Don’t Tread on Me: Ideas, Images, and the Incredible Power of the Human Mind
Did you know, the same glass of wine "tastes better" if you pay more for it. Using MRI technology, researchers at the University of Bonn demonstrated that subjects perceived an identical drop of wine to be of better quality if they were told it cost more!...
Michael Jackson – All I want to say is they don’t really care About us
Michael Jackson may have been the King of Pop music, but towards the end of this life, he was standing with the poor and disenfranchised and calling for a global revolution–a far cry from the brotherhood pop music of Thriller.
Try this at home (or in your classroom)
What is money? Chances you and the ones you teach don’t really know. But you can change that. Read the book Rocket Scientists’ Guide to Money and the Economy, watch the film, and be enlightened.
“Who Can Find a Woman of Value?” Negative Gender Socialization of Young Christian Girls
Young children’s Christian entertainment is some of the most demeaning, dismissive, and demonizing media for the under-8 set. What is more remarkable, Christians making up 70% of the American population. Christian gender socialization is thus a major source of reactionary gender experience and as such must be addressed if forward progress is to be made.
The Trouble with Atheists
Atheists reject human spirituality outright, believing that we are nothing more than the cells of our physical body. But atheists reject human spirituality based on limited knowledge and perspective, specifically the rejection of “Church God” and the elite ecclesiastical institutions which propagate it. But there is more to human spirituality than the institutionalized elite esoteric/exoteric spirituality of western religious institutions. Atheist or not, this “something more” is something worth looking at.
Facebook, CIA, Social Science, Google, and You
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again Facebook ain’t your friend. From the facile and shallow way it connects people to the awesome power it gives authorities to monitor and surveille, Facebook is a technology born not in the hallways of emancipation and freedom but in the byways of power and control. Or at least, that’s what Julian Assange founder of WikiLeaks thinks and frankly, I tend to agree. Never before in this history of this planet have so many been monitored by so few with so little responsible oversight.
High opportunity, high risk society! Interview with Anthony Giddens
An interview with Anthony Giddens about sociology, modernity, technocracy, globalism, global security, and other timely issues.
Did you Know? Mysticism and Religious Experience
Famous American psychologist Abraham Maslow thought that mystical experience was the authentic core of all religion and spirituality. Maslow thought that all religions, all spiritualities, and all spiritual sensibility was rooted in a mystic’s experience.
Essential Reading
Don’t Tread on Me: Ideas, Images, and the Incredible Power of the Human Mind
Did you know, the same glass of wine "tastes better" if you pay more for it. Using MRI technology, researchers at the University of Bonn demonstrated that subjects perceived an identical drop of wine to be of better quality if they were told it cost more!...
Try this at home (or in your classroom)
What is money? Chances you and the ones you teach don’t really know. But you can change that. Read the book Rocket Scientists’ Guide to Money and the Economy, watch the film, and be enlightened.
The Trouble with Atheists
Atheists reject human spirituality outright, believing that we are nothing more than the cells of our physical body. But atheists reject human spirituality based on limited knowledge and perspective, specifically the rejection of “Church God” and the elite ecclesiastical institutions which propagate it. But there is more to human spirituality than the institutionalized elite esoteric/exoteric spirituality of western religious institutions. Atheist or not, this “something more” is something worth looking at.
Did you Know? Mysticism and Religious Experience
Famous American psychologist Abraham Maslow thought that mystical experience was the authentic core of all religion and spirituality. Maslow thought that all religions, all spiritualities, and all spiritual sensibility was rooted in a mystic’s experience.
Toxic Socialization
We live in an incredibly violent society. From the time we are born to the time we die we are subject to repeated assault and disregard. This article helps to highlight the profoundly deleterious consequences of violence on our precious and powerful Physical Unit. If you want to realize your full potential, stop the violence against you.
What is Socialization?
This article is excerpted from Sociology 287: Introduction to Sociology at Athabasca University. For more details, visit this link.
What Causes Poverty
What causes poverty? The same thing that causes global warming, war, debt, and a host of other global evils
What is Money?
Why is the world in such financial crises? Why is Greece on the brink? Why is the stock market tanking? Why is oil going south? Why is Trump on the rise? WTF is going on? The answers you seek lie directly before you. In this accessible introduction to globalized finance and accumulation, Dr. Sharp takes you on a sociologically sophisticated trip to the source of our problems and the root of all “evil” – accumulation and the love of money that drives it forward. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to finally put the pieces together.
Intimate Partner Violence
Surprise surprise surprise. Men are abused by their intimate partners just as much as women are.
Are Scientists Spiritual?
Are scientists spiritual? The answer is yes! Recent research suggests that the majority of scientists at top universities in North America have spiritual leanings, even though they may not like to admit it.
What is Religion?
Most sociologists would say religion is either fantasy, social gathering, or elite machination; but in fact it is so much more.
Killing the little girls of the world – the lingering problem of female infanticide
In our country, babies are considered weaker if they are born female. In some other countries, babies are murdered at birth if they are born female.
Global Organizing Among Sex Workers
The topic of sexual labour is complicated. It intersects economic and political discourse, touches on the exploitation of women and children, and links directly with Marxist and feminist discussion of exploitation and oppression. Yet despite the problems associated, the workers themselves are breaking their status as “object” and speaking out for themselves about their choices, their needs, and their rights. Social and legal concern aside, if we want to talk about the sex trade we should at least be listening to the people involved.
A Sociologist Looks at Violence
Does it seem like the world is going to hell in a hand basket? Hard to conclude otherwise when children are massacred as in recent fashion. If you want to understand why however, maybe it is time to put aside “stock” answers and look past clichés about God, madness, and guns. If you are interested in a deeper look at the world we live in, sociologists can help.
Ding Dong the Alpha Male is Dead
The scientist who coined the term “alpha male” has recanted! There’s actually no such thing, he says. Could it be nothing more than ideological self-delusion?
The emotional abuse of our children: Teachers, schools, and the sanctioned violence of our modern institutions.
You never stop to think that sending your kids to school can be a problem, but it can be. Kids are bullies, but teachers are too! As this summary entry on Toxic Socialization amply demonstrates, abuse of all forms hurts us in deep and profound ways. Isn’t it time we stopped hurting our children, and ourselves?
Care Bears vs. Transformers: Gender Stereotypes in Advertisements
The indoctrination, ahem, socialization starts at birth. Pink for girls, blue for boys. Up until recently you’ve been unable to escape it. But is it finally time for a change?