FROM HUMAN NATURE TO HUMAN RESOURCES

From Harvard Magazine:

After years of study, Lawrence published Driven to Lead: Good, Bad, and Misguided Leadership(2010), which lays out what he calls Renewed Darwinian (RD) Theory of Human Behavior. In short, RD theory posits that all human beings are motivated by four independent, innate drives: the drive to acquire (the instinctive push to obtain things necessary to ensure continuity and reproductive success); the drive to defend (the desire to ensure that what is acquired is not lost); the drive to comprehend (humans’ need to understand the world around them); and the drive to bond(the push to connect and relate to our fellow human beings). Our behavior, according to Lawrence, is a result of our brain’s attempt to maintain a balance among these four drives. It’s a grand unifying theory that Lawrence says manifests itself in just about every aspect of human behavior, and even explicates the drafting of the Constitution. The Founding Fathers’ motivations weren’t born with the Revolutionary War, according to Lawrence, but were instead formed tens of thousands or even millions of years earlier. His “four-drive” translation of the formative conversations that led to the drafting of that foundational document is straightforward: “We need to use our creative capacities (drive to comprehend) to design a government that can strike a reasonable balance between private individual property rights (drive to acquire) and the common good (drive to bond), while guarding us against internal and external enemies (drive to defend).” At the opposite end of the ethical spectrum is the current economic crisis, which he says stems from a few bad apples with an outsized drive to acquire and no moral conscience, due to a lack of the drive to bond. 

It’s a grand unifying theory that Lawrence says manifests itself in just about every aspect of human behavior, and even explicates the drafting of the Constitution. The Founding Fathers’ motivations weren’t born with the Revolutionary War, according to Lawrence, but were instead formed tens of thousands or even millions of years earlier. His “four-drive” translation of the formative conversations that led to the drafting of that foundational document is straightforward: “We need to use our creative capacities (drive to comprehend) to design a government that can strike a reasonable balance between private individual property rights (drive to acquire) and the common good (drive to bond), while guarding us against internal and external enemies (drive to defend).” At the opposite end of the ethical spectrum is the current economic crisis, which he says stems from a few bad apples with an outsized drive to acquire and no moral conscience, due to a lack of the drive to bond. 

More here.

Isabel Samaras

札记 - Krishnamuti 无为法初探

• 如实观看自我的经验、聆听其喋喋不休的故事。（观自在！？）
• 如实聆听观看这个尘世。（观世音！？）
• 以体验取代概念。
• 从而体认自我的虚幻无常的本质。

 Dream Big by flyingmouse365 on Etsy

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Team Impression – Showcase | September Industry

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Stanley Chow Illustration — The letter D from my Random Alphabet.

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 this isn't happiness.™

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:: H & A :: tumblr

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EXAMINING THE MYSTERY OF SKELETON, SUGAR AND SEX

From The New York Times:

THE HYPOTHESIS Bones help regulate fertility in men.

For years, scientists thought they understood the skeleton. It serves as structural support for the body. It stores calcium and phosphate. It contributes to blood cell development. And it serves, indispensably, as the creepy mascot of Halloween. But as it turns out, there may be still more to bone. A few years ago, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center discovered, to everyone’s surprise, that the skeleton seems to help regulate blood sugar. Now the team, led by Dr. Gerard Karsenty, geneticist and endocrinologist at Columbia University, has found that bone may play an unexpected role in reproduction. If the work pans out, it may help to explain some cases of low fertility in men. “It’s definitely an attention-grabber,” Dr. William Crowley of Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the research, said of the new finding regarding fertility. “I think it will turn out to be a seminal observation.” (No pun intended, presumably.)

It is well known that the hormones estrogen and testosterone, produced in the ovaries and testes, help to regulate bone growth. When women reach menopause, estrogen levels decrease along with bone mass, putting them at increased risk for osteoporosis. As men age, their testosterone and estrogen levels decline, as well. Men lose bone, but much more slowly than women do. “We thought that if the sex organs talk to the skeleton, then the skeleton should talk back to the sex organs,” Dr. Karsenty said.

Apparently it does.

More here.

壓力為何會導致 DNA 受損？給你一個理由

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-stress-dna.html 

August 21, 2011 

多年來，研究者已發表論文，使慢性壓力與染色體受損產生關聯。 

現在 Duke 大學醫學中心的研究者發現一種機制，那幫忙解釋造成 DNA 受損的壓力反應。 

"我們認為這是第一篇提出某一種特殊機制的論文，慢性壓力的正字標記之一 -- 腎上腺素（adrenaline）升高 -- 透過這種機制，最終能導致可偵測的 DNA 受損，" 資深作者 Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D. 表示，他是 James B. Duke 醫學與生物化學教授以及 Howard Hughes 醫學研究所(HHMI) 在 Duke 大學醫學中心的研究者。 

這篇論文發表在 8/21 當期的 Nature 上。 

在這項研究中，老鼠被注射某種類腎上腺素（adrenaline-like），該化合物透過一種被稱為β腎上腺素受體（beta adrenergic receptor）的受體產生作用，這種受體 Lefkowitz 已研究多年。科學家們發現，這種慢性壓力模型會觸發某種生物路徑，最終導致 DNA 損害的累積。 

"對於「慢性壓力如何導致各種人類疾病與失調」 -- 從罕見的外貌變化（cosmetic，易容），如頭髮花白，到威脅到生命的失調，例如惡性腫瘤 -- 這研究能賦予我們一個貌似合理的解釋，" Lefkowitz 說。 

P53 是一種腫瘤抑制蛋白，而且被視為「基因組守衛」 -- 防止基因組異常（abnormalities）。 

"這項研究證明，慢性壓力導致 p53 的濃度持續降低，" Makoto Hara, Ph.D. 表示，Lefkowitz 實驗室的博士後研究員。"我們假設，這就是為何我們在這些承受慢性壓力的老鼠身上會發現染色體異常的原因。" 

Lefkowitz 早先曾證明孤立 G-protein-coupled receptors（GPCRs，G 蛋白耦合受體），例如β腎上腺素受體，的存在，並描述其特徵。這些受體（位於細胞膜的表面）是今日市場上近半藥物的目標，包括心臟病用的 beta 阻斷劑、抗組織胺（antihistamines）以及潰瘍藥物。 

目前，他繼續沿著另一條路徑研究，那根源於 GPCRs，而且是在他的實驗室中發現，稱為 beta-arrestin pathway（β視紫紅質抑制蛋白路徑）。起先，這個理論指出 beta-arrestin 蛋白會關閉或鈍化（desensitized）G 蛋白路徑，但最後證明，這些蛋白的累積亦會使它們憑藉自身力量引發某種生化活性。 

在當前的研究中，科學家發現一種分子機制，類腎上腺素化合物藉此掌控（acted through） G 蛋白路徑以及 beta-arrestin 路徑，觸發 DNA 受損。 

這篇 Nature 出版品證明，對老鼠注射類腎上腺素化合物四週後，會導致 p53 降解，隨著時間過去，其濃度會更低。 

這項研究亦證明，缺乏 beta-arrestin 1 的老鼠可防止 DNA 受損。失去 beta-arrestin 1 穩定了細胞層次上的 p53，包括胸腺（thymus，這種器官對於急性或慢性壓力會產生強烈反應）與睪丸（在此，親代的壓力也許會影響後代的基因組）。 

Lefkowitz 實驗室所計畫的未來研究包括，研究「處於壓力下（restrained，受控制的）因而創造出自身腎上腺素或壓力反應」的老鼠，以學習壓力的生理反應，而非在當前研究中於實驗室內完成的「腎上腺素通量」，是否也會導致 DNA 損害的累積。 

shupa

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pavlov77

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THE TROUBLED LIFE OF NIM CHIMPSKY

Peter Singer in the NYRB blog:

Perhaps Herbert Terrace, professor of psychology at Columbia University, and director of the experiment that is the subject of Project Nim, a new documentary by James Marsh, never read The Little Prince. The sad story of Terrace’s irresponsible treatment of Nim, the chimp he tamed—or more strictly, whose upbringing in a human family he organized—is the guiding thread of this revealing film, which raises important issues about the distinction between humans and animals, about our attitudes toward animals, and about scientific objectivity (or the lack thereof) in behavioral research.
Nim was born in a primate research center in Norman, Oklahoma. His mother, Caroline, was treated as a breeding machine—all her babies were taken from her for use in experiments. She knew the routine well enough to turn her back to humans as soon as her baby was born, presumably hoping that they would not notice him. But how can a chimpanzee hide her baby, when she lives in a bare cage? Nim was taken from her a few days after his birth, to be used in Terrace’s experiment testing whether sign language could be taught to a chimpanzee. (His full name, Nim Chimpsky, was a play on the name of the linguist Noam Chomsky, who had suggested that only humans have the ability to learn language.)
The film, which draws on Elizabeth Hess’s fine book Nim Chimpsky, overplays the novelty and significance of Terrace’s research. It neglects the real pioneers in this field, the psychologist Keith Hayes and his wife Cathy, who in the 1950s tried to raise a chimpanzee called Vicki as a child, to see if she would learn to speak. The attempt failed, but in 1966 another pair of psychologists, Beatrix and Allen Gardner grasped that the failure may simply have been due to the inadequacies of chimpanzee vocal chords for forming words. They therefore brought up an infant chimpanzee, Washoe, in their own home, using American Sign Language to communicate not only with Washoe, but, when Washoe was present, with each other. Washoe learned many signs, using them singly and in combinations that appeared to be sentences. She even invented some of her own terms, like “candy fruit” for watermelon.

HIGH FOOD PRICES DRIVING WORLD UNREST: STUDY

Stephen Pincock in ABC Science:

The waves of social unrest and political instability seen recently around the world have coincided with large peaks in global food prices, US researchers have found.

They warn that unless something is done urgently to address rising food prices, it could trigger more widespread trouble in the near future.

Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam, president of theNew England Complex Systems Institute , and colleagues, correlated the dates of riots around the world with data from the United Nations that plots changes in the price of food.

They found evidence that episodes of social unrest in North Africa and the Middle East coincided closely with peaks in the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Price Index.

Reporting their findings on the pre-press website arXiv.org the researchers say that although the riots reflect many factors such as the long-standing political failings of governments, high food prices provide a tipping point.

"There are indeed many factors that can contribute to unrest," Bar-Yam explains. "What we see, however, is that these conditions can persist for many years without causing this level of protest, rebellion and revolution …. Then food prices go up to a certain level and social order falls apart."

Specifically, the researchers found strong statistical evidence that social unrest and rioting occurred when the Food Price Index hit sharp peaks above a figure of 210.

On 13 December last year, the researchers say, they wrote to the US government pointing out the link between global food prices and unrest. Four days later, Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in Tunisia in protest at government policies, an event that catalysed social unrest throughout the Middle East.

More here.

CAN THE MIDDLE CLASS BE SAVED?

Don Peck in The Atlantic:

In October 2005, three Citigroup analysts released a report describing the pattern of growth in the U.S. economy. To really understand the future of the economy and the stock market, they wrote, you first needed to recognize that there was “no such animal as the U.S. consumer,” and that concepts such as “average” consumer debt and “average” consumer spending were highly misleading.

In fact, they said, America was composed of two distinct groups: the rich and the rest. And for the purposes of investment decisions, the second group didn’t matter; tracking its spending habits or worrying over its savings rate was a waste of time. All the action in the American economy was at the top: the richest 1 percent of households earned as much each year as the bottom 60 percent put together; they possessed as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent; and with each passing year, a greater share of the nation’s treasure was flowing through their hands and into their pockets. It was this segment of the population, almost exclusively, that held the key to future growth and future returns. The analysts, Ajay Kapur, Niall Macleod, and Narendra Singh, had coined a term for this state of affairs: plutonomy.

In a plutonomy, Kapur and his co-authors wrote, “economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few.” America had been in this state twice before, they noted—during the Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties. In each case, the concentration of wealth was the result of rapid technological change, global integration, laissez-faire government policy, and “creative financial innovation.” In 2005, the rich were nearing the heights they’d reached in those previous eras, and Citigroup saw no good reason to think that, this time around, they wouldn’t keep on climbing. “The earth is being held up by the muscular arms of its entrepreneur-plutocrats,” the report said. The “great complexity” of a global economy in rapid transformation would be “exploited best by the rich and educated” of our time.

More here

中国科学家提议偏转威胁地球的近地小行星

小行星Apophis被认为是数十年内最有可能与地球发生碰撞的天体。它将在2029年和2036年与地球两次近距离接触。中国清华大学的三名科学家在预印本网站arXiv上发表了一篇论文(PDF)，提议用一艘太阳帆驱动的飞船去偏转Apophis的轨道，使它没有机会与地球相撞。Apophis是2004年发现的一颗小行星，直径320米，重量4.6×10¹⁰kg，将于2029年4月13日到达距离32000 km的近地点，如果没有相撞它还会在2036年重返地球。清华大学的科学家提议用一艘10kg的太阳帆飞船在“引力锁眼（Gravitational keyhole）”从逆行轨道相反方向撞击Apophis，两者以高速相向速度发生碰撞，偏转轨道。这项研究获得了中国国家自然科学基金的资助。

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• blackhat 发表于 2011年8月20日 16时24分 星期六 

如果你IQ高，北京欢迎您的基因

北京华大基因的认知基因组实验室正在招募高智商志愿者捐赠基因进行分析。IQ高

招募说明只有英文版本，捐赠者需要有高SAT（至少760V/800M）/ACT（至少35-36）/GRE（至少700V/800Q）得分，或者是在数学、物理学或信息学奥林匹克竞赛、帕特南数学竞赛(荣誉奖以上) 、编程大赛中取得优异成绩，或者拥有其它方面的学术或技术成就，如从美国顶尖大学获得物理学、数学、电子工程和计算机科学专业的博士学位。如果你满足上述条件，可以向他们寄去DNA唾液样本。实验室成员Steve Hsu教授招募演讲(PDF)第一站是与中国政府有些矛盾的Google公司。需要注意的是，华大基因是以机构组织的名义注册的，它需要向政府监管部门汇报。

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blackhat 发表于 2011年8月21日 19时42分 星期日北

京欢迎您的基因

慢性压力如何导致DNA受损

在《自然》杂志上，研究人员报告了慢性压力是如何造成DNA受损(中文)。在研究中，老鼠被注射某种类肾上腺素，该化合物透过β肾上腺素受体（beta adrenergic receptor）产生作用。肾上腺素升高是慢性压力的标志之一。研究证明，慢性压力导致p53 的浓度持续降低。P53是一种肿瘤抑制蛋白，被视为能防止基因组异常。

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• blackhat 发表于 2011年8月22日 19时00分 星期一 

陈子谦

读香港陈子谦的《怪物描写》，仿佛又回到了一天到晚只管捣蛋的大学时代。

佳句摘錄： 

．巧雲說，每次碰上我，她恰巧都是從低谷掙扎而起。這樣看來，我是她的瘟神，因為我總是隨壞事閃現；我也是她的福星，因為我預兆了她即將脫困。我們從不特意相聚，有時碰上了，一扯就是大半天，像要一口氣交代兩次巧遇間的一切。

．記性太好不一定是好事：平常人的痛苦記憶像魅影，若有若無；太清晰的話，可成了活生生的喪屍。

．阿健又笑了，可我總覺得他滿腹鬱結－－這年頭，搞文藝的沒有抑鬱症，準是有別的神經病，比如幻覺。我常常看到阿健修改facebook的個人狀態，這回是「文章千古事，得心寸心知」，下回是「不爭朝夕」，沒多久又換回去。明明是同義反覆的兩組訊息，他就這樣鍥而不捨地翻來覆去，彷彿一念天堂，一念地獄。依我看，現實就是熱鍋，輾轉反側終不免是裡外交煎。可我也彷彿遙遙看到：一拋鍋，我們都會朝永恆翻滾，像《2001太空漫遊》的經典鏡頭：拋起一塊骨頭，轉呀轉呀竟成了圓柱型的宇宙船！

．以前阿昌的文章語法混亂，急彎比他頭上的自然鬈還要多，這自然是因為他習慣了在詩的彈床上大耍空翻。當時他卻有個沉甸甸的筆名：沈思。儘管他再三澄清「沈」與「沉」不同，還是有人理所當然地叫他「沉思」。那時候，阿昌的小說常常鑽入理論的黑洞，誓要把讀者終身禁錮；現在他踩在文學與商品的鋼索上，練的卻是太極拳：像沉思，還得舉重若輕。

．樊生是我的論文導師，不時從密不透風的嚴謹論辯中迸出幾句機智語。碩士論文口試前夕，我給他寄電郵，保證自己已把論文從頭到尾讀了一遍，翌日收到回覆：「這可不容易，喉嚨沒有受到永久性損害吧？」我大笑不止，差點加劇了喉嚨的創傷。如此機鋒，我入讀研究院前就見怪不怪了。大一時，我在他跟前連盡五碗白飯，他一直記在心裡。一年後我又跟他吃飯，他一結帳便追問：「你是時候再吃一噸吧？」我相信，這話他憋了一整年。

CAPITALISM COLLAPSING, ETC...

社会: 美债危机源于财富集中于民间

张水根 写道"《中国经济周刊》就美国债务危机问题采访了耶鲁大学学者陈志武。陈志武认为美国债务危机的根源是美国巨大的财富都极具在民间，而美国政府没有钱。相比之下，中国政府预算内的财政税收（不包括土地出让金，国有企业利润及国有企业股权出让）占本国GDP的比例要比美国高10%-10.5%左右。如果美国政府征税强度和中国政府一样，那么美国政府今年的财政赤字水平将降到和中国政府类似的水平。陈志武表示中国居民的可支配收入增长低于GDP增长，这样的结果必然是钱跑进政府口袋，不可能实现民间的富裕。他还表示因为中国人投资管道太少，因此打压房价意义不大。"

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• blackhat 发表于 2011年8月18日 11时00分 星期四  

德国工程师因与中国人结婚被解聘

bonnae1982 写道"据RFI报道，德国北部一家企业炒了一位工程师的鱿鱼，因为拿不准他新娶的中国太太会不会是个间谍。这家企业也为德国联邦国防军提供装备，主要为战斗机、运输机和装甲车辆生产弹射座椅、安全座椅、降落伞和着陆系统，以及燃料测量和控制系统。

这位工程师于2006年被借到该公司工作。自2007年起，他经常前往中国看望他的中国女友。一开始他就向企业安全专员报告了他的爱情关系，以便企业给他的中国之行开绿灯，该企业也没有表示什么顾虑。2009年还表示要正式聘用这位工程师。由于婚礼是定在2009年12月在中国举行，公司于是把聘用日定在2010年2月1日。但数周后即3月初，这位47岁的工程师却忽然被闲置，理由是公司有安全顾虑。2010年7月被正式解雇。该雇员上诉后，地方劳动法院认为雇主害怕工业间谍有理，驳回了上诉。但石勒苏益格－荷尔斯泰因州劳动法院现在推翻了一审判决，宣布解雇无效，因为这一解雇不道德，雇主早就知道两人的爱情关系，解雇超出了“伦理底线”。再者，雇主还损害了基本法中规定的公民婚姻自由。按照原告的申请，原告以获得7个月工资补偿为条件解除了雇佣关系，目前，他已找到一份新工作。德国《明镜》周刊认为，这是“害怕中国间谍的结果”。《南德意志报》认为，只因新娘是中国女人就把人辞退，这简直是“荒唐的炒鱿鱼”。《德国日报》称，这是对“中国新娘的诅咒”。但也有一些德国媒体为雇主辩解，声称工业间谍是很多德国企业的噩梦，为保护产品或技术秘密，一些公司必须诉诸严厉的措施。"

blackhat 发表于 2011年8月18日 12时36分 星期四 

 Jenny Pollak - BOOOOOOOM! - CREATE * INSPIRE * COMMUNITY * ART * DESIGN * MUSIC * FILM * PHOTO * PROJECTS

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Forgotten-hopes.com, blog de graphisme, culture retro et vintage

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Alex Steffen: The shareable future of cities

Marco Tempest: The magic of truth and lies (and iPods)

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 i love them old fashioned things. • dreaminparis: I know I have more sex appeal on...

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OVERRATED: AUTHORS, CRITICS, AND EDITORS ON "GREAT BOOKS" THAT AREN'T ALL THAT GREAT

From Slate:

Tom Perrotta, author most recently of The Leftovers

On a recent episode of South Park, the kids got all excited about reading The Catcher in the Rye, the supposedly scandalous novel that's been offending teachers and parents for generations. They were, of course, horribly disappointed: As Kyle says, it's "just some whiny annoying teenager talking about how lame he is." Is it more than that? Lots of people, including some writers I revere, seem to think so. But I've never been able to see what they're seeing, nor can I buy into the myth that Holden is some sort of representative American teenager. He's a self-pitying prep school esthete obsessed with his little sister, the kind of boy who takes it upon himself to erase obscene graffiti from bathroom walls. And that fantasy about catching children in a field of rye? "Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around—nobody big, I mean—except me." What's that all about? I'm not suggesting we need to like Holden in order to consider him important, I'm just baffled by the reverence and affection so many readers seem to feel for this peculiar creep.

Daniel Mendelsohn, frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books; his books include How Beautiful It Is and How Easily It Can Be Broken, a collection of his essays and reviews

Honestly I've never been persuaded by Ulysses. To my mind, Joyce's best and most genuine work is the wonderful Dubliners; everything afterwards smacks of striving to write a "great" work, rather than simply striving to write—it's all too voulu. Although there are, of course, beautiful and breathtakingly authentic things in the novel (who could not love that tang of urine in the breakfast kidneys?), what spoils Ulysses for me, each time, is the oppressive allusiveness, the wearyingly overdetermined referentiality, the heavy constructedness of it all. Reading the book, for me, is never a rich and wonderful journey, filled with marvels and (no matter how many times you may read a book) surprises—the experience I want from a large and important novel; it's more like being on one of those Easter egg hunts you went on as a child—you constantly feel yourself being managed, being carefully steered in the direction of effortfully planted treats. Which, of course, makes them not feel very much like treats at all.

More here.