We’re still busy celebrating Ph.D.-ville over at the Randall abode. I’m so proud of Graham because I know how hard he worked to make this transition from one career to the next, and how much he gave up to in order to achieve his goal. Congratulations, babe!
While we’re basking in the post-dissertation glow, I submit to you one of the most page turning - and accessible - doctoral dissertations I’ve encountered. In October 2006, Judy Han spent 24 Hour Comics Day converting her 1,000+ page doctoral dissertation on “global imaginaries and evangelical capitalism(s), with a focus on contemporary South Korean/Korean American missionaries” into a 24 page comic entitled “Missionary.”
No word yet on Graham’s plans for his topoisomerase/DNA simulation comic, but it’ll be limited to 10 nano-seconds. (Ba-da-bum!)
Angela shared a post from JJ about how happiness is something you decide ahead of time. The post reminded me of a similar story. My parents were transferred by their company from Los Angeles to Houston in the late 1990’s. Needless to say, they weren’t enthusiastic about the move. Like most Californians, they thought of Houston as a hot, muggy pit somewhere between Las Vegas and New York. My dad had visited Houston for business on several occasions, but he never stayed long enough to develop an appreciation for the place.
If they could have, they would have retired as soon as the transfer was finalized, but by their estimates, they needed another 5 years with their company before they could feel comfortable retiring. So they were stuck.
But my parents realized something. They couldn’t control the circumstances that led to their transfer, but they could control their attitudes towards the move. They could choose to spend the next 5 years being miserable in Houston, or they could spend the next 5 years being happy in Houston. They chose to be happy. They made friends, got involved in the community, and became connoisseurs of BBQ. And, as a result, when they eventually did retire, they chose to stay in Houston rather than move back to L.A.
Graham and I often joke about divergent political viewpoints. We met at a foreign policy discussion group, so it wasn’t any great secret that he was on the far more conservative end of the spectrum, while I unapologetically embraced the far more liberal end. Our common ground was found in that middle gray area: respect for the analytical reasoning with which we chose our differing viewpoints.
That’s why we found psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s research so interesting - he looks at how moral values shape political values, uncovering 5 guiding channels of reason:
harm/care
fairness/reciprocity
ingroup/loyalty (choice bit from his talk: “sports is to war as pornography is to sex”)
authority/respect
purity/sanctity
I’ve seen this misstated online, so here’s a screen shot of the findings from his TED presentation. (NB: The whole presentation is great for both conservatives and liberals to watch.)
Jonathan Haidts Morality Quiz Results as Presented to TED
Among his findings:
“Moral issues in cultures are especially about ingroup authority purity.”
It only makes sense, then, that when I took the same test I scored even more liberal than I thought I would score. Have a look for yourself: my answers are in green, liberals in blue, conservatives in red.
Without even taking the test, I knew I care very little (couldn’t care less? not one iota?) about ingroup/loyalty and authority/respect. For personal reasons, I don’t hold a lot of stock in ingroup/loyalty. I’ve seen it used too often to obscure institutional decay and widespread dysfunction. In my experience, the weak cling to the group at all costs (even to their sense of self) instead of finding a way to follow their own beliefs. Similarly, I strongly believe it is your moral obligation to question authority - at the least you’ll be doing yourself a favor, and in some circumstances you’re the foil to injustice. The only surprising outcome was my score on purity/sanctity. I have to wonder if the questionnaire had asked about the food correlation, if my score would be higher. I don’t eat much in the way of processed foods. I was a strict vegetarian for 8 years (no cheats), and even now I’ve only added in fish. (After much hand wringing, despite it being a question of my health.) By that measurement alone, I should have scored higher.
But wow, more liberal than even I thought. My poor (ultraconservative) in-laws. How were they to know their California boy would move to Texas and marry a liberal vegetarian?
You can take this quiz yourself by visiting, YourMorals.org. Login and take the Moral Foundations Questionnaire, which is the first study listed in the portal.
(Who knows, maybe you’ll turn out to be a raving liberal too!)
Because of the hurricane, the power has been out at my parents’ house all week. They’ve been away on vacation, so Angela and I have been going over there everyday to check on things and see if the power has been restored.
Last night, I received a phone call from a woman at the company that monitors my parents’ burglar alarm. She told me that the alarm had been tripped and that she had dispatched a police car to investigate. My response? “Oh, that’s wonderful news! That means the power’s back on!”
There was a long silence on the other end of the line. I’m pretty sure that’s the first time she’s ever had that response to a call.
