"Basically the reason that people react in a close-minded way to information is that the implications of it threaten their values," says Dan Kahan, a law professor at Yale University and a member of The Cultural Cognition Project. Kahan says people test new information against their preexisting view of how the world should work. "If the implication, the outcome, can affirm your values, you think about it in a much more open-minded way," he says. And if the information doesn't, you tend to reject it. In another experiment, people read a United Nations study about the dangers of global warming. Then the researchers told the participants that the solution to global warming is to regulate industrial pollution. Many in the individualistic group then rejected the climate science. But when more nuclear power was offered as the solution, says Braman, "they said, you know, it turns out global warming is a serious problem."And for the communitarians, climate danger seemed less serious if the only solution was more nuclear power.
Knitter extraordinaire Rachael Burns from the UK has come up with a creative way to repurpose her Mac's power brick - you know, that big white box that keeps your computer fed. Well, those things can get pretty warm, and with her awesome knitting skills Rachael created a snuggie for her feet with a pouch for the power block. "I knitted this Apple Mac foot cosy after realising I constantly used my power adapter to keep my feet warm. It has a slot to put your adapter in," Rachael writes on her YouTube page. She also warns: "This was knitted as a joke! Your power adapter should be kept very well ventilated for safety reasons. Dont set fire to yourself please."
Want one!
Twain could knit one for you in about ten minutes I'll bet.
China keeps growing like a giant red octopus fed by nuclear power and monosodium glutamate, a country that keeps spending money in pharaonic projects. Some useful, like