READING IS FUN

  What’s the purpose of gaining knowledge? A ‘I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any subject.’ That was the founder’s motto for Cornell University, and it seems an apt characterization of the different university, also in the USA, where I currently teach philosophy. A student can prepare for a career in resort management, engineering, interior design, accounting, music, law enforcement, you name it. But what would the founders of these two institutions have thought of a course called ‘Arson for Profit’? I kid you not: we have it on the books. Any undergraduates who have met the academic requirements can sign up for the course in our program in ‘fire science’. B Naturally, the course is intended for prospective arson investigators, who can learn all the tricks of the trade for detecting whether a fire was deliberately set, discovering who did it, and establishing a chain of evidence for effective prosecution in a court of law. But wouldn’t this als...

  COLLECTING AS A HOBBY Collecting must be one of the most varied of human activities, and it’s one that many of us psychologists find fascinating. Many forms of collecting have been dignified with a technical name: an archtophilist collects teddy bears, a philatelist collects postage stamps, and a deltiologist collects postcards. Amassing hundreds or even thousands of postcards, chocolate wrappers or whatever, takes time, energy and money that could surely be put to much more productive use. And yet there are millions of collectors around the world. Why do they do it? There are the people who collect because they want to make money – this could be called an instrumental reason for collecting; that is, collecting as a means to an end. They’ll look for, say, antiques that they can buy cheaply and expect to be able to sell at a profit. But there may well be a psychological element, too – buying cheap and selling dear can give the collector a sense of triumph. And as selling online is...

  Cork Cork – the thick bark of the cork oak tree ( Quercus suber)  – is a remarkable material. It is tough, elastic, buoyant, and fire-resistant, and suitable for a wide range of purposes. It has also been used for millennia: the ancient Egyptians sealed their sarcophagi (stone coffins) with cork, while the ancient Greeks and Romans used it for anything from beehives to sandals. And the cork oak itself is an extraordinary tree. Its bark grows up to 20 cm in thickness, insulating the tree like a coat wrapped around the trunk and branches and keeping the inside at a constant 20 o C all year round. Developed most probably as a defence against forest fires, the bark of the cork oak has a particular cellular structure – with about 40 million cells per cubic centimetre – that technology has never succeeded in replicating. The cells are filled with air, which is why cork is so buoyant. It also has an elasticity that means you can squash it and watch it spring back to its original si...

  Book Review The Happiness Industry: How the Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being By William Davies ‘Happiness is the ultimate goal because it is self-evidently good. If we are asked why happiness matters we can give no further external reason. It just obviously does matter.’ This pronouncement by Richard Layard, an economist and advocate of ‘positive psychology’, summarises the beliefs of many people today. For Layard and others like him, it is obvious that the purpose of government is to promote a state of collective well-being. The only question is how to achieve it, and here positive psychology – a supposed science that not only identifies what makes people happy but also allows their happiness to be measured – can show the way. Equipped with this science, they say, governments can secure happiness in society in a way they never could in the past. It is an astonishingly crude and simple-minded way of thinking, and for that very reason increasingly popular. Those who ...

  SAVING THE SOIL More than a third of the Earth’s top layer is at risk. Is there hope for our planet’s most precious resource? A More than a third of the world’s soil is endangered, according to a recent UN report. If we don’t slow the decline, all farmable soil could be gone in 60 years. Since soil grows 95% of our food, and sustains human life in other more surprising ways, that is a huge problem. B Peter Groffman, from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York, points out that soil scientists have been warning about the degradation of the world’s soil for decades. At the same time, our understanding of its importance to humans has grown. A single gram of healthy soil might contain 100 million bacteria, as well as other microorganisms such as viruses and fungi, living amid decomposing plants and various minerals. That means soils do not just grow our food, but are the source of nearly all our existing antibiotics, and could be our best hope in the fight against antibio...

  Cutty Sark:   the fastest sailing ship of all time The nineteenth century was a period of great technological development in Britain, and for shipping the major changes were from wind to steam power, and from wood to iron and steel. The fastest commercial sailing vessels of all time were clippers, three-masted ships built to transport goods around the world, although some also took passengers. From the 1840s until 1869, when the Suez Canal opened and steam propulsion was replacing sail, clippers dominated world trade. Although many were built, only one has survived more or less intact:  Cutty Sark , now on display in Greenwich, southeast London. Cutty Sark ’s unusual name comes from the poem  Tam O’Shanter  by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Tam, a farmer, is chased by a witch called Nannie, who is wearing a ‘ cutty sark ’ – an old Scottish name for a short nightdress. The witch is depicted in  Cutty Sark ’s figurehead – the carving of a woman typically a...

THE RISE OF EAST ASIAN KNOWLEDGE ECONOMIES  The global economy is currently experiencing a transition from being heavily focused on labour and capital, which characterized the industrial economy of the 20th century, to one based on knowledge and information. The successes of economies in the new millennium can be seen as being dependent on developing know-what, know-why, know-how, and know-who. In other words, knowing the facts, principles, skills, and people who can provide innovation will ultimately provide an economy with a competitive edge. Interest in the development of knowledge economies has grown ever since the advent of the Internet, globalisation and the fact that over 70 percent of the workforce in developed economies is information workers.  While the US has been the leader in the field of scientific discovery over the past half a century, significant gains have been made by East Asian countries. The 21st century may very well see the current front-runner be surpas...

  MEDIA ETHIC Section A  The media often comes under fire for its unethical behaviour. This has become a global issue especially since the car chase involving Princess Diana and the paparazzi through the streets of Paris, which resulted in her untimely death. The question then arises—does anything go for the sake of 'free' press? Doctors, lawyers and accountants all need to follow a code of ethics and need a license in order to practise, so why should it be any different for those working at a newspaper or TV station? Although there is no regulatory body to enforce a code of ethics for journalists, there are certain points that media personnel should take to account when assessing whether or not they are behaving ethically.  Section B  When reporting the news, the media are required to seek the truth. It is expected that subjects will be given the chance to respond to allegations of wrongdoing. In addition, subjects should be notified in advance if their image and/or...

CHINESE PULSE DIAGNOSIS The examination of the pulse is a subtle skill in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM); however it provides a comprehensive diagnosis of the condition of practically the entire human body, from the more obvious heart rate to the condition of each internal organ. It is estimated that a pulse reading traditionally accounts for up to 30% of a TCM diagnosis, which is quite surprising to many Westerners. Although many Westerners may have heard of other diagnostic methods like inspecting (general physical observations of the patient), listening (breathing, coughing, voice quality) and inquiring (current symptoms and past medical history), pulse reading as a tool to determine physical condition is not common knowledge. It is therefore worth taking a closer look at how illnesses are identified using this ancient medical skill, which dates back more than 2000 years.  The reason such a small area on the wrist can give a traditional Chinese medical practitioner such a th...