
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^^^ Okay, some pics...
The first impression is that the support for the death penalty increases when the homicide rate is high.
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K
Joined: 09 Sep 2011
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And a couple of pics on attitudes to spanking... [from WaPo]
Note: I find the term "good, hard spanking" somewhat amusing...
[Those 65+ wusses must be spoiling their grandchildren... ]
[I'll leave WPT et al. to comment on the Jewish results.] |
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Dave The Man 
Joined: 01 Apr 2005
Location: Someville, Victoria, Australia
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| K wrote: | ^^^ Okay, some pics...
The first impression is that the support for the death penalty increases when the homicide rate is high.
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Well we need it with what Some Disgusting People are Doing that Deserve the Death Penalty
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