Sunday morning roundup

Village elders in Haryana State terrorize young women who deviate from medieval social codes.

Europe struggles with the Roma question.

Making better decisions starts with acknowledging feelings:

Anxiety, stress and fear — emotions that are part and parcel of serious illness — can distort our choices. Stress makes us prone to tunnel vision, less likely to take in the information we need. Anxiety makes us more risk-averse than we would be regularly and more deferential.

We need to know how we are feeling. Mindfully acknowledging our feelings serves as an “emotional thermostat” that recalibrates our decision making. It’s not that we can’t be anxious, it’s that we need to acknowledge to ourselves that we are.

Another key point in that article: experts make mistakes all the time. Don't be afraid to question them.

This first-semester grad student successfully challenged established research on happiness. The article touches on some of the "scientism" themes I've written about in the past:

Psychology has long been vexed by the question of the quantitative vs. the qualitative, resulting in a kind of shame known as “physics envy,” whereby researchers in so-called “softer” social sciences feel inadequate when compared to “harder” physical sciences. Friedman says he tries to take a balanced view on the subject. Seligman, on the other hand, he says, “claims that quantitative work is more rigorous than qualitative, and that’s something I dispute. Each can be rigorous in their own way, and each can be misused.”

The STEM issue comes up again, albeit tangentially, in the extremely offensive and absurd post discussed here. It could well be click bait, but I think this guy believes what he's saying, and most of the comments support him. The post (unsurprisingly) considers women solely in terms of what's attractive to men, rather than in their own right. And makes the case that that's how it has to be. The STEM issue comes up as part of that:

If anything, having a college degree is a strike against a girl—unless it’s in something real like a STEM discipline—as it shows that she’s a conformist who thinks that credentials are a substitute for knowledge and experience.

He continues:

The same goes for having a job. The vast majority of girls work useless fluff jobs: government bureaucrats, human resources and various other makework positions that exist to give them the illusion of independence. The jobs that keep the country running—tradesmen, miners, farmers, policemen, the military—are still overwhelmingly dominated by men. If every girl was fired from her job tomorrow, elementary schools would have to shut down for a couple days, but otherwise life would go on as usual.

Now you see why I'm not even going to bother, but I do want to point out just one more, key thing, this time in response to the "most girls have done nothing to deserve self-esteem" statement.

In the world of men, respect—and by extension self-esteem—is based on actually achieving something of worth or having some kind of skill or talent. Are you a bodybuilder or jacked?

He goes on:

Women claim they want equal rights as men, but they don’t want equal responsibilities. As such, they demand respect not based on their merit as people, but for merely continuing to breathe.

And that, precisely, goes against the definition of self-esteem: self-esteem for men and women alike is not a function of achievements. Like basic respect, it's something you do get just for breathing. See my earlier discussion here or jump directly to the Scientific American article here, even though I'll save you the trouble and re-excerpt the key part here:

The hunt for self-esteem through a focus on achievement makes us emotionally vulnerable to life's inevitable travails and disappointments. It also causes us to engage in behaviors that can actually harm our chances of success, our competence and our personal relationships. A far better way to bolster your sense of self-worth is, ironically, to think about yourself less. Compassion toward others and yourself, along with a less self-centered perspective on your situation, can motivate you to achieve your goals while helping you weather bad news, learn from your mistakes and fortify your friendships.

Selfies are as old as photography, and they're more about social connection than vanity.

Speaking of photography, check out some science photos. The snacking black hole is particularly striking.