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Supreme Court Breakfast Table: The court acknowledges “unconscious prejudice.”
Slate: Thursday’s blockbuster opinion in the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project case will be primarily and justly remembered for interpreting the Fair Housing Act to include a disparate-impact cause of action. In anti-discrimination law, “disparate treatment” requires an intent to discriminate, while “disparate impact” can allow a plaintiff to win even in the absence of discriminatory intent. For instance, if an entity has a policy that disproportionately affects a protected group, it has to justify that disparity even in the absence of any allegation of discriminatory intent. If it cannot produce such a justification, it will lose.
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People Who Need People Have the Longest Lives
The Wall Street Journal: Personal independence is such an iconic American value today that few of us question it. In previous generations, retirees lived with family, but now that a large swath of older people can afford to live on their own, that’s what they choose. The convenience of digital devices means that we can now work, shop and pay our bills online, without dealing directly with other people. According to the U.S. Census, 10% of Americans work alone in remote offices and over 13% live alone, the highest rate of solo living in American history. ...
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Coping With Verbal Abuse
The Chronicle of Higher Education: The saying "Academic politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so small" has been attributed to many different people, including Henry Kissinger, Wallace Sayre, Jesse Unruh, Samuel Johnson, and Laurence J. Peter, among others. Whoever said it first had a point. When you choose a career in academe, you need to be prepared not only for rough-and-tumble politics, but also for the verbal abuse that goes with it.
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The Mouth Is Mightier Than the Pen
The New York Times: Few methods beat email for sending communication blasts, getting a note in front of a far-flung sales prospect or employer, or attaching pictures and documents. Too bad about the downside: You may not sound your smartest. New research shows that text-based communications may make individuals sound less intelligent and employable than when the same information is communicated orally. The findings imply that old-fashioned phone conversations or in-person visits may be more effective when trying to impress a prospective employer or, perhaps, close a deal. Read the whole story: The New York Times
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The first imperative: Science that isn’t transparent isn’t science
The Guardian: In today’s issue of Science Magazine we unveil a series of guidelines to promote transparency and reproducibility in research practices - critical aspects of science that are frequently overlooked in the pursuit of novelty and impact. Transparency and reproducibility are the beating heart of the scientific enterprise. Transparency ensures that all aspects of scientific methods and results are available for critique, compliment, or reuse. This not only meets a social imperative, it also allows others to test new questions with existing data, makes it easier to identify and correct errors, and helps unmask academic fraud.
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The Psychological Case Against Tasty, Tasty Appetizers
New York Magazine: There’s a lot to think about when you go out to eat. Bottled or tap? Red or white? How are we splitting this check? One thing you likely aren’t thinking about, however, is how, when your food eventually comes, your brain will decide whether it’s good or not. After all, it doesn’t seem like something that takes a lot of thought — food either tastes good or it doesn’t, right? That’s a question that’s had scientists’ attention for some time now. And a fair amount of research has suggested that there’s a lot more to how food tastes than … well, how food tastes.
