Aimless Ramblings

By foolishmusings

Discourses linking disciplines from science, to philosophy, to culture and psychology.... more

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FAQs about Aimless Ramblings:

How many episodes does Aimless Ramblings have?

The podcast currently has 32 episodes available.

Aimless Ramblings episodes:

March 22, 2020E012 - Fear and Disease
Hello all!
In our 12th episode, we look at the topical issue of disease, pandemics, fake news and fear.
Some interesting resources:
Some Coronavirus conspiracy theories: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-20/coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-spreading-like-wildfire/12062516
Fake news, misinformation and epidemics:
Mian, A., & Khan, S. (2020). Coronavirus: the spread of misinformation. BMC Medicine, 18(1), 1-2.
Sharma, M., Yadav, K., Yadav, N., & Ferdinand, K. C. (2017). Zika virus pandemic—analysis of Facebook as a social media health information platform. American journal of infection control, 45(3), 301-302. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2016.08.022
...more
30min
March 08, 2020E011 - Humour and humanity
Hello all!
In our eleventh episode, we discuss jokes, bigotry and dictatorships.
Interesting and related:
Some philosophy bites episodes on humour: https://philosophybites.com/humour/
Chapman, A. J. (1983). Humor and laughter in social interaction and some implications for humor research. In Handbook of humor research (pp. 135-157). Springer, New York, NY. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4612-5572-7_7
Karakowsky, L., Podolsky, M., & Elangovan, A. R. (2020). Signaling trustworthiness: The effect of leader humor on feedback-seeking behavior. The Journal of social psychology, 160(2), 170-189. doi: 10.1080/00224545.2019.1620161
...more
32min
March 01, 2020E010 - Therapeutic creation
Hello all!
In our tenth episode, we discuss art, making, humanity and D&D.
Interesting and semi-related viewing:
Why D&D is good for you (in real life) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PaHJqpQnyw&feature=youtu.be&app=desktop
D&D therapy - https://www.meganpsyd.com/new-page-1
How Betty Crocker came to be - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBTI0qND1Dc&app=desktop
...more
29min
February 23, 2020 E009 - You are what you eat?
Hello all!
In this episode, we discuss the ethics of eating - including cannibalism, plant cognition and sustainable farming!
Semi-related and interesting reading
Cannibalism:
- Cannibalism of necessity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguayan_Air_Force_Flight_571
- Ironic cannibalism https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1080/1080-h/1080-h.htm
Plant cognition:
- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-0690-1_7
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0039368118302383
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.4161/psb.2.4.4470
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1360138506001646
- https://academic.oup.com/ilarjournal/article/52/2/175/659957
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_cognition

The cost of beef
-https://www.charlesgracey.net/single-post/2017/05/11/How-Much-Grain-and-Water-Does-Beef-Cattle-Production-Require
...more
31min
February 15, 2020 E008 - What is the purpose of clothing?
Hello again and welcome back to Aimless ramblings!
Today we discuss clothing, fashion, hierarchy, and capitalism.
...more
32min
December 15, 2019E007 - Private, public and intervention
In our seventh episode, we discuss the division between private and public rights in intervention.

Interesting and semi-related reading:
When Should Children Be Permanently Removed From Their Parents? https://www.parents.com/parents-magazine/parents-perspective/when-should-children-be-permanently-removed-from-their-parents/
“No voice, no opinion, nothing”: Parents’ experiences when children are removed and placed in care https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/2018/03/19/no-voice-no-opinion-nothing-parents-experiences-when-children-are-removed-and-placed-care
The Stolen Generations https://www.commonground.org.au/learn/the-stolen-generations
As more Aboriginal children are removed from families, critics say government risks a second Stolen Generation https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-10-09/more-aboriginal-children-are-removed-families-critics-say-government-risks-second
Kohlberg’s Moral Stages, http://ww3.haverford.edu/psychology/ddavis/p109g/kohlberg.stages.html
Leviathan, https://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Thomas-Hobbes/dp/1463649932
...more
29min
December 08, 2019E006 - Maps, delineation and fuzziness
Hello and welcome to our sixth episode where we discuss maps, lines and the blurriness in-between.

Semi-related and interesting reading:
The genius of the London Tube map https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBErp8qvWZg
Why are we changing maps? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLqC3FNNOaI
Harry Beck https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/harry-beck
Working Toward Whiteness https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4714309
The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia https://www.amazon.com.au/Art-Not-Being-Governed-Anarchist/dp/0300169175
This interactive map shows how ‘wrong’ other maps are https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/08/18/this-interactive-map-shows-how-wrong-other-maps-are/
Blackfishing: The women accused of pretending to be black https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-46427180
...more
28min
November 24, 2019E005 - Labels, names and heuristics
Welcome to episode 5, where we discuss labels and their use in society.

Interesting and semi-useful resources:
One of my earlier videos which includes a discussion on Aristotle’s taxonomy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB_OqyxjNyc
De Plantis, one of the first scientific taxonomies: https://archive.org/details/deplantislibrixv00cesa/page/n4
CAS Registry explanation and site: https://web.archive.org/web/20080725010848/http://www.cas.org/expertise/cascontent/registry/regsys.html
My own videos on Daoism:
Laozi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFRU1MtUJ-8
Zhuangzi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUMy8FTN-As&t=4s
Alan Watt’s introduction to Daosim, https://www.amazon.com/Tao-Watercourse-Way-Alan-Watts/dp/0394733118/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Alan+Watts+The+Taoist+Way&qid=1574580097&s=books&sr=1-1
Shepard counting systems in Britain, https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/yan-tan-tethera-pethera-pimp-an-old-system-for-counting-sheep/
Different cultures see different colours: https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2017/10/02/different-cultures-see-different-colours/
NPR: History of the use of the word ‘Racism,’ https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/01/05/260006815/the-ugly-fascinating-history-of-the-word-racism
Social Justice argument for Racism redefinition: http://www.dismantlingracism.org/racism-defined.html
Counter-argument to redefinition: https://areomagazine.com/2017/06/16/racism-does-not-equal-prejudice-power/
On being sane in insane places: http://www.bonkersinstitute.org/rosenhan.html
TED talk on trying to leave a gang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qkSMkiGWdg
The Atlantic: What’s Lost When Black Children Are Socialized Into a White World https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/11/how-black-mothers-prepare-their-children-school/599578/
Article on recent police shooting in NT, Australia in the context of structural disadvantage and accusations of racialisation in policing: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-16/yuendumu-police-shooting-charges-laid-against-zach-rolfe/11705986
...more
31min
November 17, 2019E004 - Human life and moral responsibility
Our fourth episode – we discuss the value of human life, peoples willingness to save others and ambulance drivers!

Semi-related and interesting sources
Article discussing the controversy around the death of David Sharp on Mt Everest in 2006. https://allthatsinteresting.com/david-sharp
Short read on the bystander effect. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-bystander-effect-2795899
TED talk by Peter Singer about effective altruism.https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_singer_the_why_and_how_of_effective_altruism?language=en
On Killing: The psychological cost of learning to kill in war and society, by Dave Grossman. https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Psychological-Cost-Learning-Society/dp/0316040932
Popular article on the idea of the ‘monkey sphere’ (Durban’s number). https://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-monkeysphere.html
Slightly more academic article on the Durban Number as a limit to group size. http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2004/03/the_dunbar_numb.html
Infographic depicting the statistical economic cost of life by country. https://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/how-much-does-human-life-cost-the-world-today.html
A deceptively easy way to die – safety video by the NSS/CDS regarding deaths in cave diving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1iaa04rCf0
The price Sherpas pay for westerners to climb Everest. https://www.economist.com/prospero/2015/12/11/the-price-the-sherpas-pay-for-westerners-to-climb-everest
Wrongful conviction in Australia. https://www.cla.asn.au/News/prisoners-australia-7-innocent/#gsc.tab=0
Article discussing assaults on Paramedics in an international context. http://theconversation.com/over-1-500-assaults-on-paramedics-a-year-but-new-law-wont-stop-the-violence-98734
George Carlin on the sanctity of life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScLQZEKn8zI
...more
27min
November 10, 2019E003 - Fate is wholly inexorable?
Our third episode!
We look at fate, determinism and free will – with a dash of psychology, biology, physics and even some Anglo-Saxon literature!
Wyrd bið ful āræd
Interesting and semi-related sources:
The wanderer: an old English poem: https://www.norsemyth.org/2016/02/the-wanderer-old-english-poem.html?m=1
A Famous Argument Against Free Will Has Been Debunked: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/09/free-will-bereitschaftspotential/597736/
Laplace’s Demon: https://www.informationphilosopher.com/freedom/laplaces_demon.html
TED talk on desire lines (Goat Tracks) and design: https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_hulme_what_walkways_teach_us_about_design
Twin studies: https://www.livescience.com/47288-twin-study-importance-of-genetics.html
Source of Simon’s quote: https://vimeo.com/203940826 (nice Avatar reference...)
Great Philosophical Debates: Free Will and Determinism: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/great-philosophical-debates-free-will-and-determinism.html
...more
31min

FAQs about Aimless Ramblings:

How many episodes does Aimless Ramblings have?

The podcast currently has 32 episodes available.