u/ToomintheEllimist

One of my assignments in my research methods class is leading a class discussion of an empirical article. It seems like, even before people could ""read"" with AI and definitely after, there are two types of critiques that go down in U.S. college classes:

1. U.S. Sample: critique immediately hones in on issue of WEIRD samples, beats the dead horse for 50 minutes
2. Non-U.S. Sample: everyone concludes study is meaningless due to only being from Guatemala, or Korea, or Sweden, and dismisses it entirely; bonus points for any outright xenophobic comments

Like, there's never anything about sample size and statistical power, or about sample recruitment and demand characteristics. No one even brings up potentially meaningful differences between the U.S. and China (commerce, internet moderation, attitudes toward family, etc.) or concerns about translation, or even a meaningful explanation of why WEIRD matters. It's all either "WEIRD is Bad because it is" or "what could we possibly have to learn from Chinese students?"

Anyway, I'm thinking of announcing on the first day that they're more than welcome to share opinions on the articles, but criticisms of sample characteristics are banned unless run by me first. Am I depriving them of a whole swathe of important and valid critiques out of pique, or could this actually work to cut down on the casual ethnocentrism?

I'm a research psychologist, not a therapist, but I have my Ph.D. in social psychology with a focus in what's now being called media psychology. I research and teach on misinformation and related topics like social media mental health and AI hallucinations. AMA.

ETA: if you'd like me to DM you with evidence, let me know.

I teach The Class Formerly Known As Abnormal, but I'm not a counselor. I'm working on a grant application right now for an undergrad thesis that's about mental illness and mental health, but we've both heard that there is tons of debate about the term "mental illness" and that "psychopathology" is just swapping out a Greek synonym that's really no better. Personally I'm also no fan of the disease model of psychiatry — it's overfunded and overapplied, it's not nearly as useful as community or cognitive approaches But Capitalism, etc etc.

So: is there an alternative to "mental illness"/"psychopathology" that has any traction right now, isn't as stigmatizing as "abnormal psychology," and gets used among counselors, or do I just stop whining and call it "psychopathology" for now? Thanks!

I'd like to convey that a character is a fast runner but hardly an Olympic athlete. Right now, I state that he could run a five-minute mile back in high school, but also that it's been a few years since then during which his practice has gotten more sporadic.

Is this enough to convey that if you recruited 10 random people off the street he could probably outrun all 10, BUT if you recruited 1000 random people then at least one would probably outrun him?

There's some commercial slogan that I'm trying to think of, that people use in everyday conversation to mean that you can clean something up perfectly or undo damage to it without lasting problems. It's not "weebles wobble but they don't fall down" (i.e. it doesn't get damaged in the first place) but it something like that.

Alternately, is there something in your world we wouldn't normally think of as valuable that can be worth a lot? Or something we consider expensive that's worthless there?

I have a friend, and you'll never guess what I'm trying to stop her from doing!!! So far, I've found "Jesse" by Carly Simon and "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette. But I'm sure there are more out there.

I'm not too picky on genres — I like most forms of Rock, R&B, and Metal; she likes Pop and Rock.

My parents both have iPhones; I don't. My dad just called me in a panic because, when he called my mom's phone from his phone, an unfamiliar man's voice answered and started curtly asking him questions while not answering any of my dad's questions. I called my mom, she answered, and we added my dad to the call to reassure him. Mom confirmed she has 0 missed calls, despite Dad calling 4 times, and that her voicemail message is still her voice. Dad is traveling in Nunavut, Mom is at home in New York.

So: my current working theory is that her phone's AI mistook his calls for a foreign scammer spoofing his number, and redirected him to some kind of filter bot. But I don't know anything about iPhones, so I'm hoping someone else might have insight so I can reassure him. Thanks!

I believe the fic was posted on FFN, and it was part of a series of short fics. What I remember from it:

• Adam Milligan survives S4 and joins Dean on the road, but Sam dies shortly after
• Dean comes apart at the seams (natch) and takes it out on Adam
• Eventually Sam comes back because Dean made a deal, but Adam clocks that Sam has been using demon blood since his resurrection
• It ends with Adam dying because he doesn't see another way out of this family

It was really well-written and obviously disturbing as fuck because it made a really good case for the Winchesters as villains. Anyone know if it's still around? Thanks!

I'm mentoring a psychology student who just submitted to an interdisciplinary journal in undergrad research. The editor (from her bio) is a non-psychologist, and specializes in cross-disciplinary work. This matters because Reviewer 1

1. made a bunch of "corrections" to the style of the paper that move it away from APA style (e.g. deleting the title on the first body page and writing "Introduction"), AND
2. left several comments like "the figure on p. 12 is not APA style; please align it" [it's within the conventions of APA style for graphs, which are pretty loose], AND
3. said that "in general, the article needs better alignment to these conventions [link to latest APA manual]"

So: clearly Reviewer 1 doesn't know APA style as well as they think they do, but the editor also doesn't know APA style that well, and this isn't a psychology-only journal so I don't know how much it matters.

What (if anything) do I say to the editor to ask for clarification? Do I let my student do it, or fight this one on her behalf? Can I politely bring up the "obviously this person isn't an APA expert" thing, or do I let that lie?

There are tons of great tools for "50 questions about your character", "how to build a world", "follow these plot beats", etc.

BUT I'm asking instead for essays about how to craft a sentence. Or practice sheets that help you to teach yourself when figurative language is evocative vs. distracting. Things like that. Can anyone recommend tools that get into that kind of nitty-gritty word choice stuff?

My cousin has depression; recently it's gotten worse. She's in treatment (therapy, meds, etc.) — I'm just trying to be a good friend for her, because she doesn't have many of those, and because she's supported me during my own bad times in the past.

But. Every conversation with her lately is:

>Me: Want to get coffee?
Her: Most coffee farmers are horribly exploited, going back to colonialism.
Me: So... tea? Another drink?
Her: Tea is terrible for the environment. Scientists estimate dozens of insects will be extinct within a decade from the impact of tea.
Me: That's a shame. I'll try buying fair trade coffee from now on.
Her: Fair trade is condescending and sexist. Economists recommend against it.
Me: Oh no. How 'bout this weather lately, huh?
Her: We'll probably all be extinct from flooding within two decades. Also, the phrase "how 'bout this" is classist.

On and on.

I have no idea how to get out of the loop. I've already scaled back our interactions, but I don't want to cut her off because she doesn't have many other friends/family and because I love the person she is when it isn't this bad. But it's exhausting, and leaves me feeling judged, to have these conversations. So I'm looking for strategies to manage myself, during the limited doses of time I do choose to interact with her. Thanks in advance!

Was listening to a podcast and an audiobook back-to-back; one said "hedGEMenee" and the other "hegh-em-oh-nee," so I was wondering about the discrepancy.

As in, the Aussie-ism "shitcunt"? E.g. "that was a shitcunt decision" or "don't be a shitcunt" specifically to mean being a bad friend, failing to live up to your promises, or otherwise treating your loved ones like dirt?

I'm looking for an equivalent adjective in U.S. English like "that was a ___________ thing you did to your best friend" or "real __________ move, to leave your own kid with no ride home." It can be vulgar, but something that an American would actually say.

Question inspired by the fact that I'm in the process of getting CPR certified, and their online training is amazing — it's got adaptive testing, varied practice, options for clarification, a feedback button, and a clean interface. The vignettes are well-filmed and show only what they need to, and the information is straightforward/factual with no fluff. I had no idea online training could be this good.

So like, what's with the awkward vignettes, janky interfaces, and excruciating over-writing in the Title IX trainings? Are there no education experts involved in the process? Is it a budget problem? I would describe myself as intrinsically motivated, even — I've been that student who was sexually harassed — but I still suffer through those classes with grinding teeth every year.

[Obligatory "I'm old" disclaimer: my high school had 3 computers, and tablets didn't exist.]

T is a high school student in a semi-rural area of Iowa in the 2020s. His family is very poor, so I'd like his solution for online access to be a school-issued iPad that he connects to the wifi at school and the town library. However:

1. Would a poor rural school district even be able to afford a tablet for each kid? Or at least enough tablets that the kids with no other internet device could borrow one for all four years?
2. Are these tablets "locked" into only having access to education-related websites or apps? How hard is it to get around those locks? Is there nanny software blocking anything the school deems inappropriate, and if so how hard is that to get around?
3. Would T have to do 100% of typing on that crappy touchscreen keyboard, or would the school be able to get him a physical keyboard?
4. Nobody else in T's family has a computer or smartphone either; would he get in trouble if it came out that he regularly loans the tablet to his older brother?
5. How much does the school have visibility into what happens on the tablet?
6. If the tablet is semi-broken but still usable (e.g. large corner of the screen is dark, no longer plays sound, has slowed to a crawl) would he be able to get a replacement?

Edited to add: Would T have access to the device in the summer, or would he need to give it back to the school every summer?

I love how Holly Black's stories have so much discussion of poverty/sexism/other real-world issues as well as travel to fairyland. And I always want more books with that kind of bent. So far I've read & liked:

• A Spindle Splintered by Alix E Harrow
• Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire
• Where I Can't Follow by Ashley Blooms
• Die by Kieron Gillen

And I've read & hated The Magicians series. Can anyone rec other books like these? Thanks!

Originality is dead, it's official: EVERY book I've read in the last few years has words in it! And most of them are nouns, verbs, or adjectives! If that wasn't bad enough, most of the departures from this pattern are adverbs (Satan) or pronouns (Woke).