ancestry
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On bias in (and against!) romance novels.
Romance novels espouse a radical philosophy, that our joy matters as much as power, progress, or fame.
aesthetics of care, AI, AI algorithm, AI algorithms, algorithm, ancestry, artificial neural networks, beach reads, bias, book review, books, Christina Lauren, Ciara Smyth, data training, dating algorithms, dating apps, dating service, DNA, genetic ancestry, genetics, guilty pleasure, happiness, Maggie Nelson, matchmaking, On Freedom, online dating, pleasure, predictive algorithm, prejudice, prejudice against romance novels, reading, romance, romance novel, romance novels, romantic compatability, silent mutations, soulmate, The Falling in Love Montage, the pursuit of happiness, The Soulmate Equation, The True Love Experiment, writing
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On the evolution of skin color.
Over thousands of years, our ancestors evolved. Epidermal melanin protects us from the sun. Seems reasonable. But contemporary racism throws a wrench in the discussion.
African ancestry, ancestry, Asatru, biology of human evolution, books to prisoners, brain evolution, chance in evolution, chance in human evolution, Denisovan, Denisovans, diet in human evolution, domestication, edda, epidermal melanin, evolution, evolution of agriculture, evolution of brain size, evolution of epidermal melanin, evolution of great apes, evolution of human brain, evolution of human intelligence, evolution of intelligence, evolution of skin color, evolutionary advantage, evolutionary pressure, examples of evolution, explanation of human evolution, farming, folate hypothesis, history of human migration, history of human race, Homo sapiens, Homo sapiens evolution, how long does evolution take, Human ancestry, human body plan, human evolution, human migration, human race, human species, humanity, Icelandic, Icelandic mythology, Icelandic poetry, impact of agriculture on human evolution, incarceration, jail, latitude and skin color, learning, mass incarceration, melanin, Midwest Pages to Prisoners, Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project, migration, migration and evolution, mythology, Neanderthal, Neanderthals, neo-paganism, neopagan, neopaganism, neural plasticity, Norse mythology, Northern European ancestry, Northern European evolution, Odin, odinism, outdoor rec, paganism, Pages to Prisoners, pre-christian religion, prehistory of agriculture, prison, prison education, race, racial disparities in the criminal justice system, racial injustice, racism, racist police enforcement, racist policing, random factors in evolution, religion, skin color, skin color evolution, starfish evolution, stickleback evolution, sunlight, teaching evolution, The Edda, The Poetic Edda, The Prose Edda, UV damage, Viking myths, Viking religion, what does melanin do?, what does skin color do, white supremacists, white supremacy, why do people have different skin color, why skin color
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On Mat Johnson’s Loving Day and wanting to fit in.
My condolences to those who feel as though it’s their heritage never to fit in. Growing up, I didn’t fit either. But I had no expectation of fitting in. I was an outlier by virtue of who I was, not who my parents were. And presumably I could’ve learned to talk differently, to act differently,…
ancestry, brain imaging, brains, Caitlyn Jenner, choosing our identity, contemporary literary fiction, Danzy Senna, differences between male and female brains, differences between men’s and women’s brains, Elinor Burkett, feminism, feminist, Gina Rippon, identity politics, Loving Day, Mat Johnson, mixed-race, multicultural, nail polish, race, review of Mat Johnson’s Loving Day, rudely claiming that all black art is “urban”, The Mulatto Millennium, The Sympathizer, tribes, urban, urban fiction, urban graphic novels, Viet Nguyen, what does it mean to be black, What Makes a Woman, what should a black man look like, who is black
Frank Brown Cloud 