Why Amartya Sen remains the century’s great critic of capitalism
Societies aren't just engines of prosperity.
11 October, 2020
PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images
Critiques of capitalism come in two varieties. First, there is the moral or spiritual critique.
<p> This critique rejects <em>Homo economicus</em> as the organising heuristic of human affairs. Human beings, it says, need more than material things to prosper. Calculating power is only a small part of what makes us who we are. Moral and spiritual relationships are first-order concerns. Material fixes such as a universal basic income will make no difference to societies in which the basic relationships are felt to be unjust. </p><p>Then there is the material critique of capitalism. The economists who lead discussions of inequality now are its leading exponents. <em>Homo economicus</em> is the right starting point for social thought. We are poor calculators and single-minded, failing to see our advantage in the rational distribution of prosperity across societies. Hence inequality, the wages of ungoverned growth. But we are calculators all the same, and what we need above all is material plenty, thus the focus on the redress of material inequality. From good material outcomes, the rest follows.</p><p>The first kind of argument for capitalism's reform seems recessive now. The material critique predominates. Ideas emerge in numbers and figures. Talk of non-material values in political economy is muted. The Christians and Marxists who once made the moral critique of capitalism their own are marginal. Utilitarianism grows ubiquitous and compulsory.</p><p>But then there is Amartya Sen.</p>
<p>Every major work on material inequality in the 21st century owes a debt to Sen. But his own writings treat material inequality as though the moral frameworks and social relationships that mediate economic exchanges matter. Famine is the nadir of material deprivation. But it seldom occurs – Sen argues – for lack of food. To understand why a people goes hungry, look not for catastrophic crop failure; look rather for malfunctions of the moral economy that moderates competing demands upon a scarce commodity. Material inequality of the most egregious kind is the problem here. But piecemeal modifications to the machinery of production and distribution will not solve it. The relationships between different members of the economy must be put right. Only then will there be enough to go around.</p><p>In Sen's work, the two critiques of capitalism cooperate. We move from moral concerns to material outcomes and back again with no sense of a threshold separating the two. Sen disentangles moral and material issues without favouring one or the other, keeping both in focus. The separation between the two critiques of capitalism is real, but transcending the divide is possible, and not only at some esoteric remove. Sen's is a singular mind, but his work has a widespread following, not least in provinces of modern life where the predominance of utilitarian thinking is most pronounced. In economics curricula and in the schools of public policy, in internationalist secretariats and in humanitarian NGOs, there too Sen has created a niche for thinking that crosses boundaries otherwise rigidly observed.</p><p>This was no feat of lonely genius or freakish charisma. It was an effort of ordinary human innovation, putting old ideas together in new combinations to tackle emerging problems. Formal training in economics, mathematics and moral philosophy supplied the tools Sen has used to construct his critical system. But the influence of Rabindranath Tagore sensitised Sen to the subtle interrelation between our moral lives and our material needs. And a profound historical sensibility has enabled him to see the sharp separation of the two domains as transient.</p>
<p>Tagore's school at Santiniketan in West Bengal was Sen's birthplace. Tagore's pedagogy emphasised articulate relations between a person's material and spiritual existences. Both were essential – biological necessity, self-creating freedom – but modern societies tended to confuse the proper relation between them. In Santiniketan, pupils played at unstructured exploration of the natural world between brief forays into the arts, learning to understand their sensory and spiritual selves as at once distinct and unified.</p><p>Sen left Santiniketan in the late 1940s as a young adult to study economics in Calcutta and Cambridge. The major contemporary controversy in economics was the theory of welfare, and debate was affected by Cold War contention between market- and state-based models of economic order. Sen's sympathies were social democratic but anti-authoritarian. Welfare economists of the 1930s and 1940s sought to split the difference, insisting that states could legitimate programmes of redistribution by appeal to rigid utilitarian principles: a pound in a poor man's pocket adds more to overall utility than the same pound in the rich man's pile. Here was the material critique of capitalism in its infancy, and here is Sen's response: <a href="http://www.ophi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Sen-1979_Equality-of-What.pdf" target="_blank">maximising utility is not everyone's abiding concern</a> – saying so and then making policy accordingly is a form of tyranny – and in any case using government to move money around in pursuit of some notional optimum is a flawed means to that end.</p><p>Economic rationality harbours a hidden politics whose implementation damaged the moral economies that groups of people built up to govern their own lives, frustrating the achievement of its stated aims. In commercial societies, individuals pursue economic ends within agreed social and moral frameworks. The social and moral frameworks are neither superfluous nor inhibiting. They are the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/development-as-freedom-9780192893307" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">coefficients of durable growth</a>.</p>
<p>Moral economies are not neutral, given, unvarying or universal. They are contested and evolving. Each person is more than a cold calculator of rational utility. Societies aren't just engines of prosperity. The challenge is to make non-economic norms affecting market conduct legible, to bring the moral economies amid which market economies and administrative states function into focus. Thinking that bifurcates moral on the one hand and material on the other is inhibiting. But such thinking is not natural and inevitable, it is mutable and contingent – <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2009/03/26/capitalism-beyond-the-crisis/" target="_blank">learned and apt to be unlearned</a>.</p><p>Sen was not alone in seeing this. The American economist Kenneth Arrow was his most important interlocutor, connecting Sen in turn with the tradition of moral critique associated with R H Tawney and Karl Polanyi. Each was determined to re-integrate economics into frameworks of moral relationship and social choice. But Sen saw more clearly than any of them how this could be achieved. He realised that at earlier moments in modern political economy this separation of our moral lives from our material concerns had been inconceivable. Utilitarianism had blown in like a weather front around 1800, trailing extremes of moral fervour and calculating zeal in its wake. Sen sensed this climate of opinion changing, and set about cultivating ameliorative ideas and approaches eradicated by its onset once again.</p><p>There have been two critiques of capitalism, but there should be only one. Amartya Sen is the new century's first great critic of capitalism because he has made that clear.<img src="https://metrics.aeon.co/count/a1c8572d-6975-4c7d-a8f3-e666c5be0d6f.gif" alt="Aeon counter – do not remove"></p><p>Tim Rogan</p><p>This article was originally published at <a href="https://aeon.co/?utm_campaign=republished-article" target="_blank">Aeon</a> and has been republished under Creative Commons. Read the <a href="https://aeon.co/ideas/why-amartya-sen-remains-the-centurys-great-critic-of-capitalism" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
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Are mental health disorders ever purely biological?
Two anthropologists question the chemical imbalance theory of mental health disorders.
26 August, 2020
- Two physical anthropologists argue that you cannot pin most mental health disorders on brain chemistry alone.
- As antidepressants will soon be a $16B industry, the chemical imbalance theory suits business interests better than health interests.
- An etiology of depression should include behavioral observation, cross-population comparisons, cultural transmission, and evolutionary theory.
<p><br></p>
<p>Twentieth-century science was supposed to change everything. Indeed, thanks to vaccinations, antibiotics, and improved sanitation, humans thrived like never before. Yet in that mix was thrown pharmacological treatments for mental health disorders. On that front, little progress has been made.</p><p>It can be argued—it <em>is</em> being argued, in a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajpa.23965" target="_blank">new paper</a> in American Journal of Physical Anthropology—that we're regressing in our fight against mental health problems. As Kristen Syme, a PhD student in Evolutionary Anthropology, and Washington State University anthropology professor Edward Hagen argue, psychopharmacological treatments are increasing alongside mental health disorder diagnoses. If the former worked, the latter would decrease. </p><p>There are numerous problems with the current psychiatric model. Journalist Robert Whitaker has <a href="https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/antidepressants-dangers" target="_self" rel="dofollow">laid out the case</a> that antidepressants, antipsychotics, and other pharmacological interventions are the real culprit behind chemical imbalances in the brain—a psychiatric talking point that's <a href="https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/chemical-imbalance" target="_self">been challenged</a> for over a half-century. Patients suffering from minor anxiety and depression are placed on <a href="https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/antidepressant-effects" target="_self" rel="dofollow">ineffective drugs</a>, often being placed on a cocktail of pills. With many consumer advocacy groups being <a href="https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/pharma-lobbying" target="_self">funded by pharmaceutical companies</a>, we've reached a tipping point in mental health protocols. </p><p>As Syme and Hagan write, consumer advocacy groups are not the only compromised organizations. One <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16199844/" target="_blank">review</a> of 397 clinical trials discovered 47 percent of these studies reported at least one conflict of interest. As Whitaker has <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/anatomy-of-an-epidemic-magic-bullets-psychiatric-drugs-and-the-astonishing-rise-of-mental-illness-in-america/9780307452429" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">written about</a> before, when pharmaceutical companies don't like the results of their trials, they're scrapped until more suitable results are recorded. </p><p>Humans proliferated as never before during the last century, yet technological innovation does not always equate to better outcomes. We live by a perpetual illusion of progress. Severing ties with nature has had profound consequences on our health. This drives to the heart of Syme and Hagan's paper: brain chemistry is heavily influenced by society. Sure, some people are born with genetic-based developmental dysfunctions. This doesn't account for increasing numbers of people on Zoloft and Xanax and dozens of other medications today. </p>
EarthRise 91: Do antidepressants create more mental illness than they cure? (with Robert Whitaker)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8f49b126e8733bbd95c21de0476fb1f8"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UnB7tXvztT4?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>Physical anthropology and evolutionary biology are essential fields of study when contemplating all facets of health. Historical perspective is important. The authors point to a previous battle: in 1900, roughly half of all deaths in the U.S. were attributed to infectious diseases. A century later, the number of deaths due to such diseases was negligible. </p><p>That's because the etiologies of a number of infectious diseases were discovered thanks to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_of_disease" target="_blank">germ theory</a>. There has never been a holistic etiology of anxiety or depression, however. Psychiatrists, in coordination with pharmaceutical companies, exploited that fact by creating and marketing a singular etiology—the chemical imbalance theory—and selling the world on pharmacology.</p><p>Think about the basic framework of this proposition: an animal that has evolved for millions of years, roughly 350,000 in the present form, experiences its greatest century to date in terms of population expansion, while simultaneously billions of our brains are suddenly chemically compromised. This narrative boggles the mind, yet it's exactly what's being sold by psychiatrists and medical doctors around the world. </p><p>As the authors write, the chemical imbalance theory, first widely discussed in the late forties, became part of a public health campaign designed to destigmatize mental health issues in the aughts. In reality, the campaign accomplished the opposite. </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"First, a systematic review found that an endorsement of biogenetic causes of mental disorders does not reduce stigma and, in fact, might even increase stigmatizing attitudes among mental health professionals and the mentally ill themselves. Second, there is little evidence that psychopharmaceuticals correct specific chemical imbalances or neurobiological deficits."</p><p>While mental health is a broad term with numerous categories, the authors divide disorders into <a href="https://www.madinamerica.com/2020/08/anthropologists-question-legitimacy-mental-disorders/" target="_blank">four subsets</a>: </p><ul><li>Disorders which are genetic-based developmental dysfunctions</li><li>Disorders associated with senescence/aging</li><li>Disorders caused by a mismatch between modern and ancestral environments</li><li>Disorders which are adaptive responses to adversity, however undesirable</li></ul><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU4MjIwOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNzg2Njc5NX0.9HRqkOB3VPX9RThKJi_bSbOeWAlZhy-MQYXKp1UnXQY/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C598%2C0%2C144&height=700" id="72bc9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e0f87a0af4791d0dd3426d78e4db0593" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Photo: Everett Collection / Shutterstock
<p>The first two account for many common diseases, such as dementia, autism, and schizophrenia. The second pair represent disorders that modern psychiatry has exploited. By failing to consider environmental, racial, economic, familial, and societal forces, we've been sold a story that we're broken from birth. </p><p>This story serves a purpose: the global antidepressant industry is <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/antidepressant-drugs-market-to-reach-15-98-bn-by-2023-globally-at-2-1-cagr-says-allied-market-research-873540700.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">expected to reach</a> $16B by 2023. Thanks to concerted marketing and lobbying efforts, an uptick in prescriptions coincides with an increasing number of disorders—and increasing numbers of children on these drugs. When one market is exploited, create another. </p><p>Pharmacological interventions for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and autism might be valuable to patients of these disorders. The problem isn't with drug development, which is a necessary field of research for combating such confounding diseases. As has long been known—since at least the 19th century, though likely much longer—most anxiety and depression alleviates with time, especially when interventions such as <a href="https://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/your-diet-might-be-causing-anxiety-and-depression" target="_self">proper diet</a>, <a href="https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/exercise-mental-health" target="_self" rel="dofollow">exercise</a>, and <a href="https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/depression-universal-basic-income" target="_self">improved economic conditions</a> are put into place. As Syme and Hagan conclude, </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"A final group of disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD, have low heritability, are caused by adversity, and involve symptoms that seem to be adaptive responses to adversity. Because they are relatively common throughout adult life, they account for a substantial fraction of disease burden attributable to mental illness. These might not be disorders at all, however, but instead aversive yet adaptive responses to adversity."</p><p>That is, anxiety and depression are largely social problems, not medical disorders. The authors write that it would be unethical to prescribe pain medication for a broken bone without first setting the bone. Why then do psychiatrists and doctors churn out scripts without identifying the source of suffering that brought the patient into the office in the first place?</p><p>Though we don't yet have reliable etiologies of most mental health disorders, the authors conclude that they could be within reach. Their discovery relies not on brain chemistry alone, but on epigenetics, behavioral observation, cross-population comparisons, cultural transmission, evolutionary theory, and much more. </p><p>Humans are complex animals. Perhaps Occam's razor isn't as sharp as we believe.</p><p>--</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://derekberes.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">Substack</a>. His next book is</em> "<em>Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy."</em></p>
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How QAnon is monetizing child trafficking victims
What good is a conspiracy theory you can't profit from?
17 August, 2020
Photo: Eric Rosenwald / Shutterstock
- With over 2,000 items on Amazon and 6,600 items on Etsy, QAnon-related swag is now a big industry.
- Many top QAnon devotees are using this conspiracy theory to promote supplements, t-shirts, and pendants.
- This baseless theory is doing more harm than good to the child victims it purports to help.
<p>As the three-year-old "movement," QAnon, makes inroads into the American mainstream, the far-right conspiracy theory—Donald Trump is <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/" target="_blank">taking down</a> the "Deep State," which is in large part comprised of an elite, Satanic <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-apocalypse-in-america-the-smell-of-fascism-in-the-pro-trump-qanon-conspiracy-1.6809655" target="_blank">cabal of pedophiles</a>—is having real-world impact. Besides <a href="https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/qanon-child-abuse" target="_self">damaging</a> abused and traumatized children (the victims it purports to help), there are further troubling theories, such as the LGBT movement being a palate cleanser designed to prepare America to accept pedophilia.</p><p>QAnon is also gaining political momentum. To date, 75 congressional candidates have <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/here-are-qanon-supporters-running-congress-2020" target="_blank">supported QAnon</a> in some capacity; 70 are Republicans. There's also a GOP super PAC, <a href="https://www.protocol.com/qanon-conspiracy-new-super-pac" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">Disarm the Deep State</a>, run by 8chan founder Jim Watkins. 8chan was a major gathering place for Q devotees. After being shut down, it reemerged as 8kun on a Russian hosting service. </p><p>Watkins realized he could monetize QAnon. He's not the only one. There are over 2,000 QAnon-related tchotchkes <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=qanon&ref=nb_sb_noss_2" target="_blank">for sale</a> on Amazon, including books, posters, mugs, t-shirts, and minted coins. That Q catalog is tame compared to <a href="https://www.etsy.com/search?q=qanon" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">Etsy</a>, where over 6,600 items are for sale, including a number of face masks (for the rebel who isn't quite rebellious enough to eschew <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent" target="_blank">basic science</a>) and a selection of bumper stickers that effectively warn other drivers to stay as far away as possible. </p><p>How many of these memento peddlers are really QAnon devotees? Hard to tell. Some people will monetize anything. If you want to trace Q activists turning their platforms into cash cows, you have to root them out one by one. </p>
The Cult of QAnon - Travis View | The Open Mind
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cec5501eadd206be6b90eff0a6767871"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c5S9CSXo-Oc?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>Perhaps the most Alex Jonesy of the QAnon cult is <strong>Jordan Sather</strong>, who monetizes his <a href="https://twitter.com/Jordan_Sather_" target="_blank">Twitter account</a> with links to his supplement company, which, par for the course with this industry, makes hefty claims without the necessity of pesky clinical trials. <em>Increase your brain function! Improve exercise performance! Detoxify! Enjoy with a hint of stevia!</em></p><p>If Sather's colloidal silver reminds you too much of huckster-in-chief, David Wolfe, there's an array of shungite (98 percent carbon) pendants that "provide powerful protection against EMFs" (electromagnetic fields). If you're already energetically protected, check out Sather's t-shirt shop, which features a selection of Q-themed swag. If you'd rather throw money at him for pro-Trump propaganda, there's a Patreon link and a tip jar as well. </p><p><strong>Kim Cohen</strong> doesn't record meandering videos about UFOs. Instead, she uses her <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hofitkimcohen/" target="_blank">Instagram platform</a> to showcase the fashion brands that sponsor her as she "jetsets" around the world. Scroll through her stories, however, and you'll find her <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17847236774082158/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">Q Shop</a>, where she hawks mugs, iPhone covers, and hoodies—an ironic optic, given her <a href="https://www.glossy.co/beauty/i-love-you-my-beautiful-qanon-when-lifestyle-influencers-also-peddle-conspiracy-theories" target="_blank">views</a> on Black Lives Matter: "It's almost been two weeks, I believe. Yeah. And people are still f***ing doing s**t in the streets. Are you kidding me?" </p><p>Transformational life coach <strong>Bernhard Guenther</strong> writes exceptionally long <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bernhard.guenther/posts/10221759306999497" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">social media posts</a> and <a href="https://veilofreality.com/2020/05/26/prophetic-dreams-visions-and-the-waves-of-change/" target="_blank">essays</a> littered with GOP talking points on QAnon. These posts feed back to his website, where he offers private coaching sessions, webinars, and courses on occult forces. This makes sense, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-apocalypse-in-america-the-smell-of-fascism-in-the-pro-trump-qanon-conspiracy-1.6809655" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">given</a> QAnon "followers speculate that Q is a time-traveling shape shifter, an ethereal non-corporeal being who obtains human form only to trick witless NSA officials into divulging sensitive secrets."</p><p>Two young Californians recently <a href="https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/save-the-children-qanon-child-trafficking?fbclid=IwAR0LmYrlR0eveHlt4aZ6smXyekQp1qYAsXYT5AQzuNsTa1XAcSey4tlqGL4" target="_blank">launched</a> <strong>Child Abuse Resistance Education</strong> in the heart of anti-mask fervor, Orange County. While not specifically QAnon-related, they're asking for donations on PayPal despite listing no actual projects on their website. The Q crossover happens in <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDXUnPOhsLJ/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">posts like this</a>, where they accuse the Clintons, Chrissy Teigen, and Ellen DeGeneres of being pedophiles. </p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU2MTY4Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1Mzg0NzU1M30.J5rlJKKyDYERz_cCMh93QZM4p6a8ukv8ReFuLPsvYSQ/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C222%2C0%2C440&height=700" id="2cba0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6c610bd509914a3ba9530900f01e3472" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="woman in QAnon shirt holding "Trump = Free World" sign" />
Bucharest, Romania, August 10, 2020: People display Qanon messages on cardboards during a political rally.
Photo: M. Moira / Shutterstock
<p>Q-adjacent "<a href="https://conspirituality.net/redpilled/" target="_blank" rel="dofollow">wellness influencers</a>" like <strong>David Wolfe</strong> has been peddling trafficking conspiracies using QAnon rhetoric as well. He's called Donald Trump <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBcepKdDkIA&feature=youtu.be&t=305&fbclid=IwAR2p_sXTCApfD0B6ppf8ickMY-iZxf-xOowWkktfXBp9-Rti4bfdIwNNV1U" target="_blank" rel="dofollow">our only hope</a> for breaking up the global pedophile ring—a direct QAnon talking points—while alternately promoting his line of supplements and "superfoods."</p><p>The <strong>Save Our Children Initiative</strong> was founded by a "traveling beauty slayer" and an apparel marketer. Their <a href="https://www.saveourchildreninitiative.com/" target="_blank">website</a> falsely claims that 800,000 children go missing in the United States every year. As foster youth expert Regan Williams <a href="https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/qanon-child-abuse" target="_self" rel="dofollow">told me last week</a>, the number is closer to 25,000-29,000, and 94 percent are recovered within four to six weeks. </p><p>Their site <em>also</em> claims 8,000 children go missing each year, on the same exact page. This group is selling t-shirts and hats, as well as accepting donations, although how those donations are used is unknown. The site claims your money will go "to a charitable organization recipient and towards outreach programs for this cause." </p><p>As I <a href="https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/anti-vaxx-social-media" target="_self">wrote about previously</a>, ad revenue from targeting anti-vaxxers (and ads directly purchased by anti-vaxx organizations) generate upwards of $1 billion for social media platforms. Similar motives are <a href="https://sfist.com/2020/08/05/despite-bans-qanon-exploding-in-popularity-facebook-google-and-twitter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">driving ad revenue</a> for QAnon-related merchandise, while QAnon video producers are monetizing YouTube by running ads by Nike and Apple during their shows. </p><p>One uncomfortable truth about QAnon is obvious: companies and influencers are using a conspiracy theory that purports to save children for ad money, coaching sessions, and merchandise sales. What good is a conspiracy theory that you can't monetize?</p><p>--</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://derekberes.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">Substack</a>. His next book is</em> "<em>Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy."</em></p>
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How should we study sex differences in a polarized age?
A new study on brain differences between sexes sparks a persistent question.
31 July, 2020
Credit: Lifeking / Shutterstock
- A new study found brain volume differences between men and women.
- The research focuses on regional grey matter volume, a contentious measurement in neuroscience.
- Without environmental conditions being considered, how trustworthy is our emphasis on biology?
<p>In his book, "Chemically Imbalanced," University of Virginia research professor, Joseph E. Davis, questions the 20th century paradigm shift that created the belief that the brain is the last scientific frontier in understanding ourselves and the world. Neuroscience is valuable—that isn't in dispute. An expectancy that this discipline alone holds the keys to enlightenment is what's under debate.</p><p>Davis warns of the dangers of using biological explanations for social and personal dilemmas—namely, suffering. The entire field of psychiatry has fallen (or rather, been pushed) under the spell of brain chemistry, as I've <a href="https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/antidepressants-dangers" target="_self">repeatedly</a> <a href="https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/antidepressant-effects" target="_self">written</a> <a href="https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/pharma-lobbying" target="_self">about</a>. Davis writes, </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Many of the claims about the relation of mind and mental states to brain are not really scientific at all and cannot themselves be tested in any empirical way. They rest no so much on a theory as on changed assumptions about human being." </p><p>This doesn't mean we should abandon the relationship of our brains to our bodies. We just can't confuse correlation with causation. In some ways, we've been sheltering in place for two centuries, thanks to indoor climate control and electricity. This "control of nature" has caused researchers to overlook the importance of the environment on mental health. </p><p>What about actual genetic differences in brain composition, however? Are they dependent on environment? This brings us to one of the more contentious debates in biology: genetic differences between men and women. A <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/07/14/1919091117" target="_blank">new study</a>, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is forcing us to again confront that question. </p><p>The basis of the study is sound. Armin Raznahan, Chief of the Section on Developmental Neurogenomics at the National Institute of Mental Health, has been studying sex differences since he was a PhD student. He knows the field is filled with landmines. His first study was <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704355304576214904139134080" target="_blank">cited</a> in an argument for same-sex schooling, which served as a wake-up call about the dangers of publishing on the subject. </p>
Men vs. women: Why we’re imagining equality all wrong | Heather Heying | Big Think
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dd7ac9538bd187ab6f36bec7877b849f"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nzqxjx5pgJI?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>This new research not only found sex differences in terms of regional grey matter volume (GMV), but also tied those differences to sex chromosomes. Specifically, after discovering neuroanatomical sex differences, the team found "that sex differences in regional GMV are aligned with functional systems for face processing."</p><p>This sparked the question of the validity of using grey matter to measure social and physical functioning, as this <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/a-study-finds-sex-differences-in-the-brain-does-it-matter/" target="_blank">deep dive</a> in Wired details. Raznahan's research found larger volumes of grey matter in men than women, though previous research has found women are better than men at facial recognition. </p><p>Grey matter is often used as evidence of stronger neurological connections. The default example is the famous <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/97/8/4398" target="_blank">London taxi driver study</a>, which found that drivers, who have to memorize the entirety of the city to pass a rigorous test, have larger GMV in the brain's posterior hippocampi (spatial memory and navigation) than non-taxi drivers. This line of argument has also been <a href="https://psychcentral.com/news/2015/01/24/meditation-shown-to-alter-gray-matter-in-brain/80342.html#:~:text=Meditating%20for%20just%20eight%20weeks,Massachusetts%20General%20Hospital%20(MGH)." target="_blank">used by meditation researchers</a>, who have extrapolated from GMV volume to argue that meditation helps increase memory and empathy while decreasing stress. </p><p>Back to correlation and causation. Taxi drivers must study street maps for years; mediation is a specific discipline that has measurable effects on the nervous system (beyond grey matter). In both cases, the subjects have changed their relationship to their environment, thus hinting at correlation. If anything, you can argue environmental changes <em>cause</em> changes in GMV. </p><p>Raznahan's study is looking at genetic differences, yet environment still plays a role. The data was pulled from the U.S. and UK, predominantly white, wealthy countries. Comparing that data to other sets in African or Asian countries, for example, could result in a Bell Curve-type controversy—gender studies are already controversial enough. How then do you study biology when everything is polarized? </p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyNjM0OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzg2Njg4NH0.R-vYf8IfMgN9sgc-kajLwVQZ2L6JZolxLRqSVLiXVEs/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C76%2C0%2C30&height=700" id="09150" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="65be5fc0d93209c36a629ada9214d2e9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="people at International Women's Day rally" />
Dozens of women and men attend a rally and march in Washington Square Park for International Women's Day on March 8, 2018 in New York City.
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
<p>One political party in America grows angry any time a connection between income disparity and ethnicity is made. We seem unable to move beyond this political wedge, especially since it fires up the base, yet it holds the key to freeing scientists to take a holistic approach. You can't <em>only</em> look at changes in brain function when contemplating social differences. But you can investigate such differences if you're trying to understand brain disorders—the focus of Raznahan's work.</p><p>The gender question might always be with us. In 2014, Fallon Fox, a transgender MMA fighter, <a href="https://www.bjjee.com/articles/transgender-mma-fighter-who-broke-female-opponents-skull-are-we-getting-too-politically-correct-with-reality/" target="_blank">broke Tamikka Brents's skull</a> during a match. Brents later said she had "never felt the strength that I felt in a fight as I did that night." There are real biological differences between men and women. Arguing against that is antithetical to good science. </p><p>Neuroscience will remain a sticky topic for some time, however. The methods for measuring blood flow and brain volume are, as Davis suggests above, more art than science. Until better measuring sticks are developed for understanding brain functionality, the field will be more speculative than declarative. That's okay: scientists need to fail in order to grow. In a time when even minor failures result in ostracism, however, that's a tough line to walk. </p><p>Environment always matters. Humans are the products of the spaces they inhabit. Genetic disorders aside, our chemistry is linked to our environment. When neuroscience is able to utilize brain scans in conjunction with sociology, real progress will be possible. Until then, controversies will abound, even where they should be none. </p><p>--</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://derekberes.substack.com/" target="_blank">Substack</a>. His next book is</em> "<em>Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy."</em></p>
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Like it or not, you can't ignore how people look or sound
A new study from Ohio State University details implicit bias.
24 July, 2020
Photo: fizkes / Shutterstock
- New research from Ohio State claims we cannot separate how someone looks and sounds.
- Volunteers were asked to look at photos and listen to audio, and were told to ignore their face or voice.
- "They were unable to entirely eliminate the irrelevant information," said associate professor Kathryn Campbell-Kibler.
<p>Postmates is a way of life in Los Angeles. So when a young Black driver recently <a href="https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1286254750573514753?s=10" target="_blank">crossed paths with a woman</a> outside of her building while delivering food to another apartment, you might initially be shocked at her response. While the woman claims her reaction is not racist—not only does she refuse him entry, but after he calls the apartment and talks to the man on other line, she even denies that he lives in the building—her use of the term "boy" says it all. </p><p>Would she have reacted similarly if the driver was white? While no definitive answer can be given, a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/josl.12418" target="_blank">new study</a> from Ohio State University finds that his race is not only an issue, the woman would have not been able to ignore it even if she wanted to. </p><p>The distance between implicit and explicit bias has been studied for years. In this research, published in Journal of Sociolinguistics, Associate Professor <a href="https://linguistics.osu.edu/people/campbellkibler.1" target="_blank">Kathryn Campbell-Kibler</a>, in the Department of Linguistics at OSU, asked 1,034 volunteers to look at photos and listen to audio of people speaking to determine if they immediately judged someone by their looks or accents. </p><p>Almost across the board, they did.</p>
8 powerful speakers that might make you think differently about racism | Big Think
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="310eb2418d44ed9aed7fb66364904aaa"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ox04P7Gy2eY?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>In some cases, volunteers were told to evaluate how "good-looking" the people in the photos were; in others, they were asked to judge their accents. One cohort was not given guidance; they looked at a photo and listened to a voice. Others were told to ignore the face while listening, and vice-versa. Some were even told that the voice was not from the same person they were looking at. </p><p>It didn't matter. In most cases, volunteers expressed critical judgment of either their face or voice. As Campbell-Kibler <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200722083758.htm" target="_blank">says</a>, </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Even though we told them to ignore the voice, they couldn't do it completely. Some of the information from the voice seeped into their evaluation of the face."</p><p>Detaching face from voice is a difficult endeavor. The first time I heard Welsh actor Matthew Rhys' <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu77rb0mww4" target="_blank">true accent</a> was while watching "The Wine Show," which he filmed shortly after wrapping up work on "The Americans." It took me a few minutes to rationalize what I was seeing. Now I can't get his actual speaking voice out of my head while watching the drunken private investigator transform into the lawyer we knew Perry Mason would become.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxMTM3OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDU1OTM5NH0.kYNUbYpz6NJzKRb3TeOl7dh3mHv_Id2XsqYKliToCVw/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C8%2C0%2C116&height=700" id="51d52" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="23d9370cd92738127a30c593d22b5030" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Jonathan Gartrelle (L), participating in a protest against police brutality, confronts a demonstrator taking part in a counter demonstration advertised as a Law and Order Rally that was also supporting President Donald Trump on June 14, 2020 in Miami, Florida.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
<p>Rhys is paid to speak English with an American accent. The stakes are low for me as a viewer. Out in the real world, where racism is as prevalent as ever, the situation is different. Implicit bias affects everyone, which means racism and xenophobia are conditions we have to work at correcting in ourselves. It won't come natural. Campbell-Kibler continues,</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"We found that people could exercise some control over what information to favor, the voice or the face, depending on what we told them to do. But in most cases, they were unable to entirely eliminate the irrelevant information."</p><p>She notes that even though most participants were white, they were careful to not racially stereotype. Volunteers told to ignore faces while listening to accents performed best for this reason, though some admitted they had to make a conscious effort to do so. </p><p>Volunteers took no issue with judging the photos good-looking, believing looks to be subjective. Campbell-Kibler wants to follow up this research using videos instead of photographs to observe the impact of watching others on the screen. </p><p>The takeaway: we are influenced by all of the information available to us at all times. Our biases will make themselves apparent. Course-correcting is not natural, but thankfully, it is possible. </p><p>--</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://derekberes.substack.com/" target="_blank">Substack</a>. His next book is</em> "<em>Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy."</em></p>
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