Should 101 celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence have “known better”? When a hacker steals their private, encrypted photos and distributes them online, fault should be easy to assign. The victims did nothing wrong here, so why do people even discuss this issue of blame? Is hindsight bias at work in this manifestation of the just-world phenomenon, or is something darker afoot?
Parks and Recreation’s 25 Best Ron Swanson-isms
Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) has particularly struck a fancy with audiences with his views on masculinity, freedom, and woodworking, so here’s a look back over the seasons of the best…
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Doctor Who and the Neuroscience of Morality Malfunctions
Has the Doctor misplaced one of his hearts? The latest version of the lead character on “Doctor Who” seems short on empathy and he worries whether regeneration skewed his morality when it completely altered his body. Both neural manipulation and traumatic brain injury can alter real people’s empathic and moral capabilities in terms of cognition, emotion, and compassion.
Murder by Meme: Slender Man and the Wakefield Anti-Vax Hoax
Like scary Slender Man, viral views over a vaccine-autism link spread from a single human’s fiction. After Eric Knudsen created the Slender Man in a photo editing challenge, its myth spread as meme, a malleable open-source horror that inspired a murder attempt. After Andrew Wakefield falsified a vaccine-autism link, it panicked many into campaigning against vaccination.
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier"–Who Is Bucky?
In “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014), amnesia-ridden James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes has been brainwashed into carrying out assassinations as the Winter Soldier. Does that make him a villain or a misguided hero? Exactly how might we diagnose an individual suffering his particular set of symptoms, and is there really any hope for one who has wrought so much wrong?
Parks and Recreation’s Season 6 Gag Reel
It may not be action, but it is awesome- Parks and Recreation is one of the few shows in with a cast full of remarkably hilarious actors fully committed to their…
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