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It may or may not be better to spell it 'antisemitism,' but the absence of a word 'Semitism' is irrelevant. Related to 'bracketing paradoxes,' like 'electrical engineer' (there's nothing electrical about the guy or gal) and 'unhappier' (more unhappy, not a negation of happier).

“Antisemitism” or “Anti-Semitism”? Daniel King, standards editor of Mother Jones, explains why he changed, while noting that people read too much into word construction. Words are conventions, arise from many sources, and get grandfathered in (as with the verb 'grandfather'

Another example of progress: How the war on drunk driving was won (deterrence leads to changes in social norms). - Works in Progress worksinprogress.co/issue/how-the-…

An earlier version of this graph (data from Manuel Eisner) was one of the major inspirations for my book The Better Angels of Our Nature (together with graphs on the bumpy decline of war since 1946, the decline of violence against women and children since the 1970s, and the

Haidt Reaches New Height - Psychology textbook author and happiness researcher @davidgmyers summarizes Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge (author of GENERATIONS, iGEN) 's theory that smartphone use is a major cause of anxiety & depression in young people (I was originally skeptical, but Twenge & Haidt have been

“Moral change does happen, often at profound scale and remarkable speed.” How Americans Learned to Be Kinder to (Some) Animals nytimes.com/2024/05/15/boo…

Debating Trump Is A Mistake in an age where language use is less formal and there are manifold opportunities for candidates to be known, says @johnhmcwhorter open.substack.com/pub/persuasion…

Freethought Matters: A tribute to my late friend Daniel C. Dennett youtu.be/SfPH5WzSF9w?fe… via YouTube

The Rationality Walk: Conversation on writing style with Helen Sword Helen Sword open.substack.com/pub/helensword…

Driving automation for thee but not for me: A Major Roadblock for Autonomous Cars is that Motorists Believe They Drive Better - New study by my former student, current colleague Julian De Freitas hbswk.hbs.edu/item/major-roa…

Research on incels by my collaborator, former postdoc, and URI prof Miriam (‘Mira’) Lindner

Campus Gaza protests: Selective 'Safetyism' (repressing ideas that make a student uncomfortable) has made colleges less safe, since students never get to hear real debate and can't tolerate disagreement. (By former Harvard student @CarinemHajjar) bostonglobe.com/2024/05/16/opi… via