Interesting Links for 02-05-2017

[andrewducker]

Women's code contributions are accepted more often than men's - so long as nobody can tell they're a woman.

(tags: women programming bias )

Google survey suggests backing for Scottish independence at 57% (I'm suspicious at the difference from other polls)

(tags: scotland polls independence )

Facebook told advertisers it can identify teens feeling 'insecure' and 'worthless'

(tags: Facebook emotion )

Iceland's casual sex culture is the most liberal in the world

(tags: iceland sex relationships )

Eight ways Trump got rolled in his first budget negotiation

(tags: politics usa budget )

The Leaked Fyre Festival Pitch Deck Is Beyond Parody

(tags: festival marketing fail )

Parents '10th biggest mortgage lender' - providing deposit on a quarter of all mortgages

(tags: uk housing parenting )

People's religious beliefs are fascinatingly complex

(tags: religion christianity uk belief )

British Religion in Numbers (Monthly news updates on demographics and studies)

(tags: religion statistics uk )

Neutral vs. Conservative: The Eternal Struggle

(tags: politics bias society )

Why You Should Vote on Thursday

(tags: elections uk )

Scotland's first urban average speed camera in Edinburgh street

(tags: edinburgh transport safety )

Comments

[danieldwilliam]

As I said on FB I'm surprised by the Google independence survey result. It seems very different from other, traditional polling, which have shown not much change since the 45% Yes vote in the referendum which the same polls more or less got right.

I think f3f4's point about the use of the internet by the young who tend to be more pro-independence is probably right but a) I'd expect Google to adjust for this b) I don't think the youth were *that* pro-independence.

It's a puzzle. One thing I'm pretty sure of - it's not Google spoofing the results for some nefarious reason. They get paid for being right. They get paid billions for being right. Much more than the Conservative Party could possibly pay them.

Or if it is they spoofing the results for political effect then Google are being run by an AI of such dazzling genius and subtle powers that there's already nothing we can do about it.

[danieldwilliam]

It might be to do with the question asked.

Would you prefer an independent Scotland within the EU or Brexit under the Tories.

http://scotgoespop.blogspot.com/2017/05/may-day-may-day-it-not-may-day-as.html

[andrewducker]

That would make sense.

Now, we just have to persuade everyone in Scotland that being attached to England = permanent Tory-dom.

[dewline]

That won't be difficult.

[danieldwilliam]

In some ways that's the question of the age.

There are some sub-questions such are the existing powers of the Scottish Parliament sufficient for Tories in England to not result in Toryism by the backdoor in Scotland.

But I think it will probably come down to the question of Do you want *another* ten years of Toryism?

[drplokta]

I never knew that so many people in this country were fluent in classical Greek. At least, a significant number are reported as saying that they believe the resurrection took place "word for word" as described in the Bible, and of course the words in question are classical Greek words. While a translation may suffice to convey the meaning, word-for-word accuracy is a much stronger condition that can't possibly be met by a translation.

[wildeabandon]

They were answering the question "The Bible tells the story of Jesus rising from the dead. Which, if any, of the following statements best reflects your views on this?"

You don't have to read the original Greek to answer that it taking place word for word as described in the bible is a better reflection of your views than the Bible containing some content that should not be take literally.

[drplokta]

In which case the article linked above misrepresents the survey result, because that's not what it says.

[wildeabandon]

As a general rule it's probably a good idea to assume that articles will paraphrase, and if you want to be pedantic about people's answers follow the link to the survey.

[matgb]

You don't have to read the original Greek

No no no.

The King James Bible is the Authorised Version, it is the literal word of God as authorised by God, it wasn't translated from any strange other language, any changes in language as spoken by God's True People were ordained by God in order that We can better understand God's Authorised Word.

Sorry: I suspect not that many of the respondents take that view, but I have encountered it and it always freaks me out.

[pashazade.livejournal.com]

The language of the New Testament is not "classical" Greek. (If anything *can* be called that it's the Greek of the classical period approx five hundred years earlier.) New Testament Greek is a variant of Koine.

[danieldwilliam]

I wonder if the Fyre Festival was fraud or was so negligently run that the courts will be prepared to pierce the corporate veil.

I think I'd be worried if I were one of the 2influencers".

[heron61]

Iceland's casual sex culture is the most liberal in the world

While obviously imperfect, it sounds like Iceland is providing a glimpse of how gender relations can dramatically improve. I was especially pleased to read that standard het dating largely doesn't exist there, since from everything I've seen and experienced, the norms of het dating are nothing more than a mixture of misogyny and awkward pretense.

[andrewducker]

We can but hope.

[heron61]

Neutral vs. Conservative: The Eternal Struggle *sigh* I should really stick to just reading his posts about medical issues, since at least they tend to not merely make sense, but to also be quite good, unlike this bit of "fair & balanced" nonsense. The big issue (at least in the US, I can't speak to the rest of the world) is that starting in the late 1970s, with the 4th Great Awakening, fundamentalist Christianity became synonymous with conservatism, and that's where the big divide between netural & liberal facts and conservative nonsense began. Asking people to take "creation science" seriously is idiotic, and while that's no longer a major right-wing issue (since now the US far-right has mostly replaced religious zealotry with racist misogyny), but is really used to be, and it along with a whole lot of other similar nonsense beliefs (like the right saying LGBT people are evil because "the bible says so") simply aren't worthy of being taken seriously in a diverse civilized society, at least not at ideas to be taught in schools or printed in textbooks. That's where the anti-science bias in US conservatism comes from, and asking for their beliefs to be treated as facts (other than in the sense of X are what some extreme Christians believe) or debated seriously really doesn't work.