Monday, February 17, 2014
Nice exception
Among the "social" "science" articles that get picked up by sciencey websites, roughly 99.8% are flatly and obviously wrong because of backwards causation, and/or because they start with Lenin's genocidal assumption that all humans are identical lifeless passive grains of sand. These failures usually run together.
The 0.2% exceptions need to be celebrated.
Here's one.
Feeling extreme loneliness can increase an older person's chances of premature death by 14 percent, according to research by John Cacioppo, professor of psychology at the University of Chicago.The positive exception shows up in the very first word. Feeling. The writer expands the point:
Although some people are happy to be alone, most people thrive from social situations in which they provide mutual support and develop strong rapport. ... It is not solitude or physical isolation itself, but rather the subjective sense of isolation that Cacioppo's work shows to be so profoundly disruptive. Older people living alone are not necessary lonely if they remain socially engaged and enjoy the company of those around them. Some aspects of aging, such as blindness and loss of hearing, however, place people at a special risk for becoming isolated and lonely, he said.Exactly right. People are different. Introverts are pained by excess company in the same way that extroverts are pained by insufficient company. This is obvious to normal humans, but it's almost never recognized by "social" "scientists". Kudos to Cacioppo, and equal kudos to William Harms, who seems to be the writer of the press release. ¶ 4:33 AM
