life in the fast lane

i hate when people gush on their blogs about how sorry they are for not posting in so long. i'm so over it. i don't apologize. ever.

since i've been a bit busy the past couple days, i'm just going to list a bunch of stories that have really hung in my mind.

the first is directly related to my bush-ian policy of not apologizing. science friday on NPR did a bit on cognitive dissonance (link to the mp3). an abstract:

Do you have a hard time admitting you were wrong? Turns out it's really not your fault. According to social psychologist Elliot Aronson, our brains work hard to convince us that we are doing the right thing, even in the face of sometimes overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Join guest host Joe Palca is this hour for a talk with Aronson, co-author of the new book "Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)."

the theory is that when there is a disconnect in your brain between what you know is right (either factually or morally) and something you've done (made a horrible mistake or hurt someone/thing), your brain's natural outlet is to rationalize. even though brain scans, this "dissonance" is shown as stress, and when it is relieved by rationalization, there is actually a jolt of hormonal euphoria to correspond, which explains why more people make excuses than just admit they were wrong. i wish they had talked about how cognitive dissonance relates to nazi germany (how ordinary men were slowly trained/brainwashed to be killers ("i was just following orders"), which leads me to recommend this classic nonfiction title). nonetheless, very interesting and very illuminating on how people can just skate over horrible/dumb things they've done.

next up is more NPR, and this pair of stories (part 1 and part 2) about rape of american indian women on american indian lands. because indian lands are weird pockets of federally run area surrounded by state-patrolled wasteland—and the law enforcement through the federal bureau of indian affairs is almost entirely worthless—an exceedingly large handful of nightmarish rapes and beatings go unpunished. and the worst part is that sex offenders and thugs know it's a lawless land. most of the unpunished attacks are committed by non-indians. the whole thing is sad/pathetic/infuriating/depressing. it's racism, sexism, inefficiency, denial, incompetence, apathy, and just plain evil wrapped with a bow.

and since i'm not apologizing for being too dark, i have one last news tidbit to broadcast: chief justice john roberts is an epileptic? really? wikipedia says: "Epilepsy is one of the most common of the serious neurological disorders." explains the conservatism (hiyo?).
but at least he's in good company: julius caesar, socrates, harriet tubman, neil young, hugo weaving and danny glover. danny glover! sergeant roger murtaugh, i never knew.