Links - 30th March 2020 (2)

These are the world's most ignorant countries - "Participants were asked a number of questions about their society, including their country's population, healthcare spending, home ownership and the proportion of Muslims living in their country... The economic status of a country seemed to have less bearing on the results than might be expected.The USA, the richest country in the world, ranked as one of the most ignorant countries, below many less developed countries. However, Malaysia, which is not considered fully developed, was in the top 10 least ignorant countries.
The list, from most to least ignorant, is as follows:
India
China
Taiwan
South Africa
USA
Brazil
Thailand
Singapore
Turkey
Indonesia
Mexico
Canada
Montenegro
Russia
Serbia
Philippines
Hong Kong
Israel
Denmark
Argentina
France
Vietnam
Peru
Spain
Chile
Hungary
Japan
Belgium
Poland
Colombia
Sweden
Norway
Italy
Germany
Australia
Malaysia
Czech Republic
South Korea
United Kingdom
Netherlands"
Interestingly Taiwan is the most ignorant developed country

F - Alexandra Czerwiński - "It's over. It's been a bumpy road. For some more than others.
But memes will always be there for us. Like they always have been/ We'll never forget the legends.
But people grow up. And so do we. We move on. And let the new memes take their place."

The Left's attempt to redefine science - "Science teachers in Washington state are being told that the only explanation for outcome differences by demographic is a broken system—anyone saying otherwise is a bigot.The Washington STEM organization, who “help[s] lawmakers craft policies that address major STEM education issues” and works to “advance equity, excellence, and innovation” shared the slide below during its annual summit:
Our Responsibility with Data
“If you conclude that outcomes [sic] differences by demographic subgroup are a result of anything other than a broken system, that is, by definition, bigotry.*
*racism, classism, sexism, etc.”
Not only is the Washington STEM organization advocating for predetermining an outcome and making assumptions (doesn’t seem very scientific of them), they are also saying, through their own redefinition, that any measurable difference must be a product of institutional bigotry.I can think of so many examples that would prove we shouldn’t let a set of presuppositions determine the conclusions. Take suspension/expulsion rates in schools, and even incarceration rates by gender. Because boys get suspended and expelled more than girls, and men make up the majority of prisoners, schools and society must be bigoted against men, correct?"

David Koch's legacy wasn't perfect – but it was far more positive than you've been led to believe - "David Koch, the political philanthropist who nearly everyone has an opinion on, has passed away at the age of 79. Many remember him as a cartoon villain of modern politics; however, the truth of his legacy is that, along with his brother, he championed many positive and noble causes that tend to be supported across the political aisle... “The Kochs have teamed with the American Civil Liberties Union, the Centre for American Progress, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the Coalition for Public Safety, and the MacArthur Foundation to reduce incarceration and promote criminal justice reform. It’s informative that Koch political activism and charitable activities are motivated by classical liberal idealism, not by crony capitalist self-interest. They have changed the political atmosphere in a way that both conservatives and liberals can comfortably move in a more libertarian direction.”... Even individuals such as Van Jones and President Obama have applauded both David and Charles for the positive work they did where justice reform was concerned. Likewise, David was just as strong in his convictions towards issues such as privacy, a more sober foreign policy, a more open immigration system, and tolerance for other people. In some ways, David was actually better on “left-wing issues” than even a lot of prominent Democrats have been. In 2015, Senator Bernie Sanders went after the Koch Brothers for essentially being too pro-open borders. In an interview with Vox, Sanders specifically called open borders “a Koch Brothers proposal… which essentially says there is no United States.”... One could easily make that argument that because of the work that David has done on many of these issues that are commonly thought of as “left of centre,” the GOP has become a better version of itself as a result"
Good to know that the American Civil Liberties Union, the Centre for American Progress, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the Coalition for Public Safety, and the MacArthur Foundation are all irrevocably contaminated now and liberals can dismiss them
If the Koch brothers promoted open borders, that means the Democrats shouldn't be promoting them, presumably!

Everyone Hates Open Offices. Here’s Why They Still Exist. - "“I even had to quit a job once because of it.”For as long as these floor plans have been in vogue, studies have debunked their benefits. Researchers have shown that people in open offices take nearly two-thirds more sick leave and report greater unhappiness, more stress, and less productivity than those with more privacy. A 2018 study by Harvard Business School found that open offices reduce face-to-face interaction by about 70 percent and increase email and messaging by roughly 50 percent, shattering the notion that they make workers collaborative... And yet, the open plan persists–too symbolically powerful (and cheap) for many companies to abandon.As with so many things today, we have Google, at least in part, to thank. Open floors have existed since the secretarial pools of the 1940s, but when the then seven-year-old Google renovated its headquarters in Mountain View, California, in 2005, the lofty, light-filled result was more than a showcase for the company’s growing wealth and influence; it signaled the dawn of a new professional era... Walls only make things complicated when you’re rapidly adding (and eliminating) staff... “The idea is to make the perfect engineering space: one giant room that fits thousands of people, all close enough to collaborate together,” founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote when he announced the design in 2012. Famously, he has a plain white desk in the communal area, just like everyone else. (He also has a private “conference” room, where he is rumored to spend much of his time.) The whiff of disruption that open offices carried became irresistible to startups and established companies alike... Open offices have become a way to indicate a company’s value to venture capitalists and talent. The goal is “not to improve productivity and collaboration, but to signal that the company [is] doing something interesting.” ... open plans are great at encouraging interaction between teams, which is useful when a company is trying to create new products. But they are terrible at encouraging interaction within teams, which is necessary for execution-based work, like writing code, when employees need to be in sync. An open office might be suitable for a company coming up with new ideas, but when someone has to implement them, it becomes distracting. Of course, one of the main reasons that business leaders default to open plans is simply that they’re inexpensive"

The Subtle Sexism Of Your Open Plan Office - "While some female employees felt like the new office space promoted equality, others had the opposite reaction. The researchers found that many women became hyper-aware of being constantly watched and their appearance constantly evaluated; multiple women told them that “there isn’t anywhere that you don’t feel watched.” Of the men Hirst interviewed, there was no evidence they felt similarly or changed their actions as a result of the lack of privacy... Not only were women’s physical appearances up for judging, the open office also meant there was no private space where workers could go if they were emotionally distressed or needed to conduct a private conversation"
"Sexism" seems to be anything that women, but not men, don't like

Do Dogs Have Winter Blues or Suffer from SAD? - "approximately 40% of dog owners saw a considerable downturn in their pet's moods during the winter months. In addition half of the dog owners felt that their dogs slept longer, with around two in five reporting their pets to be less active overall. According to the survey, the symptoms are not specific to dogs, since one in three cat owners also claim that their pet seemed "sadder" and less playful during the wintertime. For both dog and cat owners one in four of those surveyed reported that their pet's appetites increased in the winter... white light sources that mimic daylight can be purchased rather inexpensively. Just make sure that you get light bulbs which are labeled as being "full spectrum" or "daylight" bulbs, although some experts say that "cool white" will also work (although perhaps not as well)."

Powerful Women Told Me Getting a Dog Is the Key to Success. They Were Right. - "If you’re a working woman, it’s a good idea to get a dog, and not just because dogs are adorable, or because they offer the promise of unconditional love. We need dogs to navigate the working world because pets help us stay in touch with the parts of ourselves that a sexist society is often determined to strip away"
???

'It's pretty staggering': Returned online purchases often sent to landfill, journalist's research reveals - "Do you order different sizes of clothing online, knowing you can return the one that doesn't fit?Did you know the ones you return are sometimes sent straight to landfill?... The issue also affects unsold products. Burberry admitted in 2018 that it had incinerated £90 million worth of clothing and accessories in the previous five years. The company stopped the policy last year after a public outcry...
It actually costs a lot of companies more money to put somebody on the product, to visually eyeball it and say, Is this up to standard, is it up to code? Is this going to get us sued? Did somebody tamper with this box in some way? And is this returnable? And if it's clothing, it has to be re-pressed and put back in a nice packaging. And for a lot of companies, it's just not worth it. So they will literally just incinerate it, or send it to the dumpster... We're buying more of our clothing online, but it's actually hard because you don't really know exactly the sizing. So what many of us are doing is called bracketing. We will buy a medium, small and large or, you know, an 8, 10 and 12, and try them all on and then return the two that don't fit. Problem is, the two that we return are actually, in many cases, being landfilled"

HDI surprisingly similar to GDP/capita - "Human Development Index HDI is advanced as being a better indicator than “GDP per capita” in measuring the progress of Nations. HDI is calculated by UNDP from indicators for health, education and living standard (income/person). The methodology is quite complicated... BUT look at a plot of the correlation between HDI and GDP/capita... ou will be surprised! There is today a very strong correlation between rising GDP/capita. If you exclude 6 countries on the right side of the strong correlation that have higher GDP/capita than HDI due to oil or diamonds; and if you exclude 6 former Soviet Republics with collapsed economy but still high literacy rate on the left side of the correlation; you will find that the GDP/capita and the value on Human Development Index follow each other very closely from the worst-off country Congo to the best-off country Norway. The reason seems to be that nations today are surprisingly capable in converting the available national income (measured as GDP/capita) into a longer lifespan for the people (measured as Life expectancy at birth) and into access to education (measured by mean of years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and expected years of schooling for children of school entering age).  But the reason may also be that nations today are very good at converting improved health and education into economic growth. Most probably the causality goes in both directions... GDP/capita appears to be as good a measure of progress of nations as are HDI."

Byron Dubois on Twitter - "Today I learned that there are female penguins who exchange sex for nice rocks so if you're having a hard day just remember that hooker penguins exist
Also some female penguins have been observed performing the mating dance but not putting out and STILL getting nice rocks so stripper penguins also exist"

Joan of Arc - Maid of Heaven - Miniature of Joan of Arc Chasing Prostitutes from Camp - "Miniature Portrait of Joan of Arc chasing prostitutes from her army's camp just before the battle at Paris included in series of pictures in an 1484 manuscript about the Hundred Years War titled Les Vigiles de Charles VII"