Are science students more moral people?

Want to be a better person? Spend more time thinking about science.

That’s the implication of newly published research, which finds people who study science — or who are even momentarily exposed to the idea of scientific research — are more likely to condemn unethical behavior and more inclined to help others, reports Salon.com. imgres-4

“Thinking about science leads individuals to endorse more stringent moral norms,” report psychologists Christine Ma-Kellams of Harvard University and Jim Blascovich of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Their research is published in the online journal PLOS One. The researchers describe four experiments, all conducted at UCSB, that back up their surprising conclusion. Continue reading “Are science students more moral people?”

Body Mass Index Reconsidered

We know (or should know) just how subjective body image can be, and the psychic toll it takes on millions.

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Advertising promotes a generalized message that there is something wrong with the way all of us look, with weight factoring in with all sorts of other things like complexion, age, hair, and height–as it zeros in on particular parts of us that need fixing. Today’s Wall Street Journal (of all places) carried an essay on just how wrong the BMI can be, excerpted briefly below:

“Some researchers say that while BMI improved on its predecessors, it fails to distinguish between different kinds of body mass and therefore can mislead about individuals’ health levels — a longstanding criticism of the measure that hasn’t prevented it from becoming the primary tool for grouping people into normal-weight, overweight and obese categories. Continue reading “Body Mass Index Reconsidered”