Monkey Pay Per View

Interesting report reveals that monkeys are willing to "pay" to see "certain kinds" of photographs of other monkeys...another piece of human uniqueness blown away! /dps

Implicit Associations Test

Came across a reference to an Implicit Associations Test on Mixing Memory and just wanted to make note of it here for future reference. It appears to somewhat related to my own conception of worldview (although it seems more experience dependent and less likely to reflect any predispositional genetically-mediated biases in wetware) and, in any case, it is methodologically interesting and worth a look. I took a couple tests with results reported as inconclusive but I can definitely see the rationale behind the method and may try to make use of this site in my current People and the Environment course. /dps

German relative Lothar Siems

Lothar Siems circa 1983

Through the wonders of the internet we connected up with a member of the German branch of the Siems clan. Lothar Siems, shown in the 1983 sketch above drawn by his artist-spouse Gisela, is a musician who bears a striking resemblance to me -- at least in my pre-chemo, longer haired days! To think I am am lucky enough to teach and wonder about genetics in the age of the internet. /dps ps. trying a new picture uploading process -- Picasa|Hello for the my blog -- in other words I am procrastinating!

Another long hiatus

It has been a long time since my last post. Healthwise, this is a "no news is good news" thing. I am feeling great and looking forward to another check-up in April. We had an enjoyable holiday season but tainted once again by cancer -- Lenore's brother was diagnosed in late December with colon cancer and underwent surgery in early January. He is doing well and the prognosis is good but such events take some of the sparkle out of the season. Still doing an immense quantity of dissertation reading but am starting (finally) to feel pretty comfortable with my grasp of all the relevant literature. My spring semester teaching load is much lighter (three courses, only one seminar course that I haven't taught before) so I am even finding some time time to curl (as a sub) and to get in a weekly game of basketball. Mike and Lars Olson were here last weekend and we went crappie fishing on Upper Red. Wow! It is an amazing fishery (see P1010053.JPG) and definitely a trip worth making again. We caught 16 crappies all over 14" long and at curling last night a 'reliable source' reported a twenty-incher! We all caught a few walleyes and some northern pike. The walleye fishery is still closed but we had northern pike for lunch.

My thoughts on the biological underpinnings of worldviews and worldview constraints continue to develop in rather unexpected ways. My data are revealing a very interesting and complex picture of how differences in what Dobzhansky called "ultimate concerns" influence student attitudes and behaviors related to the environment. Should make for a good story in the end. All for now...time to get back to work. /dps