Advertising, particularly advertising for junk food, is one area that is full of disagreements between what is accepted and disputed knowledge. Consider the ad below and how it uses knowledge of consumer behaviour (particularly male consumer behaviour) to persuade / manipulate. Even the use of Photoshop in advertising can be Read more…
“Dogs understand what some human words mean, according to a study published in the prestigious journal Science. In a world-first experiment, academics in Hungary trained 13 dogs to voluntarily lie in an MRI scanner to monitor what happened in their brain when the researchers spoke to them. They discovered that Read more…
Advertising often relies on persuading / manipulating viewers. The Dos Equis beer ad below is no exception. There is an “obvious fact” stated at the top of the ad. There are also a number of implicit “obvious facts” in the rest of the ad. For example, the ad makes statements Read more…
“Dogs understand what some human words mean, according to a study published in the prestigious journal Science. In a world-first experiment, academics in Hungary trained 13 dogs to voluntarily lie in an MRI scanner to monitor what happened in their brain when the researchers spoke to them. They discovered that Read more…
“Conventional medical wisdom has long held that placebo effects depend on patients’ belief they are getting pharmacologically active medication. A paper published in the journal Pain is the first to demonstrate that patients who knowingly took a placebo in conjunction with traditional treatment for lower back pain saw more improvement than those Read more…
The Japan Medical Association’s Principles of Medical Ethics: “The physician should strive to achieve a lifelong dedication to continuing education, to keep abreast of medical knowledge and technology, and to support its progress and development. The physician should be aware of the dignity and responsibility of his/her occupation and strive Read more…
Article: “Homosexual Activity Among Animals Stirs Debate.” https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2004/07/homosexual-animals-debate/ There are two wildly different “obvious facts” connected to this real-life example. One of them is that homosexuality is natural and is part of the natural kingdom and is part of human nature and sexuality as well. The other “obvious fact” from the Read more…
“A couple from Kingston adopted the twin girls from Vietnam when they were 18 months old. Both have Alagille syndrome, a disorder that affects internal organs. The girls’ father, Michael, was a genetic match — but he could only donate part of his liver to one of his then-three-year-old daughters. Doctors decided which of the twins would receive Read more…
Text: “B.C. working to house people camping in Vancouver park as deadline to leave looms” https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-house-campers-vancouver-deadline-1.6007829 “British Columbia’s housing minister says campers in Vancouver’s Strathcona Park can either choose to accept the housing they are offered or leave the park by tomorrow’s deadline. David Eby says there will be “difficult” Read more…
“[Fungal networks] have recently been discovered by Professor Suzanne Simard and her graduate students to connect the roots of trees and facilitate the sharing of resources in Douglas-fir forests of interior British Columbia, thereby bolstering their resilience against disturbance or stress and facilitating the establishment of new regeneration.” http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/2010/03/mycorrhizal_networks.php Have a Read more…