On November 27, 1978, Dan White, a former firefighter and policeman, assassinated the Mayor, George Moscone, and a supervisor, Harvey Milk, of San Francisco. His guilt was not denied. But his lawyer argued that White had a diminished capacity for rational thought, and therefore couldn’t be guilty; he was suffering from deep depression, and incapable of premeditating murder. As a symptom of his wretched mental state, his lawyer pointed out that he was eating mostly sugary foods, including Twinkies (the ‘golden sponge cake with a creamy filling’, according to its maker Hostess Brands).… Read the rest “Do We Have Free Will? Or, The Twinkie Defense Reconsidered”
behavior
how smart are animals?
And now, as John Cleese might say, for something completely different. A book review. Books about science aimed at a general audience can have profound effects. They might enlighten us concerning something we’ve wondered about (‘DNA, The Secret of Life’), or tell how a famous scientist lived and worked (‘Why Do You Care What Other People Think, Dr. Feynman?’). Or, they may change the way we see the world. In that category, for me, is a book by the Dutch ethologist Frans de Waal, with the axe-handle title, “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?”.… Read the rest “how smart are animals?”
The Curious Case of the Friendly Russian Foxes
Dr. Lyudmila Trut and a human-friendly fox, 1974.
Foxes have a reputation for being elusive, canny, shy. . . in other words, foxy. Wild foxes in captivity are innately aggressive and fearful of humans – not friendly at all. With a great deal of patience, you may be able train one to be more docile, but it would not be a dog-like pet. However, if you have a slightly weird desire for a pet fox that will behave more like a cocker spaniel than a wild fox, you may be able to get one from a genetic research institute in Russia.… Read the rest “The Curious Case of the Friendly Russian Foxes”