Interesting Links for 14-8-2011

[andrewducker]

• Dopamine: Not about pleasure, but anticipation. (Also, a fascinating insight into why intermittent positive reward works so well)
  (tags: dopamine reward relationships planning DelayedGratification)
• Voldemort's dead, but the struggle's not over. How does the wizarding world move forward with reform?
  (tags: politics analysis law harrypotter)
• State of decay? Why the UK has never had it so good.
  (tags: politics scandal riots uk)
• Corey Feldman: 'Paedophilia is Hollywood's biggest problem'
  (tags: CoreyFeldman hollywood paedophilia Child_abuse)
• Consciousness explained in 30 seconds
  (tags: consciousness mind brain psychology)

Comments

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

The wizarding world has its own laws and customs-- I realize your link is really about muggle politics, but I was very disappointed by the epilogue for Deathly Hallows. There should have been political effects of the war against Voldemort, but instead we got updates on main characters who were apparently in an unchanging world.

One specific nitpick-- it's obvious that wizards get responsibility a lot younger than muggles do. I don't think laws against child soldiers are plausible.

[andrewducker]

An obvious riposte:
It's obvious that the Sudanese get responsibility a lot younger than Brits do. I don't think laws against child soldiers are plausible.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Fair point, but it would take a huge cultural change for the wizarding world to become as protective as the muggle world tries to be. It might not even be appropriate, considering that wizards have better healing tech and (I think) emotional resilience than muggles.

Also, it's probably harder to get opposition to child soldiers when some underage people were crucial to defeating a major villain.

[andrewducker]

I totally agree that it would be a huge cultural change, it always is for countries that remove child soldiers.

The better healing tech must come in useful a lot with Quidditch, I always thought.

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

The healing tech probably enables Quidditch, as much as the flying broomsticks do.