All Entries in the "Michael Sosteric" Category
And V for Victory it is…
V is for victory and that’s what this was. Thousands of websites, millions of people, billions of voices all around the world spoke out loud and clear against a piece of American legislation that would wipe out the Internet as we know it. Good for the rich Hollywood producers, bad for all the millions of democratic content generators that have sprung up all around the world. After a decade of declining progressive politics, the will of the people is getting a much needed jolt to the fibrillating fibers. And the moment has come none too soon if you ask me.
Smashing the Boundaries of Science
Science is as science does, but science isn’t infallible. In fact, as global information democracy trundles on we can start to see just how fallible the scientist really is. Neither our methods, nor our ontology, nor our epistemology provide us with a privileged preview of the truth. The capital “T” truth is, we are subject to political, economic, sexual, even class based bias just like everybody else. The only difference between us and the priests discredited by the scientific revolution? We admit our bias…. Sometimes….
To Student Loan or Not to Student Loan – That is The Question
Thinking about going to university? What a great idea that is! Post-secondary education opens doors and increase income. But hold it. Not sure if you’re smart enough? Not sure if you’ve got the IQ, or the talent, or the ability? Idea of massive student loans weighing your emotional systems down? Take a deep breath and relax. Ignore the nonsense about IQ and intelligence and focus on the master within! You have it within you to succeed.
Drug and Alchohol Rehab – The Cure for Alchoholism
Here are two books that bring the notion of drug and alcohol rehab and treatment into personal control and away from expensive treatment centers. Both books eschew moralistic therapies that focus on character weakness or genetics and instead focus on the actual brain mechanisms involves in alcohol and drug rehab. It is not quite sociology, since environmental precursors (like abusive childhood environments) are not considered, but it a fascinating approach to rehab nonetheless.
Only 18,000 Jobs
Well it looks like the end of the world is finally here. Obama has just admitted there is no more cash. Unless the U.S. Government agrees to up the debt ceiling, all those who depend on social security are going to be sacrificed at the alter of economic accumulation. The situation seems dire, and hopeless (at least for army veterans, the handicapped, the aging, and the disabled). Even the greatest economic minds of our time seem stumped and unable to understand, much less fix it. Oh woe is me. What are we going to do?
If Society is the Disease, is Cannabis the Cure?
Cannabis gets a lot of bad press, but perhaps it is undeserved. While alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and even tobacco are known to be highly addictive and damaging to the physical body and brain, there’s not a lot of negative research on cannabis. In fact, quite the opposite. More and more research is finding medicinal properties. From anti-depressent and anti-anxiety effects to its ability to help generate new pathways in the brain, is cannabis and its effects on psychology, health, and our social fabric worth having a closer look at?
Better writing through intent
As a rule academics are not trained to write well. You might even say academics are trained to confuse, hiding their thoughts behind walls of pretentious gobbledygook. It is not our fault. It is part of our training. From the moment we step into our first 100 level class to the the time when we finally hand in our dissertation and head out for a celebratory libation, our only goal is to impress somebody else and make ourselves look smart. It is the nature of the academic beast I suppose but it does not contribute to communication, connection, or education. If we want to change that we have to intend a different result and practice a different approach.
What’s on your mind? Facebook, voluntary surveillance, and the global panopticon
As a sociologist I’ve always been interested in surveillance. Jeremy Bentham, Foucault, Orwell. Like it or not surveillance is an aspect of the industrial and post-industrial world. It’s been talked about for centuries and dystopian authors like Orwell, sociologists like Foucault, and others have worried about the future directions and the implications of total surveillance and control. Well, almost 30 years after 1984 is the Ministry of Truth finally here and right under our noses? Don’t be shy. Show us your face and tell us “what’s on your mind” today.
Calling a rose a rose
What makes us put up with violence? Why, when we see abuse around us do we pretend it’s not abuse. This is a question that as a sociologist and parent of two school age children I find myself asking a lot. Why don’t we see the violence that our kids are subjected to on a daily basis? Why do we normalize, minimize, and ignore abuse? What’s even more of a concern, why can we see it for what it is in some situations, but be totally oblivious in another. Inquiring minds, research scientists, and concerned parents want to know.
Embracing Change: Working Together to end the Cycle of Violence
One of the first things the sociology initiate learns is about the “sociological imagination.” This concept is used to illustrate, the power of sociology. Sociology can help you, you are told, if you just use its concepts to understand your life. Here is an example of what it means to apply the sociological imagination. Drawing on research in gender, criminology, sentencing biases, and a number of common sociological themes, this author examines his own life through a sociological lens, applying the “sociological imagination” to explode a common bias and blind spot in our modern cultures. Think you can do the same? You’re welcome to submit.
What to know about the nature of money, the value of money, and money's role in our modern economies of exchange, then download The Rocket Scientists' Guide to Money and the Economy and let the truth set you free. [
Sociology for the revolutionary in you. 