Recent content by the Dept of Science

Older women are often portrayed in media as good for nothing but making babies or are defined entirely in relation to their children. Much the same way that young women are viewed as sex objects. This trope is less common (arguably not quite as bad), but is still harmful to women. It is part of...

Except that protecting her large brood of babies can be as problematic a motivation as doing it for a man.

This reminded me of the Bechdel Test, but made easier to pass and then failed by pretty much everyone.

Well, firstly, you are choosing a sample of artists from very different genres. Punk, metal, hard rock, brit pop, funk... If you were to compare singers within just one of those, then I don't think that you would find the variety that you are talking about. Secondly, look at a group like NWA...

There was this venue round the corner from my house which used to put on free gigs all the time. Smallish pub, foot high stage. I have a flyer from one month where both Frank Turner and Mumford & Sons were playing. I missed both of them.

It's got nothing to do with identity. Being a fan of a small, niche band, and being a fan of a large, popular band are two different experiences. One isn't necessarily better than the other and we can do to have a bit of both in our lives, but perhaps in some cases, for some bands, you just...

I consciously gave 3 reasons which had nothing to do with the band changing their sound. Do they make me an asshole hipster?

Whenever people bring up hipsters, they always bring up the phrase "I liked them before they were famous". It's probably through it's association with hipsters that this phrase has been tainted somewhat. But I want to reclaim it. I think that it's a perfectly reasonable position to hold...

It's not challenging to offend someone. It doesn't take any skill or cunning, pretty much anyone could do it if they wanted to. Just because it's someone's intention to offend doesn't make it a worthy goal. You can't defend something merely on the grounds that "that's what they intended to do"...

I agree overall apart from one point. In the video, Jim said that gamers lash out against these arguments because they "fear that games will be taken away from them". I think that people lash out against accusations of sexism/racism/whatever because its easier than having to admit that you might...

We've seen this phenomenon with a lot of other subcultures, especially ones that have gone from being "underground" to mainstream. Think of all the debates in certain music subcultures about "authenticity". Punk, rap and blues being great examples. Alternatively, the old hipster mantra of "I saw...

I don't believe that noone has brought up Yahtzee's own recommendation from way back: Psychonauts Genuinely funny throughout. Furthermore, the humour was present in the characters, the level design and the gameplay. Lastly it still succeeded as a game. There may have been a couple issues...

I hope that when AI is invented, this is the first object it's put into. Also, who, when being kissed, is really wrapped up in the mere lip motions. The taste, smell, caress and all that are kindof what make kissing someone special. Not the fact that they moved their tongue in a certain...

There What I find interesting about this phenomenon though is that you would think that this greater literary output would result in less unity, but it appears that the opposite is true. The internet has made writing more accessible than it has ever been. Anyone can write something, put it...

The system is designed so that 100 is average.