The Forbidden Bookclub

The association between political orientation and political knowledge in 45 nations Political knowledge is crucial for well-functioning democracies, with most scholars assuming that people at the political extremes are more knowledgeable than those at the center. Here, we adopt a data-driven approach to examine the relationship between political orientation and political knowledge by testing a series of polynomial curves in 45 countries (N = 63,544), spread over 6 continents. Contrary to the dominant perspective, we found no evidence that people at the political extremes are the most knowledgeable about politics. Rather, the most common pattern was a fourth-degree polynomial association in which those who are moderately left-wing and right-wing are more knowledgeable than people at the extremes and center of the political spectrum. (De keersmaecker et al., 2024) #politics #study

A genetics study in USA attempted to address issue of most medicines being tested on whites by looking at genomic diversity of USA across races. The aim is to help non whites get better medical care. However the authors have been attacked for acknowledging that races exist. Lol. Lmao even. https://www.science.org/content/article/huge-genome-study-confronted-concerns-over-race-analysis

COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines: Lessons Learned from the Registrational Trials and Global Vaccination Campaign Published reports from the original randomized phase 3 trials concluded that the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines could greatly reduce COVID-19 symptoms. In the interim, problems with the methods, execution, and reporting of these pivotal trials have emerged. Re-analysis of the Pfizer trial data identified statistically significant increases in serious adverse events (SAEs) in the vaccine group. Numerous SAEs were identified following the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), including death, cancer, cardiac events, and various autoimmune, hematological, reproductive, and neurological disorders. Furthermore, these products never underwent adequate safety and toxicological testing in accordance with previously established scientific standards. (Mead et al, 2024) #covid #vaccines #politics #study

Happiness, political orientation, and religiosity Highlights • Political conservatism and religiosity positively correlate with happiness. • Political conservatism and religiosity interact in predicting happiness. • Religiosity has a greater effect on happiness for political conservatives. • These results were found in the General Social Survey and World Values Survey. (Bixter, 2015) #religion #health #psychology #politics #study

Intrinsic functional connectivity of blue and red brains: neurobiological evidence of different stress resilience between political attitudes Conservatives are more sensitive to threatening/anxious situations in perceptual and cognitive levels, experiencing emotional responses and stress, while liberals are more responsive to but tolerant of ambiguous and uncertain information. Interestingly, conservatives have greater psychological well-being and are more satisfied with their lives. We found that conservatives, compared to liberals and moderates, had greater psychological resilience and self-regulation capacity that were attributable to greater impulse control and causal reasoning. Stronger intrinsic connectivities between the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and precuneus and between the insula and frontal pole/OFC in conservatives were correlated with greater resilience and self-regulation capacity. (Kim et al., 2020) #neurology #psychology #politics #study

Alright, so the channel got its' first copyright claim. I suggest you use the "Export chat history" feature to back up the contents if you want to. Either individual posts or the entire channel will disappear in the near future (so far I don't know which posts got a claim). Just a heads up. Also, most stuff posted here can be found either free online or on Anna's Archive (but not every file).

Humans Evolved to Exercise Unlike our ape cousins, humans require high levels of physical activity to be healthy Among our primate cousins, we humans are clearly the odd ape out. Somehow humans evolved to require much higher levels of physical activity for our bodies to function normally. Sitting for hours on end, grooming and napping (or watching the tube) have gone from standard practice to a health risk. When did we trade the low-key existence of our fellow apes for a more strenuous way of life and why? Fossil discoveries are helping to piece the story together. Today, as masters of our environments, we are giving our inner apes too much say in how the modern world is engineered: filling up on easy food, bingeing The Walking Dead instead of actually walking, sitting for hours at our desks grooming one another on social media. We are fascinated when we see ourselves in great apes, but we should worry when we see them in us. (Pontzer, 2019) #health #evolution #essay

Effects of Evolution, Ecology, and Economy on Human Diet: Insights from Hunter-Gatherers and Other Small-Scale Societies We review the evolutionary origins of the human diet and the effects of ecology economy on the dietary proportion of plants and animals. Humans eat more meat than other apes, a consequence of hunting and gathering, which arose ∼2.5 Mya with the genus Homo. Paleolithic diets likely included a balance of plant and animal foods and would have been remarkably variable across time and space. A plant/animal food balance of 50/50% prevails among contemporary warm-climate hunter-gatherers, but these proportions vary widely. Societies in cold climates, and those that depend more on fishing or pastoralism, tend to eat more meat. Warm-climate foragers, and groups that engage in some farming, tend to eat more plants. (Pontzer & Wood, 2021) #evolution #history #nutrition #study

Handbook of Meat and Meat Processing, 2nd ed. (Y.H. Hui, ed) Retitled to reflect expansion of coverage from the first edition, Handbook of Meat and Meat Processing, Second Edition, contains a complete update of materials and nearly twice the number of chapters. Divided into seven parts, the book covers the entire range of issues related to meat and meat processing, from nutrients to techniques for preservation and extending shelf life. Drawn from the combined efforts of nearly 100 experts from 16 countries, the book has been carefully vetted to ensure technical accuracy for each topic. This definitive guide to meat and meat products it is a critical tool for all food industry professionals and regulatory personnel. (2012) #handbook #biochemistry #handbook

Predictors of Engaging in Interracial Dating Research suggests that mixed-race adolescents are more likely than monoracial adolescents to use drugs or engage in violent behavior, and that interracial relationships contain more conflict than monoracial ones. However, it is not clear whether these outcomes are caused by racial conflict and identity or by self-selection. Our investigation suggests that assortative mating occurs between races, where individuals who date individuals of other races tend to be more similar to them. The standardized difference in intelligence between those interracially mated and those who didn’t varied by race. lso, there is a difference in height between Hispanics who interracially dated and those who didn’t. nterracial daters tended to engage in a broader range of risk-taking behaviors regardless of their race. (Jensen & Kirkegaard, 2023) #mating #race #study