November 2, 2016

“For radical general semanticists the overcoming of racism, sexism and other ‘traditional’ attitudes can only occur by way of working through the past; and in order to do this we need to embrace some of the the most radically modern of scientific discoveries.” Some linguists believe teaching general semantics to children can heal social ills. / Berfrois

For many people, a number of commonly taught yoga poses are inherently risky. In case this is news to you: yoga is not the cure-all that some believe, and can get dangerous. / The New York Times

Related: What a yoga teacher learned from being injured by doing yoga; yoga’s risks and rewards on Fresh Air; how to keep the neck safe during “shoulderstand.” / yogajournal.com, NPR

A neuroscientist teaches you tricks to try on a plane that prove how humans can do more than see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. / YouTube

People who vote in local elections are a generation older than general-election voters, and they’re richer, too. / CityLab

“No trade, no healthcare, no climate change, no drugs, no poverty, no guns, no infrastructure, no deficits. To the extent that these issues have been mentioned, it has been on the candidates’ terms, not on the networks’ initiative.” The issues remain conspicuously absent from this candidate-driven campaign. So far this year, network news spent a total of 32 minutes in issues coverage on their own initiative. / Media Matters

If, like us, you can read or listen to Steven Pinker all day long, here’s a recent conversation with Tyler Cowen to read or sneak into your headphones this morning. / Medium

Women are twice as likely to make a bucket list, more likely to go to mortuary school, and demographically exposed to a mid-life spike in death rates that men don’t experience. So naturally there is a women-centered death positivity movement. / marieclaire.com

See also: How an 10th-century Arabic writer envisioned a dialogue with the dead. / The Paris Review

“Temperament is your basic orientation toward life. The Elizabethans boiled it down to four types: You were choleric or sanguine or melancholy or aggressive. You can be a good leader from any of them. Lincoln was melancholy, but what a president!” Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on the presidential race. / New York Times

Tumblr is the only social network with traffic numbers that go up on Friday nights. Known for serving as an unofficial Depressives Anonymous, the platform mostly leaves sufferers from mental illness to their own devices, which leads some to glorify sadness and others to find recovery. / The Ringer

1. Jack the Ripper, ye olde unidentified serial killer of gaslight London, is a seemingly neverending publishing phenomenon. / The Awl

2. Eliot Weinberger puts together a fun, frightening collection of quotes by aspiring president Donald Trump. At the same time, the London Review of Books—with its “Anyone for Trump?” headline—smugly dismisses the millions of Americans who will vote for him sincerely and thoughtfully. A nice reminder that intellectual elites can be assholes. / London Review of Books

3. “Shoplifting costs the average consumer an extra $50 during the holiday season.” Shoplifters’ favorite things to steal during the holidays. / marketwatch.com

Keynes thought we’d replace work with recreation; tech critic Ian Bogost says we’ve replaced recreation with work. He calls digital labor “hyperemployment,” and says even if it’s not strictly unpaid, we agree to it only because our contributions are recast as compulsions or necessities. / The Atlantic

IZOD aficionado and former Christian drummer Ken Bone went from unknown to overnight celebrity, to stale joke in a matter of days due to the earnest energy policy question he raised in the second presidential debate. / Salon, The Washington Post

“In the past, I would’ve been tempted to say, about the Internet, that although everybody has a megaphone, in many cases it’s a quiet one. You can put up a YouTube video, but who’s going to watch it? Now, however ridiculous what you’re saying is, if you make it memetically successful, something really bad can spread through the culture.” Richard Dawkins, coiner of “meme,” makes a guest appearance in a profile of the alt-right’s master troll. / The New Yorker

Though its (ostensible) efforts to promote Jill Stein’s campaign may not have had much success (she’s still polling fourth in a four-way race), a Facebook page dedicated to sharing “dank memes” about the Green Party presidential candidate has at least been good for a few laughs, a common feature in an election year rife with political memes. / Politico, Facebook, The New Yorker

In the middle of a Palo Alto gala, Hamilton Nolan corners Peter Singer, an ethicist who urges altruistic donors to save lives even when they’re far away, to demand whether his philosophy logically leads to revolution. / Deadspin

In America, there are between 45,000 and 50,000 “DeafBlind” people. A group of them have invented a new language—“Pro-tactile ASL”—that doesn’t use sight or sound for communication. / Quartz

To me, it’s really exciting to have the first mother in the White House. It’s not about the first woman, it’s about the first mom… Because a mother, she’s got it. A mother just does it. She feeds you, she teaches you, she protects you—she takes care of shit. / YouTube