Links - 24th July 2019 (2)

Culture–gene coevolution of individualism–collectivism and the serotonin transporter gene - "Culture–gene coevolutionary theory posits that cultural values have evolved, are adaptive and influence the social and physical environments under which genetic selection operates. Here, we examined the association between cultural values of individualism–collectivism and allelic frequency of the serotonin transporter functional polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) as well as the role this culture–gene association may play in explaining global variability in prevalence of pathogens and affective disorders. We found evidence that collectivistic cultures were significantly more likely to comprise individuals carrying the short (S) allele of the 5-HTTLPR across 29 nations. Results further show that historical pathogen prevalence predicts cultural variability in individualism–collectivism owing to genetic selection of the S allele. Additionally, cultural values and frequency of S allele carriers negatively predict global prevalence of anxiety and mood disorder. Finally, mediation analyses further indicate that increased frequency of S allele carriers predicted decreased anxiety and mood disorder prevalence owing to increased collectivistic cultural values. Taken together, our findings suggest culture–gene coevolution between allelic frequency of 5-HTTLPR and cultural values of individualism–collectivism and support the notion that cultural values buffer genetically susceptible populations from increased prevalence of affective disorders. Implications of the current findings for understanding culture–gene coevolution of human brain and behaviour as well as how this coevolutionary process may contribute to global variation in pathogen prevalence and epidemiology of affective disorders, such as anxiety and depression, are discussed."
Socialisation is so powerful it affects genes

Massive boulder that rolled onto Colorado highway is too expensive to move, will now be a tourist attraction

Audi on Twitter - "Women are still paid 21% less than men. As a brand that believes in progress, we are committed to equal pay for equal work. #DriveProgress"
"Unfortunately for @Audi, the women in your company are paid less than their male peers doing the same job. Hypocrisy much?"
"Hi Susan. When we account for all the various factors that go into pay, women at Audi are on par with their male counterparts"
How convenient

Set-dancing's 'reel' benefit for Parkinson's sufferers - "Therapeutic benefits of Irish set dancing were recently noticed much closer to home, in a pub in Feakle, Co Clare when an Italian neurologist playing music at a traditional music festival, noticed a man shaking and unsteady on his feet with Parkinson’s disease enter the pub, drop his walking stick and dance fluidly to a reel played on the doctor’s guitar... “The steps and beat of the music appear to be important,” says Clifford, “and its potential benefits are universal.” Volpe agrees. “There is evidence that micro vibrations stimulate the spinal-ponto-thalamus network and that really helps with balance in PD. Irish music has a strong rhythm which helps bypass the mismatch between the supplementary motor area (SMA) and basal ganglia (BG) network in Parkinson’s, so patients can move normally,” Volpe says."

Trump Derangement Syndrome Causes Woman to Stab Herself - "A Florida woman stabbed herself in the stomach multiple times over the weekend because she was tired of living in President Donald Trump’s America, police said"

Segments of Random Thoughts - Posts - "Be gay do socialism 🏼 & deplatform the bigots. 🤫"
"I grew up in a socialist country. You would have been locked up and persecuted for being gay there. You live in one of the few places in the world that is truly free - stop crying and learn some gratitude."
"Carlos Maza is the activist masquerading as journalist over at Vox who started the censorship campaign "Vox Adpocalypse" that resulted in tons of conservative channels / commentators getting banned or demonetised by YouTube."

Catherine Oakeson, who advocated plus-size positivity, dies at 49 - StarTribune.com - "“She was a size-acceptance pioneer,” said Kim Julin of Crystal, a longtime friend. “She didn’t let her size stop her. She just got out there and lived life and encouraged everyone to do the same.”Oakeson, who grew up in Stillwater, died last month at home in Las Vegas after a heart attack. She was 49... “She could have been a millionaire if she wanted to be,” said Peter Gujer of St. Paul, another longtime friend. But she was more interested in her artwork and challenging stereotypes about plus-size people."
She must have died due to the discrimination and negativity she faced from a fatphobic society

Muslim gangs ‘beat prisoners’ who will not convert to Islam | News | The Times - "Muslim gang leaders are orchestrating violence in top-security jails, including administering beatings to force inmates to convert to Islam, a report has said.The gangs operated under the guise of religion, with a hierarchy of leaders, recruiters, enforcers, followers and foot soldiers, the report by the Ministry of Justice said. One non-Muslim inmate said: “There is an underlying pressure for people to convert and join the gang."... The findings are based on interviews with 83 male prisoners and 73 staff at three of the eight high-security prisons in England, which are not named.Terrorists often held the most senior roles in the gangs, which enforced rules such as wearing underpants in the shower and a ban on cooking bacon. Prisoners who could speak Arabic or learn passages of the Koran were favoured in the ranks, while beatings were used to force inmates to convert to Islam and join the gangs... Inmates who tried to quit gangs faced punishment, the most serious of which was for denouncing Islam, it added. One prisoner said: “If I said I didn’t want to be a Muslim, I’d need to watch out in case someone stabbed me.”"
Islamophobia!

NUSSU - NUS Students United - Posts - "Before the anti falsehoods bill (POFMA) was passed, we had said that the POFMA is ill equipped to deal with situations where the truth is contested between competing narratives and it would be undesirable to choose one over the other narratives as the “truth”.
Therefore, it is of divine irony that this issue of contested truth has come home to roost so quickly against the PAP government, albeit involving fellow ASEAN countries. Was the Vietnamese armed incursion into Cambodia an “invasion” or “liberation”? It depends on which side of the coin you look at, but either narrative is no less true than the other. Hearing the Vietnamese and Cambodians calling Lee Hsien Loong’s characterisation as “false” or “fake” is exactly the kind of undesirable outcome possible under the POFMA in a contested truth situation.
That it has boomeranged back on the PAP so quickly after POFMA was passed... think we can rename POFMA as KARMA."

Asifa(8) and Twinkle(3). Spot the difference.... - Prakash Parambil - "I am Hindustan. I am Ashamed. #JusticeForOurChild 8 years old. Gangraped. Murdered. In ‘Devi’-sthaan temple. #Kathua"
"What has happened to baby twinkle is. Heartbreaking and horrific. I pray for her and her family. I also urge people to not make this into a selfish agenda. This is a little girls death, not a reason to spread your hate."
"Asifa(8) and Twinkle(3).
Spot the difference.
Religion of Victim matters. No one is ashamed now. It's just a rape like everyday faced by hindu girls. No Prime Time debates, No placard, No Candle Light March.
Life goes on."

Suraj Ingole on Twitter: "… " - "Types of Rapes:
Within a community:
Accused & Victim: Hindus - BJP Ruled State - Blame CM
Accused & Victim: Hindus - Non BJP Ruled State - Blame PM
Accused & Victim: Muslims - Its their internal matter. Keep mum
Inter-community:
Accused: Muslim, Victim: Hindu (Secular Rape) - Keep Mum or fight for justice of accused.
Accused: Hindu, Victim: Muslim (Communal Rape) - Nationa level outrage Blame Hinduism, Modi, Yogi, Cows, Trump, Netanyahu"

Instagram's Diversity Wars Revisited - "even though she is a disabled woman, Davies was a legitimate target because she is also white, straight, and middle class, and her business is thriving, which implies a degree of affluence. Many of the influential activists on Instagram are academics. They draw on the work of scholars such as DiAngelo, the author of White Fragility, and recommend Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad to those needing a lesson in “how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of colour, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.” Only by adopting the correct political views, espoused in precisely the correct jargon, can an accused person demonstrate to the satisfaction of her persecutors that she is now a “true ally” who has “done the work.” It’s all about as inspiring as it sounds.Each fresh campaign would last a few weeks before moving on. Inevitably, some other company or individual would make some trivial but apparently unforgivable error, such as giving their pattern or yarn the incorrect name... These campaigns are risible, but they are also ugly. They license pettiness, cruelty, and ruthlessness in the name of causes they do nothing to advance. They threaten the businesses and livelihoods and professional reputations of good people struggling to navigate a dense web of ideological trip-wires. Everyone has to watch what they say lest an innocuous remark is seized upon as a new excuse to denounce and shame. And yet, this intolerable situation persists because everyone involved is silently complicit in the pretence that this is noble behaviour motivated by loving concern and righteous anger. It will only end when the revolution eats itself or when a critical mass of participants say, “Enough.”"
Political correctness ruins everything

NYC Burger King has been passing off beef as Impossible Whoppers

Gladiator Diets Were Carb-Heavy, Fattening, and Mostly Vegetarian - "what we know about gladiators’ diet and physiques suggests a very different physical appearance than the one depicted in classical art and contemporary popular culture. According to archaeological research, their abdominals and pectorals were likely covered in a quivering layer of subcutaneous fat. Why? The evidence suggests gladiators carbo-loaded. They ate a diet high in carbohydrates, such as barley and beans, and low in animal proteins. Their meals looked nothing like the paleo or meat-and-fish centric diets now associated with elite warriors and athletes... Interestingly, according to the researchers, gladiators’ primarily vegetarian diet was not a consequence of their poverty or slave status... one might assume that a carb-heavy, mostly meat-free diet was a cost-cutting measure. After all, why feed prisoners extravagant fare?Well, you might do it to improve their battlefield performance. The Vienna team posits that the fighters ate weight-gaining foods because extra fat created a layer of bodily protection. Nerve endings would have been less exposed, and bleeding cuts would have been less perilous. As an added benefit, the extra, protective layer of fat would have created a more satisfying spectacle: The gladiators could sustain wounds and gush blood, but, because the wounds were shallow, they could keep on fighting... the gladiators’ extra fat doesn’t mean they were unhealthy, and their treatment wasn’t all harsh. In fact, both the archaeological evidence from the Ephesus site and writing from the period suggest the opposite. Gladiators were a significant investment, and archaeological sites evidence the fortresses as “also [including] heated floors for winter training, baths, infirmaries, plumbing, and a nearby graveyard.” Though prisoners, they likely received superior medical care... They also regularly drank calcium supplements made of either charred plant or bone ash. Like modern athletes, they took their calcium—scholarly analyses describe the calcium levels in gladiators’ bones as “exorbitant” compared to average citizens."