text:
January 19, 2012
Shortage of female math geniuses not due to "stereotype threat"
A theory that was proposed to explain that fact is that of stereotype threat. According to this theory, there is a stereotype in society that "women are bad in math"; women internalize this stereotype and lose confidence about their math abilities, and so they tend to perform sub-optimally in math tests, hence rendering the idea of "women are bad in math" a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This new study demonstrates that much of the literature that has accumulated around the idea of a "stereotype threat" can be relegated to the trash bin, and those who hope that fighting the stereotype will lead to more females joining the mathematical elite have their work cut out for them.
A video on the topic by the first author:
Review of General Psychology, Jan 16 , 2012, No Pagination Specified. doi: 10.1037/a0026617
Can stereotype threat explain the gender gap in mathematics performance and achievement?
Stoet, Gijsbert; Geary David C.
Men and women score similarly in most areas of mathematics, but a gap favoring men is consistently found at the high end of performance. One explanation for this gap, stereotype threat, was first proposed by Spencer, Steele, and Quinn (1999) and has received much attention. We discuss merits and shortcomings of this study and review replication attempts. Only 55% of the articles with experimental designs that could have replicated the original results did so. But half of these were confounded by statistical adjustment of preexisting mathematics exam scores. Of the unconfounded experiments, only 30% replicated the original. A meta-analysis of these effects confirmed that only the group of studies with adjusted mathematics scores displayed the stereotype threat effect. We conclude that although stereotype threat may affect some women, the existing state of knowledge does not support the current level of enthusiasm for this as a mechanism underlying the gender gap in mathematics. We argue there are many reasons to close this gap, and that too much weight on the stereotype explanation may hamper research and implementation of effective interventions.
34 comments:
- Pascvaks said...
The difference is genetic. The advantages of X over Y are as marked as the advantages of Y over X. Are there exceptions to the rule? Always. Is there a norm for X? Yes. Is there a norm for Y? Yes. Intelligence has nothing whatsoever to do with the demons that drive us, and these are as different as X is to Y, and night is to day. That which distinguishes us makes us different on various levels by giving one an advantage over the other, and the other an advantage over the one. Who knew hunters could usually hunt better than non-hunters? Is it social conditioning or something else? This is genetics not psychology.
- Thursday, January 19, 2012 6:12:00 pm
- Charles Nydorf said...
I wonder if little girls who evince a deep interest in mathematics are as apt to receive encouragement and support as little boys.
- Thursday, January 19, 2012 6:53:00 pm
- lumina said...
I was just reading about this yesterday. Men asking why there are no female geniuses. Of course, that depends on what your idea of genius is, for me it means the person left a group of works with lasting quality, not a high IQ. But don't men forget that most women choose to take time off to have children and raise them? You can't be a genius if you're surrounded by all these diapers needing to be changed and runny noses. I read somewhere, don't recall where, that even men can't be geniuses if their family life is too much of a bother for them.
- Thursday, January 19, 2012 7:05:00 pm
- Alice C. Linsley said...
Genetics, yes, but also how we as males and females measure genius. Carol Gilligan's work, published in her book In a Different Voice, is relevant.
- Thursday, January 19, 2012 8:29:00 pm
- pconroy said...
Since the 1960's at least the answer would most likely be yes, for the Western World.
The only way to compare "Genius" in Match or elsewhere is to have an objective measure of it, one such is High IQ or in the case of Math, winning the Fields Medal. Objectively at the right tail of the bell curve, men outnumber women in Math ability over 10 to 1. Subjectivity doesn't count here. - Thursday, January 19, 2012 10:28:00 pm
- Easy772 said...
"We argue there are MANY reasons to close this gap, and that too much weight on the stereotype explanation may hamper research and implementation of effective interventions."
It's definitely partly due to genetics IMO. But, there are also "many reasons". - Friday, January 20, 2012 1:42:00 am
- Alice C. Linsley said...
I understand objective measurement.
I also have a daughter who was recognized (tested) and found to be a math genius in 7th grade. It first expressed itself in music in 6th grade. She suddenly started playing sophisticated classical type scores and yet had never had a single lesson. When I asked her about it, she said, "Its all math, Mom." I couldn't find a school that could help her develop. Eventually she received a full 4- year scholarship to Westover in Middlebury, CT. This exclusive girls boarding school specializes in developing girl math genuises. From there, my daughter went (again on a scholarship) to Oberlin in OH where she studied quantum physics. - Friday, January 20, 2012 2:02:00 am
- princenuadha said...
And like clockwork we get comments about the supposed advantage boys have, to explain why their are more men at the top, without also mentioning that there are also more boys in special education classes than girls.
Boys are doing worse at all levels if education and their are more boys in special education than girls. We should not try to tear successful males down at any opportunity and then selectively ignore all the males at the bottom. It doesn't make sense that boys are incouraged more in an environment that us mostly set up against them. Whether you want to use sociology or individual biology to explain males greater success you can't ignore men's greater failures. - Friday, January 20, 2012 8:11:00 am
- princenuadha said...
Do you think all the great mathematicians and scientists of the past had their educations handed to them?
Read up on some of their bio's and you'll see all the real hardships and little opportunities some of them had. - Friday, January 20, 2012 8:17:00 am
- Samequeen said...
When I was a little girl I was a math genius in school. Next grades I hade lousy results and then I decided, when adult to study during evening, I got the highest degrees in math, but it is not me, it is my husband that is a Professor at a university.
And why, because I'm totally at his service at home. Clean sheets in bed, clean clothes, socks... I even buy books and choose interests for him, I arrange our/his travels... food...gardenwork, Im even a carpenter, plumber etc sometimes.
I'm a universal genius, but that gives me no credits in math. - Friday, January 20, 2012 9:35:00 am
- Nomad said...
I do not think the difference is genetic, here. It is a need of society. More men are required to work and reserch, and just as many women who take care of these men. With the "disadvantage" to care for children and families, as usually happens. From the biological point of view, most girls who are convinced they are not gifted in mathematics spread, and most would be those that show themselves able in this matter. But evidently it is not so.It is true, we carry a big stereotype about when women could not prevail in these fields, but today is not so
- Friday, January 20, 2012 7:11:00 pm
- lumina said...
But women still feel pressured to have children, and if you've never had any, you don't know how much time and effort it takes in raising them, much more than other "hardship." Most people can deal with hardship, it doesn't take a genius (no pun intended) to deal with hardships now and then, but I know that raising kids well is an extremely difficult and time-consuming job, and it WEARS YOU OUT.
And btw, this thing about hardships really isn't true. In a study done, it was found most geniuses came from comfortable middle class families. It seems if you're either too poor or too rich, genius eludes you as well. - Friday, January 20, 2012 7:31:00 pm
- princenuadha said...
Just for clarity, when I said "the supposed advantage boys have" I was talking about the myth that boys are given more support in education.
The idea is ridiculous given that boys are doing worse overall and that this gap had been growing for the past 20 years while little was done to address the "boy crisis. (There gas actually been more aid going to girls) Obviously boys should be doing as well and we know that girls do not have higher iqs.
And with regards to giftedness and encouragement there are actually more girls in programs for the gifted and girls are more likely to be seen as gifted, shown and discussed here, and better summarized here.
But this not be the case. Based on iq or actual achievements boys should be seen as gifted as girls if not more. In fact there should be more boys in schools for the gifted seeing how boys are over represented on BOTH the low end and high end of the iq spectrum. But we only see mire boys in special ed...
The people saying we give more encouragement to (gifted) boys are using old talking points and ignoring the realities boys face. It will probably take ten years before people can actually look at what's going on. - Friday, January 20, 2012 7:37:00 pm
- apostateimpressions said...
It seems that feminists and other egalitarians tend to see the average differences in male and female abilities as a *problem* to be somehow "solved" with social policies. It seems obvious that Nature has an extremely strong tendency to bifurcate (split into two) gender across nearly all species. We are mammals and all mammalian species have two genders with non-identical roles and abilities. Of course men and women have many similar abilities and can adapt somewhat to different roles but our biological socio-gender orientations are not identical and they are not supposed to be either.
Feminism as an ideological and political tendency seems to have its historical location in what we may call the proletarianisation of the population, where late industrial capitalism has made us essentially "workers" who sell our labour. Globalism has the same tendency to negate ethnic differences and reduce us to worker-citizens. But humanity obviously isnt all about obliterating the differences between sexes and ethnicities even if that is what capitalist liberaism wants. *Difference* is an extremely important facet of "human being". Indeed *difference* is transcendental to all higher life and I think that we would have to go back to some very basic single cell lifeforms to get identity or equality.
The egalitarians seem to have not merely a social agenda but also a eugenics agenda: they wish to use social policies and agitation to direct human evolution down a path where differences are obliterated in the name of some "moral" crusade of "equality", "tolerance" and whatever other buzz words. But their project seems radically contrary to the basic principles of mammalian life, if not of *all* life. Sure it seems "good" if women obtain higher abilities but is the basic egalitarian orientation mistaken? Im not against social policies that direct human genetic development but it seems that eugenics should work *with* Nature rather than against it. Quite what that means is obviously open to debate but I think that it is worth noting that most feminists and other leftists are overtly dead set against any form of eugenics but in fact their own policies are radically eu/dis genic.
In my opinion egalitarianism will have a very high price (social collapse) because the well-being of society depends on its good order. You have to have good leaders to make good decisions, for instance, and supposedly "moral" democracy is no substitute for meritocracy, as Plato explained long ago. We have inherited a highly advanced technological society from the past and we are able to prosper because of the abilites and common sense of past generations, at least for a time but their world is rapidly changing into something new that will have to take responsibility for itself where social stability and progress is concerned. My fear is that democratic egalitarianism (and feminism, multiculturalism etc.) is actually a forefunner to *tyranny* as Plato noted, even to the "worker state". Mensheviks believe that capitalist society will gradually prepare the way for World Communism and cultural Marxism is aimed at preparing or hastening the transition.
As for the idea that differences of ability are due to "discrimination" (another favourite leftist buzz word), we have had harsh "reverse discrimination" in the UK for decades. You could lose your job for saying that men and women have different average IQs let alone races, especially in the public sector. All are obliged to promote "equality" 24/7 or be ostracised and/ or have their career and their lives ruined. A lot of people seem to think that is a great idea and a sign of "progress". Afterall, equality is "good" and society used to be "evil".. right? - Friday, January 20, 2012 7:38:00 pm
- princenuadha said...
Don't even try to feed me the sentiment that raising kids is the "hardest job in the world". The hardest jobs are things like crab fisherman, working down in mines that might collapse, being deployed in battle, etc... Stay at home moms have it pretty easy and if you can't see that you aren't cut for the difficult high stress jobs at the top (one readon I think men have a shorter lifespan). Those mothers aren't even having to collect water from a well, wash clothes at the river, gather wood, build fires, pluck chickens, make pottery and textiles to sell, and so on. Homes used to be places of production and work but they are far from that now. They stay at home dads I talked to also confirmed this.
And sure, most well achieved scientists came from well off backgrounds but not all which is the point. Essentially every major scientific breakthrough has come from men even though not all those men were given much opportunities... Instead they made it happen. The hardships I was talking about were people like Euler who became nearly blind but continued to write prolifically by doing many of the complex calculations in his head and relying on a near picture perfect memory. Im also talking about Stephen hawking who can only get his ideas out through painstakingly tedious trial and error as he compress with his physical disability. That and he also has to do many complex calculations in his head.
Then there was Einstein who came up with the theory of relativity, not in a university, but while working in a patent office.
So please, enough with the excuses and self congratulations. You won't get anywhere with that attitude or ever be like the people you casually dismiss as having "petty" hardships. - Friday, January 20, 2012 9:03:00 pm
- Pascvaks said...
It is truly difficult for someone from Mars to empathize with a person from Venus, and visa versa. Best to keep it genetic, and even then, limited to the essential 1.5% of human genes that make us different from chimps (and all the other lifeforms in this section of the Universe).
- Saturday, January 21, 2012 12:10:00 am
- Unknown said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Saturday, January 21, 2012 12:53:00 am
- Unknown said...
What an ill informed discussion. There are no female math geniuses? Rubbish.
What about Hypatia and Ada Lovelace. There were MANY others. Not bad given the fact that educating women has been very strongly discouraged for millenia. Wisewomen were even burnt as witches.
Women do better at all levels of objective education mostly because they are more likely to behave. But even in my generation the brightest girl at school was not allowed to go to Uni by her family. I myself caught myself instinctively down-playing my intelligence for social acceptance when I moved from single sex to mixed education. Women fall behind as soon as they are judged subjectively rather than objectively.
When I had my first child all of a sudden I was no longer invited to join committees in the same way as previously. It was instantaneous, like a switch had been thrown. Suddenly I was in the female basket rather than the true colleague basket. Unclean, Unclean.
Modern "geniuses" are about self promotion and patronage. Steven Hawkings is the classic. We dont yet live in an equal world.
There may be real differences between men and women but they do not delineate genius and non genius. Its way more complicated than that.
This article if you read it says almost nothing. - Saturday, January 21, 2012 1:22:00 am
- princenuadha said...
What about Hypatia and Ada Lovelace.
Who? (Rhetorical question)
I myself caught myself instinctively down-playing my intelligence for social acceptance when I moved from single sex to mixed education.
Wow, that is so meaningful seeing how you can speak for all women and go inside the minds of men...
I just showed you that people are more likely to see girls as being gifted. That means girls are getting the recognition and the educational support. Your talking points are old and destructive when you act like there is all this favoritism towards boys even though its mostly the other way around.
Women do better at all levels of objective education mostly because they are more likely to behave.
I've heard this before; as soon as boys start doing worse its their own fault... Yet somehow you can make excuses for yourself and other grown women.
But you have actually shown us one of the lazy and hurtful stereotypes that is often perpetuated in the learning environment by the teachers (mostly female). The kids absorb this stuff, as both boys and girls think that girls are smarter.
This is where learning style enters in. Schools have become a place that is mostly focused on good behavior (which they define as girl behavior), and of course following directions, due diligence, and repeating what your told. Then you can get your A. They don't value high energy or independent thinking. In my experience high school was more about diligence than intelligence. That's why I didn't do well until I got to college.
It's almost amusing that you would call girls more "well behaved" knowing that they fit into the classrooms better, then wonder why there aren't more female geniuses creating revolutionary ways of thinking by breaking with convention.
The reason I called the stereotype that boys are misbehaved as lazy is because it reflects a lazy way of educating. The low energy and obedience desired in most classrooms is not conducive to great thinking but mediocrity. We should be valuing the energy of boys and their creative ways even if it costs us more energy to do so. I personally think we need to have more male teachers since they will be more understanding of boys. On a very related issue, male teachers bring more confidence and drive to boys and girls.
I don't know if women haven't done much genius work because of biology or culture but I know they won't do it with the typical attitudes I've seen perpetuated here. To be capable of greatness you can't say things like motherhood is so HARD, and even diminish hardships other scientists went through like war, near blindness, disabilities, and producing works from prison! Not only does calling motherhood HARD sound spoiled but it also looks like they want recognition more than actual achievement. (Also, fathers rights maybe?!?) On a similar note women also need to stop spouting higher grades in grade school or greater diplomas received as "objective" evidence that great things should come of that. It's just celebrating more mediocrity given that neither requires much intelligence. On behalf of history they need to admit, at best, a lack of boldness and risk since some of the greatest scientists where never given an education or a title; men weren't always given things, sometimes had to take it upon themselves.
Mostly women just need to stop whining in search of recognition as if they want others to fix their problems (that actually fits perfectly with their traditional gender role) even when it just comes down their own choices, not the law.
This woman writes on actual female empowerment(owning your shit, not the "I'm forever a victim" that feminism is. - Saturday, January 21, 2012 8:44:00 pm
- Unknown said...
I don't understand people.
With all my respect, why are people so coward to shout the truth against all this stupid propaganda?
Do we really need a *** study to know that the proportion of men who excel in advanced maths ARE WAY MORE than that of women???
Seriously? Call me whatever you want, but you can't change what I myself have witnessed in my entire life in two different cultures Egypt and the UK, and I myself am a top achiever in mathematics (usually top in my university and previously school).
We are not talking about "genius" here, we are talking about achievements in MATHEMATICS specifically.
Women are simply bad at high level mathematics compared to men, whether you admit it or not.
Why shouting the truth makes me labelled as ignorant or whatever now?
This article is like saying:
"After extensive research we have found that men are better soldiers." OH REALLY !?? GOD KILL ME !! - Saturday, January 21, 2012 9:25:00 pm
- Unknown said...
Can I please get your email or some other way of communication? I'm really interested in talking with you, as you seem to know a lot about exactly what I'm interested in.
This is my google+:
https://plus.google.com/118324267150724175776/posts - Saturday, January 21, 2012 10:41:00 pm
- Roy said...
@ Annie. Don't worry, when women are as tall and heavy as men with as large brains on average, then you'll have your 'equal world'. Gotta fight evolution.
- Sunday, January 22, 2012 10:59:00 am
- eurologist said...
@pconroy -
When you bring in the Fields medal, remember you are talking about the 99.999999th percentile or so. That far down the tail, there are so many influences that one would clearly expect individuals advantaged in a large number of ways to have a decisive ... well, advantage.
At the 99th percentile level, there are no differences in math ability in many cultures. How about at the 99.9 to 99.999 percentile? In Germany, as an example, about half of Mathematics students at the university level are women. And, while 30 years ago fewer than 10% earned a doctorate, today it is close to 30%. What best explains this incredibly quick advancement in the "math-intellectual ability" of German women? Societal changes, such as acceptance, of course. - Sunday, January 22, 2012 12:32:00 pm
- Unknown said...
"Wow, that is so meaningful seeing how you can speak for all women and go inside the minds of men..."
Huh? When did I do that?
Egypt certainly does not offer equal opportunities for men and women.
Both my grandmothers (UK) were forced out of education in primary school. My mother's mathematics teacher expelled ALL the girls from class for the rest of their studies in high school over some petty thing, just an excuse really the teacher apparently felt teaching girls high school mathematics was a waste of time.
Years later I discovered that when I studied for my 11+ exams (not in the UK) there was a substantially lower pass rate for a boy as compared to a girl. So a girl could get a higher grade and not get into one of the high schools, therefore she had to go to one of the very rough technical training colleges (focusing on typing and other manual skills). The reason for this was apparently there were more high school places for boys than girls, and it was felt that the boys would catch up. At that time it was no longer true as shown by examination results.
Boys used to sail past in primary school, then it was high school, then Uni, now it is in the workplace. This is not a biological change, its societal, as Eurologist said.
When I said behave what I mean is that in school (especially Kindergarden) some boys are bouncing in their seats whereas the girls mostly sit and obey. It seems to be biological, not their fault. A need for more physical activity. This is why it is often said that boys should start school later as they are not ready. I have a well-behaved older son and a very bratty daughter, but it still applies. She can concentrate and he gets distracted and needs to move around. But he still tells her every day how much cleverer he is. She sincerely believes him. :)
Perhaps the true sex determined masculine talent is in self promotion. (I am quite serious).
It is true that some of these bouncy boys get discouraged and left behind. This needs to be fixed, but it is not the girls fault, it is the way education is delivered, AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN DELIVERD (ie sit still and do what you are told to do). But in the past a boy could feel some pride that at least he was doing better than the girls. Do we really need to smash down the girls for the sake of the struggling boys? In what universe is that an ethical solution?
I came across this quote which I think gets to the nub of the problem and also part of the solution.
"Specifically, girls at all levels of academic ability did better in single-sex schools than in coed schools; whereas for boys, the beneficial effect of single-sex schools was significant only for boys at the lower end of the ability scale. For higher-achieving boys, there was no statistically significant effect of school type on performance, positive or negative. "
I'd settle for equivalent.
Bigger is not always better. :)
Neanderthals had bigger brains. In all Dienekes skull studies I cant recall a correlation between craniums and IQs and I would not expect one,(excluding the clinically impaired of course). - Sunday, January 22, 2012 5:32:00 pm
- Unknown said...
@Annie Mouse
I can't post a complete reply now, but just a note:
the link you provided
doesn't apply to me and what I said at all.
That's a rural area, yes they have difficulties in education and traditional ideas.
I come from the capital from a very populated area, where you can find schools everywhere, and girls don't go "help their fathers on the land"
My parents are both of the working class, not farmers, and my sister is a doctor.
I can excuse you because you don't know Egypt. - Sunday, January 22, 2012 11:27:00 pm
- princenuadha said...
Working links
This is a link
Biases and expectations among adults are often in play when determining which children count as gifted, and fewer boys appear to end up in gifted programs nationally.
National Academy of Sciences
[boys were] overrepresented in programs for learning disabilities, mental retardation and emotional disturbance, and slightly underrepresented in gifted programs, said Bruce A. Bracken
Girls were more likely to be seen as bright than boys, with 13.3 per cent of female pupils in the top set, compared with 11.8 per cent of boys.
Boys are more likely to be dealt with as learning disabled and less likely to be realty with as gifted than girls. There is definitely a bias in who's giftedness we are supporting, and it consists of girls over boys!
Boys 'held back' by school stereotypes
Teachers may be fuelling the gender gap in education by stereotyping boys as badly behaved, research suggests... It emerged that pupils from all ages were more likely to identify girls as being better behaved and harder working. Even boys were more likely to pick out girls as high achievers, researchers said.
Children were also split into two groups, with the first group told that boys did not perform as well as girls. Both groups completed maths, reading and writing tests. The study found that girls' results were broadly similar in both groups but boys in the first performed worse than those in the second.
This is a serious problem if boys are already considering girls as better achievers and it is likely affecting their success. One really has to wonder what environment boys are being taught in. I don't think it helps that most teachers are female and probably don't deal with the style of boys as well.
Importantly, Pupils make more effort with male teachers as they are seen as 'more fair'
They make more effort to please them, display greater self-esteem and are more likely to believe they are being treated fairly.
The findings are particularly significant as more than a quarter of primary schools do not have a single male teacher...
Researchers found that women teachers may also unwittingly perpetuate low expectations of boys and encourage girls to work harder by telling them they are clever.
Unless you guys think that more girls deserve to be in schools for the gifted then please wake up. Some of you are defending the higher end of male achievement, which is fine, but boys are suffering across the board. It's not due to biology or lifestyle choices as has formed most of this debate. They're young boys who aren't even being given a shot because we are failing to develop them by... neglect, misunderstanding, resentment, or what have you.
I'm saying that the debate is at the wrong end of the picture. And if you believe that the genius gap comes from culture then to ignore boys development is to seek revenge on them. If you believe the gap is due to biology then you know boys will continue to be ignored while the focus remains on only the top males as the majority and lower end males get completely screwed.
The talking point of inequity towards females is old or misrepresented at best; don't perpetuate it or be baited by it. Start asking why boys are doing worse by every measure... Nobody should be agreeing with that. - Monday, January 23, 2012 3:10:00 am
- princenuadha said...
"It seems to be biological, not their fault."
That's the point! When women are doing worse you call it culture but when boys are doing worse you call it biology...
>This is why it is often said that boys should start school later as they are not ready
Gee, I wonder why boys aren't doing well with prevailing attitudes like this...
Ever consider that when boys are acting up and playing games they're actually engaging their minds a hell of a lot more than what they'd get from just learning the times tables or doing an art project? When they play they're planning, socializing/negotiating, harnessing their drives, and basically being INVENTIVE.
It's not "bouncing around" or being easily "distracted" unless you demand they act like girls and nothing else.
"Do we really need to smash down the girls for the sake of the struggling boys?"
Sounds a lot like projection.
"Perhaps the true sex determined masculine talent is in self promotion. (I am quite serious)."
I seriously worry when a mother thinks this and has a son.
"it is the way education is delivered, AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN DELIVERD"
Actually I've shown that male teachers would significantly help the situation (one other thing men are good at besides "boasting"). Maybe more male teachers would mean boy behavior isn't frowned upon. It should actually help girls too.
And from that same site,
'Boys in coed classes: 37% scored proficient
girls in coed classes: 59% scored proficient
girls in single-sex classes: 75% scored proficient
boys in single-sex classes: 86% scored proficient.' - Monday, January 23, 2012 6:57:00 am
- EuroAlpine said...
Lol. Clash of the genders here. "Everything must be equal in the possibilities" is the religion for some here. But as the genes tell us, there are differences, also between the genders. Even if cultural behaviour plays sometime an important rule, the basical differences remain.
- Monday, January 23, 2012 12:47:00 pm
- M said...
Doreen Kimura has a number of papers explaining this is due to genetics.
- Tuesday, January 24, 2012 6:23:00 am
- Unknown said...
I sincerely admire my sons natural talents in self-promotion and off-the-cuff bullshit. These are useful skills.
- Tuesday, January 24, 2012 6:51:00 am
- Unknown said...
"That's the point! When women are doing worse you call it culture but when boys are doing worse you call it biology..."
No. What I am saying is that there are plenty of brilliant female mathematicians despite the stereotypes.
What I am saying is that girls failed to achieve educational milestones in the past NOT because of biology but because they were actively prevented from doing so. And this is ongoing, although getting progressively better.
I am saying that when I visit kindergarten that almost all the girls are sitting quietly and a noticeable portion of the boys are wriggling around around, flicking stuff at the other kids, staring at the ceiling etc. I assume it is biological but I suppose it could be already be differential parental expectations/training. Anyhow the result is the same. They dont learn as much as a result, and distract the others. They fall behind and its worse in mixed classes where they compare themselves to the girls and there is more posturing (on both sides).
There is no malevolent society of evil female teachers plotting to discriminate against the boys. I dont beleive the boys are treated differently. Some boys however perhaps find it easier to respond to male authority as opposed to female authority. Apparently even something as simple as voice pitch makes a difference. Perhaps it is precisely the boys who have trouble obeying female teachers who are worst hit when they realize the girls are doing better academically. A vicious circle leading to discouragement and a negative self view.
Anyhow I agree that the problem of under-performing boys needs to be fixed. - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 7:47:00 am
- eurologist said...
Anyhow I agree that the problem of under-performing boys needs to be fixed.
Annie, As a father of one, I agree.
My son had a kindergarten teacher who expected 4-year-olds to sit still and try writing letters for hours on end. Wrong expectation - although girls complied and were the only ones getting rewards at day's end.
In California, the epiphany was that statistics showed: pupils who read a lot early do well in school. Ergo, all we need to do is teach 4-6 year-olds to read plenty and early, and everyone will be smart and live happily ever after. As a consequence, any other topic area, anything creative, and any kind of teaching that actually followed natural child development was nixed.
And yes, most teachers are female up to and including middle school, and there is a strong misunderstanding and bias against "unruly" boys. This is also a very well-known problem in public schools in the US at large.
However, come late high-school and college/university, the tables are turned. - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 1:07:00 pm
- Unknown said...
I am a female college senior who found this article after googling for an answer to my higher math frustrations. To be clear, I am not a mathematics major, though I will have nearly completed all of the courses to finish a math degree by the time I graduate and plan to get a PhD in a quantitative field. I am currently the only woman in one of my college's upper level math course and I am also currently the only person in the class with a C average. I can also say with certainty that I spend the most time on my homework and get the best grades on assignments, but I fail to do well on the exams.
Perhaps part of this is test anxiety. Sure, I could always study more. But at a certain point in every math course I've taken (happened yesterday), I have to have a cry over the fact that the boys always do so much better than me (and most of my female friends when they are in my classes) with less effort.
Quite honestly, there are times when I think that it is unfair that I be graded against the same standard, but I know would be, in fact, very unfair to my classmates! I do feel deep down though that once I am actually doing my own research that it won't matter who got a better grade in some class. I believe that my capacity for creativity and innovation will launch me above most of the men in my field. One of my female math professors has basically expressed the same hope to me about her own research.
In short, I agree with many of the posters here that there are many more male math geniuses than female math geniuses. At the same time, I really believe in the value of women entering quantitative fields. In today's world, computers can handle many complex computations. What we need now are for women to struggle through the math to go on to be real innovators.
Now, this might not be completely satisfactory to people who say, well, we shouldn't pay attention to women's mathematics education/achievement because they won't receive the Fields Medal. What I'm saying, though, is that maybe we need to rethink the goals of an education in mathematics. Women have so much to offer to STEM, even if not all of us get perfect grades. - Tuesday, April 03, 2012 6:54:00 pm
- Unknown said...
Stereotype Threat is THE fundamental reason why there are so few female math geniuses. I look at my own life as a woman and see the havoc that negative stereotypes about my gender has wrecked on my life and the lives of my female friends. For example, in college I studied anthropology because I believed that you need to have "innate" abilities in math to do well in math-related subjects. I struggled in math, engineering, and physical science courses and promptly decided that I was too stupid to do major in mathematics. After college I found myself hired for job as a web developer. Years after that I decided that software engineering was interesting and enrolled in a C++ course at local university. After finishing the course easily with an A grade I considered the possibility that I might be good at programming and decided to take some undergraduate computer science courses. Well, one thing led to another and I ended up being accepted to a master's in computer science program at a top 20 university. I am struggling with programming right now, but have found discrete math and all the math used in my computer science courses to be easy. So, I have finally realized that I've come full-circle and that 10 years later I am back to where I was in college--passionately curious about mathematics and fascinated with the relationships of numbers and numerical puzzles. How did I get here? By peeling off the layers of lies that our society has taught me as a woman about my abilities in math. I have discovered that I AM REALLY GOOD AT MATH. Now at the age of 38 I am exploring exactly how good at math I really am. At the time of this post I am getting ready to take my first graduate math course a top 10 mathematics department in the U.S. In the past month I have taught myself college-level linear algebra from the school textbook to prepare for the graduate course in spring. I thank my own insight into the lies our society has fed me and inspiration by other women geniuses in STEM fields, as well as unusual women with incredible numerical skills like Shakuntala Devi to assure me that a woman like myself can quite possibly be a math genius. I guess only time and a PhD will tell...
- Sunday, January 19, 2014 11:24:00 am


text:
Doesn't the toilet look pretty with make-up?
The sink too
Hey Mom, don't I have big muscles? I've been working out.
Hello. Do you like my hat?
Why yes, I do like your hat!
Hand over your money and no one gets hurt.
Found this in the freezer the other day. I guess
What else would you keep in your sock drawer but a banana peel?
This is what I found in the bottom of Lexi's backpack today. Mmmmm.
The snowmom my kids made yesterday. If you look closely, you can see 4 of the 6 snowbabies in front of it.
And finally, the picture of me and the kiddos
As always, check out mamaslike for some great products and giveaways from some hard working stay-at-home-moms!
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Thank you and have a good night!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Updated at 2:23 pm: Rick Santorum's daughter, Bella, is expected to be released from the hospital by Monday evening given the improvement in her condition, said Alice Stewart, spokeswoman for the former senator's campaign.
Assuming her release goes as planned and Santorum, who took a break from his campaign to tend to his daughter and for the Easter holiday, returns to the trail, that would clear the way for the Romney campaign to resume its negative advertising against Santorum.
Mitt Romney's campaign has asked TV stations in Pennsylvania to pull down its negative advertising against Rick Santorum, his rival for the Republican presidential nomination, as the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania stays off the campaign to tend to his sick daughter.
In a brief statement, Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said:
"We have done this out of deference to Sen. Santorum's decision to suspend his campaign for personal family reasons."
A person familiar with the situation said the Romney campaign made the request Monday morning which was the earliest it could reach the relevant contacts at broadcast and cable operations because of the holiday weekend.
Stations were asked to pull an anti-Santorum ad that started running last week as soon as was technically possible. That leaves open the chance that the negative ad could be seen by some Pennsylvania voters beyond Monday morning because of the automated technology some stations use to manage their ads.
A new ad called "Conservative Record" which shows a clip of Romney pointing to record as Massachusetts governor as proof that he's a fiscal hawk sent for the stations to run in place of the anti-Santorum ad.
Without questioning whether the move was made from sincere compassion, because it's likely to be seen as the decent and honorable thing to do from the average voter's perspective, it could earn Romney some points with voters which, according to some polls, he could use.
The long primary fight, with the attacks on him and his attacks on his rivals, has damaged Romney's likeability ratings. A recent poll showed that his unfavorable ratings had increased to 50 percent by the of March from 34 percent in January.
So calling a ceasefire on negative advertising against Santorum, at least for the time being, could help repair some of that.
Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.


text:
Deng powers Bulls past reeling Knicks
Joakim Noah loved shutting up the chatter almost as much as shutting down the Knicks.
He heard how Carmelo Anthony would come out firing after his suspension, how the Knicks would pay the Bulls back for a tense, testy meeting last month.
Turned out to be the same no contest it was last time.
Luol Deng scored a season-high 33 points in Chicago's third victory over New York this season, a 108-101 win Friday that sent the Knicks to their season-high third straight loss.
''I think it was a big game. A lot of people watching and everybody was saying the Knicks were going to get revenge for what happened last time, nah, nah, nah,'' Noah said, unable to contain his postgame smile. ''And we came back, held it down again.''
Noah couldn't contain his excitement while playing in front of family and friends, even breaking out his gun salute that he vowed to shelve after the shootings at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, apologetically saying he just got too hyped up.
Topping the 29 points he scored here last month, Deng shot 13 of 18 from the field and also led the defensive effort that contained Anthony in the decisive first half of his return from a one-game suspension.
Carlos Boozer added 17 points for the Bulls, whose offense won't be at full strength until Derrick Rose is back from knee surgery, yet they still shot 57 percent.
Anthony ended up with 39 points for the Knicks, who were roughed up again a night after losing in Indiana. He shot 14 of 32 but said his struggles had nothing to do with Deng and that he simply missed shots he normally makes.
Without starting point guard Raymond Felton and key big men Marcus Camby and Rasheed Wallace, they lack the depth or sharpness on either end they had during their fast start to the season.
''We definitely don't want to lose. We've got to bounce back, take it one day at a time, one game at a time,'' Anthony said. ''Sunday is our next game, New Orleans, and that's a game that we have to go get. It's a must-win.''
Rose is practicing and nearing his return after tearing up his knee in the opener of last season's playoffs. The Bulls have managed to stay among the top teams in the East without him, and three times have outclassed a Knicks team that has been in or near the conference lead all season.
''We've showed it this year, when we really focus and lock in, whoever we play we've been able to play with them, all the top teams, play them close whether we win or lose,'' Deng said. ''We know that when we show up, and you know, stick to the game plan, we can really play with anyone in this league.''
Richard Hamilton had 14 points as Chicago won for the fourth time in five games.
J.R. Smith shot 4 of 17 for his 13 points as the Knicks lost for the fifth time in seven games. Tyson Chandler grabbed 18 rebounds.
The Bulls held the Knicks to then-season lows of 85 points and 32 percent shooting in an eight-point victory in the first meeting, a game Anthony missed because of a finger injury.
He played the second one but was in the locker room before it ended, getting thrown out of a game that featured nine technical fouls and four ejections in a game the Bulls were dominating until the Knicks make it look respectable after all the fireworks were finished.
This one went the same way with Chicago building a 25-point lead before a Knicks flurry at the end made it look close on the scoreboard.
Anthony sat out Thursday's 81-76 loss in Indiana for his postgame confrontation with Kevin Garnett after a loss to Boston here Monday, and Knicks coach Mike Woodson hoped the NBA's second-leading scorer would come out strong.
Instead, Anthony missed 10 of his 14 shots in the first half before nearly ending up with another 40-point game to add to the pair he had last week.
Boozer had his streak of double-doubles snapped at six, but Chicago had more than enough to improve to 9-1 against East teams on the road and 16-5 overall against the conference.
The Bulls scored the first five points and just kept pouring it on from there. They hit 11 of 19 shots in the first quarter, limited Anthony to 1-of-8 shooting and led by as many as 15 before taking a 29-18 advantage to the second.
Having already taken the fans out of the game, the Bulls then turned them on the Knicks. Deng had the last five points of a 17-6 run to open the second that gave Chicago a 46-24 lead, the boos growing with each basket.
The lead peaked at 25 when Deng picked up a turnover and dribbled all the way for a layup, and the Bulls took a 57-36 bulge to the locker room.
Chicago outshot New York 57.5 percent to 29.8 percent in the first half.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Steve Novak and Anthony brought the Knicks within 103-96 with 1:07 remaining, but Marco Belinelli hit five free throws from there to close it out.
The Knicks announced before the game that Camby, who had been starting, would miss two to four weeks after reinjuring his left foot. Woodson started Kurt Thomas in his forward spot and also benched Ronnie Brewer, who had started all but one of the first 35 games, and gave James White his third start of the season.
With Wallace still out with his foot injury and Amare Stoudemire on a minutes restriction as he plays his way back into shape following knee surgery, the Knicks lack the big bodies to face a physical team such as the Bulls.
''Whenever somebody goes down, somebody has to step up,'' Chandler said. ''It's been unfortunate for us because it's kind of been a revolving door, in and out, guys getting hurt and banged up. But that's not an excuse. Somebody has step up and we have to fill the spot as a team.''
Jason Kidd missed all six shots in a dreadful, no-point, no-assists performance.
Woodson wasn't sure if the Knicks would bring Iman Shumpert with them to London next week for their game against Detroit or leave him back in New York to work out or even play with their NBA Development League team. Shumpert has just been cleared to resume full workouts after tearing his ACL in last year's playoffs. ... Chicago has now won or tied the season series every year since 2001 except 2010-11.


text:
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Check if the compiler allow long long for [i|o]stream Seems that OpenBSD / gcc-3 don't have it.
#include <iostream> #ifdef HAVE_SSTREAM #include <strstream> #else #include <sstream> #endif #ifdef HAVE_NAMESPACES using namespace std; #endif ostream str((streambuf *)0); long long lo=1; str << #ifdef HAVE_LONG_LONG_FOR_IOSTREAM (long int) #endif lo;
Download the latest version of ax_cxx_have_long_long_for_iostream.m4 or browse the macro's revision history.
Copyright © 2008 Alain BARBET email@example.com
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text:
1 can (10-oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies (or any diced tomato product)
2 bay leaves
Can I use pork shoulder? Sent from somewhere on I. 10 heading west.
Hello Chef John.... this is an interesting crazy stew. I might try it. I was wondering though... can I add the bok choy later... as in during the last few minutes of cooking so that they're still green? I don't like how it looks being cooked so long.
Monica, YES!
Gerry, I think you just answered your own question! ;)
I only have green curry paste at my house right now (and need to use it up soon anyway). What variations to the recipe would you recommend if I used green instead of red curry? Or should I just stick with chicken (which in my experience tends to go better with green curry than beef)?
Never tried green curry with beef, but couldn't be too bad!
I love your crockpot:) I used to have a nice big one like that until someone "borrowed" it.Fortunately,my in-laws remodeled right after I moved here and we got a bunch of their old stuff,including a perfectly functional, but albeit, tiny crockpot.Such a handy thing to have!Going to have to make this for our beef loving bachelor buddy.
As always, a great post...
About your reader's complaint: In addition to insufficient cooking time, meat will turn hard also if it is cooked for too long or at too high a temperature. There's a lengthy explanation of the chemistry responsible for this in the "Meats/Proteins" section of any decent molecular gastronomy textbook. You might want to advise your readers that leaving the dish in a slow-cooker for 16 hours won't make it fork tender, but rather grey, bone dry, with the texture of a sole of a shoe. Sous-vide works by controlling a relatively low temperature over a long period of time, but if you are cooking at above the boiling point of water, the meat can get overcooked and unappetizingly hard as a result. This is compounded if you use a pressure cooker--a single extra hour on the stove can render a beautiful stew completely inedible.
Hi Chef John. Curry-ous on the half price beef. Do I just walk up to the counter of my grocery store's meat department and ask for oxidized beef or is this a specialty item that I need to go to a fine foods store?
How many people will this serve?
Hey Chef John, this stuff looks amazing. I'm a med student, usually very short on time, so I lived off of (Lunch and dinner) your White bean chicken breast chili for 2,5 weeks straight - and I'm still not tired of it.
I was wondering, what kind of skillets do you use? Also, would they require seasoning before their first use? Could you maybe make a video or brief explanation on how to season a pan? I tried doing it around christmas and it turned out horrible the pan now has a big black mark in it (luckily I wasn't the one who had paid for it, it was my christmas present)
Anyway I hope you get this, keep making all that amazing food!
O.M.G. I wish I had some of this in front of me RIGHT NOW! Sometimes your food tortures me, Chef! I am a hhhuuugggeee fan of Thai food, and this is GENIUS! Want want want. I must totally go raid the Asian section at the store and grab some chuck ;)
And for the person asking about green curry and beef? GO FOR IT. I never met a green curry I did not like ;)
Ohhh, so excited to try this. I have some killer red curry and a crock pot that has been lonesome lately. I'll keep you posted.
joshua, They sell it in the meat case, pre-packaged!
Laura, This should feed 4 giant or 6 reg portions.
Alex, I have some of everything. There are tons of how-to vids and articles on that stuff, not really my thing to be honest!
American Curry.... Outstanding, Chef John!!
Thank you;)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but limes don't have seeds!
Hello Chef John!
Love this recipe!!! Is there an alternive for the slow cooker? I'm from Brazil and here we often use a "pressure cooker" to cook meats.
Do you think this might work it out?
Greeting from Brazil ;)
Thank you for including a link to the recipe in the youtube description instead of the link to your blog.
Consider yourself corrected "cdb". Limes DO have seeds, just like other citrus fruit does.
Loved this recipe Chef John. I chose to mix it up a bit.........I added red pepper strips instead of the tomatoes. I also added Thai Basil, and crushed lemon grass, and some bamboo strips. I left the potatoes out and served it over Pappardelle. It was so yummy, and will definitely serve it to company.
Greetings, Chef!
Long time viewer, first time commenter.
I keep coming across people saying not to season with pepper prior to browning/searing as the high temp creates an "off flavor". Just a bunch of hooey?
off flavor? no. :)
Great recipe only complaint is the bok choy being added waaaay too early! I was cringing at how long it was cooked. Max 5 mins to cook that bob Chou. That's all I wanted to say. Thanks for the videos!
Great recipe only complaint is the bok choy being added waaaay too early! I was cringing at how long it was cooked. Max 5 mins to cook that bob Chou. That's all I wanted to say. Thanks for the videos!
Hi Chef John! I found your blog a couple months ago and am hooked into your charming cheffery! I made this stew last night for 2 guests and they both (as well as I) raved about it. One guest is originally from Cebu, Phillippines. Thanks so much for all your efforts - I look forward to every chefisode :)
I'm going to try this...with galangal (for the ginger), kaffir lime leaves (for the bay) and palm sugar (for brown sugar)...should be interesting...
I am in Italy and couldnt find coconut milk. Is coconut cream an ok sub for it.
Sorry, but not sure what that is! Could be the same thing, or maybe. Did you google the differences?
Chef John, got this going in the crockpot now with the substitutions above...not only is this incredibly easy...it makes your whole house smell quite amazing...
Chef John, thank you for yet another outstanding recipe that makes me look like a culinary superstar with my friends & family. This tasted so great right out of the pot and as leftovers. It made my house smell amazing! Also, I've never cooked with bok choy but after this, I've incorporated it into some of my other recipes.
Another awesome posting Chef John! I woke up at 6am to get this going so I could have this by 2pm. However after chopping my potatoes too thick I had to wait almost 1.5hours for them to get to the right consistency. I did put the bok choy in at the same time and even after the lengthy cooking time on hi, the bok choy came out good. Not too mushy and almost perfect. We love collard greens here in the south and the bok choy reminded me of a good batch of those or even cabbage. My first experience with bok choy but it will not be my last! So many good flavors here...I cant wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow after the seasonings have had 24 hrs to settle in completely...I expect it to be like BBQ...great the next day!
Chef John how much liquid is too much in a crockpot? I'm cooking this with a 1.5lb chuck roast and following the recipe but its covering my roast completely and i've read too much liquid will 'stew' the meat and make it dry and tough?
too much liquid doesn't dry, but it does leach out all the meat flavor if you have a ton extra, but you are fine. Should be covered. It's fine. Cook until tender and enjoy!
Loved by all! Used 1 cup of broth and about 2/3 can of coconut milk, halved the sugar, skipped the potatoes and corn starch, reduced the broth in a saucepan at the end instead. Trying this next time with a pork shoulder.
Hi Chef John:
Thanks for uploading such a simple and tasty corn recipe which I have been searching for a long time.
Just wondering will the flavor be lowered if I use Hungary paprika instead of spanish smoked paprika? Do you think adding some cinnamon powder is feasible? I know cooking is a very personalized thing but I just wanna hear some of your opinions. Thank you :)
This recipe is begging for mushrooms...or I just really like mushrooms...
Chef John,
Which curry paste do you use? I love Thai curry flavor and I love your recipes but in your recipes calling for curry paste your 1-2 tsp is a whole lot less than the usual 2-3 tbsp called for in the Thai curry recipes I'm accustomed to making - I'm guessing it's the paste.
Thanks, and I really love your blog!
This is slowly cooking for my family boxing day dinner. We love you Chef John 😆
Hey chef John!! I made this recipe today.. I found that the curry is is t "strong" enough for me, what else can I add to make the flavor more intense? Thanks in advance!!!
Great recipe, but definitely needs more curry paste (like 1 Tbsp???
Making this today for the second time for company in two days; it's a wonderful recipe. Cooking today to the point of the beef being done, and then Sunday will add the potatoes (sweet - they complement this beautifully!), the bok choi, and the chunked cooked beef.
I'm very curious, however, about why we are using chicken broth rather than beef broth in this recipe.
Thanks Chef John. Your recipes are always a hit! Next up will be the Arroz Con Pollo, which also looks amazing!
I halved it to serve two and this dish was absolutely delicious! We will be serving up the leftovers tonight over jasmine rice. My husband and I love watching Food Wishes videos and picking out dishes to make.
This was also pretty darn good with a pork butt (guess who defrosted the wrong chunk of meat)?
I used pork for it, then doubled the red curry and spice, (but I do like it hot), sweet taters. it was great, excellent over rice. trying it with my old suspect meat tonight. Thanks, Chef!


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Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Some facts about purgatory
28 comments:
If the saints are in heaven already, and the damned are already in hell; and all in purgatory will be going to heaven ... then what use is the Final Judgement?
- November 2, 2011 at 12:40 PM
- Father Ryan Erlenbush said...
In the future, please use some pseudonym at least (as requested).
Reagrding your question:
It is a matter of faith that the saints are already in heaven and the damned already in hell ... they are no longer waiting.
The purpose of the Final Judgment is to make all things clear, to "reveal to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life" (CCC 1039).
The particular judgment immediately after death reveals how your actions affected you own salvation. The final judgment reveals how your actions affected the salvation of others.
Hope it is clear now. + - November 2, 2011 at 12:52 PM
- Mick Jagger Gathers No Mosque said...
Dear Father. Kudos. That was a splendid presentation and I particularly loved your reference to Limbo.
Unless one assists at The Immemorial Mass offered by the FSSP or The SSPX, one has almost no chance of hearing this Doctrine, say nothing of hearing it expressed so clearly.
I just got back form going to my local Parish trying to gain a Plenary Indulgence for my Dad and that action actualised the sometimes difficult-to-grasp part of the Creed, The Communion of Saints.
As I prayed I experienced a profound and vivid memory of my Dad and I wept a bit and I asked Dad to pray for me when he gets to Heaven.
Thanks be to God I was born into a Catholic Family and Thank you, Father, for this excellent presentation. - November 2, 2011 at 1:28 PM
- Father Ryan Erlenbush said...
@I am not Spartacus,
Indeed, it is so sad that few priests are preaching about purgatory these days ... not to mention the importance of indulgences!
Well, we need to keep these priests in prayer, that they may return to faith and persevere in it!
(in this regard, I entrust myself to your prayers and the prayers of all readers as well)
Peace to you, and prayers for your father (I will remember him on my evening visit to the cemetery). + - November 2, 2011 at 2:52 PM
- James Joseph said...
I can see Purgatory as a sort of Betrothal period.
In this life the bridegroom is seeking the one who demonstrates the qualities He wishes his potential spouse to have; above all a clear intent toward faithfulness to the marriage covenant. When the bridegroom finds the one whom loves Him they become beloved to each other.
Death brings forward a period of betrothal, where just as the Church asks of earthly men and women to refrain from each other lest the marriage bond begin in error and sin, the beloved of the Bridegroom must go through time greatly desiring Him. The wait is painful insomuch as the day is yet to arrive. It is likewise hopeful because of the promise of joy.
Heaven, of course, is punctuated by the eternal Wedding Banquet.
What a good thought I just had! - November 2, 2011 at 10:25 PM
My 9 year old son did this all 8 days last year and was serving at a funeral Mass and he saw a Holy Soul from Purgatory surrounded by flames in front of the altar and then a light rise up from there and ascend. It was wonderful to know that God was so gracious as to take someone from such a deep cleansing in Purgatory.
- November 3, 2011 at 5:47 AM
- Father Ryan Erlenbush said...
Indeed, we can scarcely imagine the power of the prayers of a child!
Thanks for sharing! + - November 3, 2011 at 8:05 AM
- H. Hobbit said...
I so appreciate the clarity of this article. As a protestant (who looks more and more to the Church with longing eyes) it is helpful to have things spelled out. I would prefer that Purgatory not be part of the equation, but since it is, I need help in understanding it.
I wrote down something you said in the comment box- "The particular judgement immediately after death reveals how your actions affected your own salvation. The Final judgement reveals how your actions affected the salvation of others." I put it on my bulletin board above my desk. I would do well to think about that every day from now on........I'd never heard it put that way-- and it humbles me no end.
Please keep writing, and again, I thank you for your clarity. - November 3, 2011 at 9:01 AM
We never hear a peep in our parish about purgatory. One time our priest mentioned it, but never again. I am certain that some of the more, shall we say, "ardent" parishioners got offended at the mere suggestion that any one of their deceased relatives was less than a saint!
Here's my purgatory question: For a while now, I have been asking my friends in heaven to pray me out of purgatory ASAP, since I doubt that I will have anyone here to pray for the repose of my poor soul. Are the saints in heaven able to help the souls in purgatory by their prayers? If not, I will have to work all the harder to avoid the place.
Veronica - November 3, 2011 at 9:44 AM
- Kuba said...
A quick question regarding the Final Judgement.
Will those already in Hell be released from it to be reunited with their risen bodies and take part in the Judgement Day? - November 4, 2011 at 3:49 AM
- Father Ryan Erlenbush said...
The souls in hell will not be released, but they will most certainly receive their bodies back ... this will greatly increase their torments.
They will be utterly confounded by the final judgment.
Peace. + - November 4, 2011 at 8:22 AM
- Father Ryan Erlenbush said...
It seems to me that the saints in heaven can indeed assist the poor souls by their prayers.
However, we have an advantage in one respect (and an important role to play) -- the saints in heaven can no longer merit, nor can they gain indulgences ... thus, to merit and to gain indulgences for the souls in purgatory is our duty!
Peace to you, and thanks for the great question! + - November 4, 2011 at 8:24 AM
- Marco da Vinha said...
The Portuguese have, or at least used to have, a great devotion to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. All over the countryside you can still find small shrines dedicated to them, with references to the prayers to be said for them.
I occasionally see candles in some of these shrines, though I can't vouch for the orthodoxy of their use any more. - November 4, 2011 at 6:27 PM
- Marko Ivančičević said...
If I understood correctly, (venial) sin has a twofold effect and twofold consequence in relation to Purgatory and our salvation.
1)Effect - Offends God
Consequence - An atonement is needed(attained ultimately in Purgatory)
2)Effect - Detaches us from God and corrupts our soul(making it more inclined towards some particular sin), decreases in it holiness it possesses.
Consequence - Since nothing impure, corrupt and imperfect can enter into Heaven, the soul must undergo purification from attachment to any sin and thus a purification of particular level of it's own holiness(meaning that the soul does not grow in holiness in the Purgatory but purifies the holiness it attained in her earthly life because the time for increasing holiness is our earthly life - from this the concept of different levels of glory in Heaven could proceed). Altogether we could call the Consequence(no2) "Perfection of the soul".
Those are my thoughts, fr. Ryan. Are they in any way incorrect?
God Bless. - November 5, 2011 at 3:08 AM
- Leo said...
Father, have they ever said what exactly the material flame burns since our material bodies are in the grave. Perhaps it could be our material souls and their material sins?
- November 5, 2011 at 7:49 AM
Father you seem to imply that once a child reaches the age of reason, they are no longer children; I really don't believe that this is the point that you are trying to make, are you? In other words: just when does a child quit being a child? From what I have been reading about purgatory from the "mystics", they believe that the poor souls can help us, but they cannot help themselves. Thank you for this article & thankfully here in Fitchburg, Mass. we do have priests that tell us about purgatory. +JMJ+
- November 5, 2011 at 8:00 AM
- Father Ryan Erlenbush said...
Your points look good to me.
Their souls would not be burned by the flames, but would suffer by being bound to them ... see my earlier article (which is linked above) for further clarification of this point.
Peace! + - November 5, 2011 at 9:35 AM
- Father Ryan Erlenbush said...
Anonymous, Nov 5
Please use a pseudonym in the future.
Right, they are still "children", but they are not "young children" ... i.e. they have attained to the use of reason and therefore are capable of making significant moral choices. These can be in purgatory.
Also, you are correct that some of the mystics hold that the poor souls can help us ... theologically we have to say that this is by the special permission of God and not by their natural power or in the ordinary way of things (at least that is the consensus of the saints, especially St. Alphonsus).
I'm very happy to hear that you are getting good preaching over there in Massachusetts! + - November 5, 2011 at 9:38 AM
Where does the church claim that Limbo is where unbaptized babies go?
- November 5, 2011 at 1:36 PM
- Father Ryan Erlenbush said...
@Anonymous Nov 5, 1:36pm;
Please use a pseudonym, then I will answer your question.
From now on, I will not be posting any more purely anonymous comments, you must at least use a pseudonym posted at the end of your comment.
[I've already asked twice, plus it is in the comment policy on the left of the screen, and it is in the comment box pop-up when you make a comment] - November 5, 2011 at 2:02 PM
- Josemaria Paulo Jeromino Martin Carvalho-Von Verster said...
I read In Fr Sulivan's Book that The Souls in Purgatory Help Us. Is He Wrong?
- November 6, 2011 at 2:02 AM
- Father Ryan Erlenbush said...
Yes, they can help us, by the special permission of God - but this is beyond the ordinary way.
The souls in purgatory would not ordinarily have any (but perhaps the most general) knowledge of the things on earth ... further it is debatable whether they have even the power to pray (of themselves).
St. Thomas says "no".
St. Robert Bellermine seems to say "no".
Suarez says "yes".
St. Alphonsus says, "No, ordinarily; but yes, by the special permission of God". - November 6, 2011 at 6:30 AM
- Mick Jagger Gathers No Mosque said...
Dear Father. Thanks fro your prayers for me Dad. I will keep you in my prayers
- November 7, 2011 at 6:45 AM
- Kuba said...
I have come across some (including clergy) who believe that souls in purgatory can sometimes "wander around" or "haunt" to get our attention so we would pray for them. could comment? - November 8, 2011 at 2:11 PM
- Father Ryan Erlenbush said...
Yes, a poor soul could ask for prayers ... and this may at first seem scary ... but this would not be a true "haunting".
Still, the soul can only attempt to get our attention if God gives a special grace/power to do so [i.e. it is not in the norm].
Peace + - November 8, 2011 at 8:34 PM
For a couple of years now, after hearing Susan Tassone (sp?) speak about how the souls in purgatory need our prayers, I have created my own "litany" of the dead. In which I list the names of deceased family, ancestors, friends and aquaintances, asking for God's mercy on their souls and until reading this I assumed they could in turn pray for us and so petitioned the souls. Now I ask God to grant permission for them to pray for us.
Anya - November 10, 2011 at 7:03 PM
- Travelling Cat said...
I have read this with great interest and thought about it. One thing bothers me and that is that we should mortify ourselves. I have a concern about people hurting their bodies by cutting and lashing themselves. I do not understand this and it concerns me that someone may become seriously hurt. It is hard to believe that God who loves us would condone this.
- May 30, 2012 at 4:47 PM
Dear father,
At the time of final judgement, how do one get the human body back and what is the relevance of it? could you explain what is then vital body with five senses.? If reserruction is with human body, how long will it survive.?
Ginu James - July 28, 2013 at 2:04 AM
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text:
ECE497 Project Music Server
Embedded Linux Class by Mark A. Yoder
Team members: Eric Ames, David Cooper
Executive Summary
This project focused on creating a music server hosted on the BeagleBone. The server contains a number of MP3 files which can be played from the Beagle via either direct access or network access over ethernet/wireless. Currently you can upload and download songs, add to and subtract from the playlist, play your custom playlist over hdmi or headphone jack, adjust the output volume, load new media, etc, all from your web browser.
We realize it's an odd choice to have a project that focuses solely on software, rather than a combination of that and hardware (ignoring the audio output). But when approaching the project, we wanted to build something that we would actually use afterwards, and not just relegate to the dust bin of history. I would happily say we succeeded.
The beagle bone was fitted into a cardbored tube for protection. It had holes cut into it for the various ports.
Installation Instructions
1) Go to https://github.com/Guiltygate/beaglebone-classwork and clone the beaglebone-classwork folder somewhere on your beagle. NOTE: Does not work on Windows. Does not play nicely with IE. Should work with Firefox, Chrome, possibly Safari.
What's in the repo
- Server files
- node module files
- Basically all files I created/used
What's NOT in the repo
- Any node module dependencies. If you receive any errors regarding the node modules, you will want to download and install NPM (NodeJS Package Manager) and reinstall whichever module is throwing the errors. This will also grab any dependencies it requires that you do not already have. If, when trying to reinstall, it won't let you download the module, this is most likely due to a conflict between NPM and your distro. You'll need to download the files on another distro, port them over, and use node-gyp (https://github.com/TooTallNate/node-gyp) to compile them locally, and install their dependencies manually.
beagle$ npm install lame
- NPM. It's a separate program that you may or may not need, depending on the above.
- NodeJS version 0.8.xx or higher. Again, you need to install this. May work with 0.6.12, hasn't been tested. I use the Express module, which supposedly required NodeJS 0.8 and higher, but who knows. I personally used the 0.9.9 (unstable) build for Debian. Ubuntu shouldn't have any issues.
- For USB audio, you'll need to edit a config file. Those details are below.
FOR USB-Audio and browser volume control 1a) If you want to use a USB-audio device, you need to set it to default. I used the guide here http://crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9852 . Also make sure that you have alsamixer, as the sound controls in-browser use command-line arguments sent to amixer, a module of alsamixer. If you don't have alsamixer, you simply won't be able to adjust the volume from the browser.
2) You will need NodeJS, v.0.8.xx or higher, along with NPM. While I include the different node_modules in the git repo, installing them through NPM also installs their dependencies. If you run into issues with the distro not allowing module installation, use node-gyp here: https://github.com/TooTallNate/node-gyp .
beagle$ sudo apt-get install npm
or your distro equivalent to install npm. Again, some distro's don't directly support NPM, and you'll need to go to their site here (https://npmjs.org/) in order to manually download and install.
3) Due to the whole 'unable-to-reflash-with-Angstrom' problem, I am unable to guarantee this will work on a standard BBB. However, I only use general Linux architecture features, so feasibly as long as you can install Express 3.xx on Angstrom, it should be perfectly fine.
User Instructions
See the README for further detail, but here's the basics.
Run this command
beagle$ ./startServer.sh
If that does not work run the following command first
beagle$ chmod +x startServer.sh
if you wish to automatically mount your current usb drive. Server will start at 192.168.7.2:8080. If you receive a permissions error, run
beagle$ chmod +x startServer.sh
to grant the proper permissions.
If you'd rather just start the server without auto-mounting, run
beagle$ node umbreonServer.js
(I'm running v 0.8.22 of node, but I'm getting a "Module version mismatch" from the speaker module)To play the current playlist (initializes to all .mp3 files in the top directory of your flash drive), hit the big arrow button. To view the current playlist/remove songs from it, hit the '-' button on the right. To view the entire directory of mp3 files and possible add them to the playlist, hit the '+' button on the left.
To swap out flash drives, press the 'Eject' button, physically switch them, and then hit the 'Load Media' button. To stop the current playlist from playing, hit the 'Stop Playlist' button. Warning: Stop button stops the playlist, but not the current track.
To download the current track, hit the 'Download' button at the bottom of the page. To upload, simply drag-and-drop the desired file.
Known/Previous Bugs
- Previously, hitting the 'play' button while songs are already playing will cause a system crash. HOWEVER, this SHOULD be fixed. I haven't been able to replicate it since fixing it, at least.
- Previously, the load button stopped working for some reason and kept new media from being loaded. It had to do with pulling out the USB before unmounting it, so now users should press the 'eject' button before removing the flash drive, then plugging in the new media and pressing the 'load' button.
- Cannot skip songs backwards. The button is disabled, as I couldn't find a time-effective way of implementing this.
- Stopping and forward skipping 'works', but only if pressed in the first three seconds of a song beginning playback. The entire playlist will still stop (if pressing the 'stop' button), but not the current track.
- GUI font/style is ugly. Which is kind of a bug.
Video highlights can be found in the link below.
Highlights include adding and removing songs from the playlist and changing the volume of the song being played. Not mentioned in the video the webpage can be accessed by any computer on the same network so it is easy to change the playlist from across the room.
Theory of Operation
Using express framework in NodeJS. Enables user to upload songs for playing, download the currently playing song, view playlist, edit playlist, add songs from the directory, change media by swapping out usb drives, etc.
Express framework uses socket.io which has 2 major functions to communicate, socket.on and socket.emit. When socket.emit is used in mediaplayback.js it uses the socket.on equivalent in umbreonserver.js.
example: socket.emit('addSong', songNum); socket.on('addSong', function(songNum){}
This also works the other way. For uploading the file names to the webpage you use a socket.emit call within umbreonserver.js.
Everything was planned for maximum user convenience, as I plan on using this in my dorm room once I obtain a wireless router for the bone.
Work Breakdown
I would like to point out this wouldn't have taken so long if I hadn't had to learn NodeJS, Express, NPM, alsa, CSS, html, and all the little quirks associated with them. On top of my Beagle dying Sunday and refusing to reflash to Angstrom. Spent all day trying to reflash it, had to switch to Debian Wheezy and re-dowload all the software.
Server Core-----------Eric------10hrs
Server Features-------Eric------30hrs (minimum)
- Beginning with Express, NodeJS, NPM, als-arch, :: 18hrs (last Friday and Saturday. Sunday was spent praying and trying to fix the Beagle. Monday was spent swapping over to express.)
- Playlist------------1hr
- Playlist viewing----20min
- Playlist editing----20min
- Radio-Stream--------6 hrs - partially included in the 'Beginning' section
- Basic GUI-----------1hr
- Enhanced GUI--------4hrs
- Song uploads--------6hrs
- Song downloads------1hr
- Tracklist-----------10min
Express Test----------David-----1hr
Initial Planning and Discussion----------Both---------2hrs
Editing the Wiki/Writing Installation Guide
- ---------Eric---------5hrs
- ---------David--------2hrs
Network access--------Eric------1.5hr
(I don't see many hours for David here. Unless I hear otherwise I'm inclined to assign two different grades.)
Future Work
1) Add wireless router for easy streaming, no ethernet cord hassle.
2) Fully implement the Stop and Skip buttons. Currently, they can't stop the audio stream currently outputting, only the rest of the playlist.
3) Add a 'reboot server' button, in case of server failure. Tying into this, the server needs to be able to start on boot- I lost the config files when my board self-destructed on Monday.
4) Due to not knowing CSS or html, the current GUI is a bit crap. I'd like to build a GUI I can actually be proud of, rather than the slap-a-dash affair I have now.
5) Song playback bar, graphically lets you know time remaining.
6) Button feedback. It's weird to select a song and having no feedback if it worked or not. Annoying.
7) The audio modules I use only process .mp3 files, so adding additional modules to process .ogg and other popular audio files would be something nice to add. I myself only have/use .mp3s, so no guarantee I'll do this.
Wish I could have done more with the hardware, like a lightshow tied to the audio or something. But it took a lot of time to learn the different languages/styles/formats I needed for the project. It was all high-level (mostly), but there's a bunch of little gotcha's that will trip you up if you're not careful. Probably would have helped to have someone double-check my work.
As time-intensive as it was, what with other classes, I had a blast learning so much, and I'm looking forward to continuing to work on this over break and into the future. I also want to look into what other useful applications I could run on the bone with nodejs/express web-servers. Many, many possibilities...
Embedded Linux Class by Mark A. Yoder


text:
You know that control panel on Darth Vader's chest plate - the thing with all the boxes and lights? Yeah, that. Well, imagine that mashed up with a guitar, only they're both made out of balloons. Or maybe jelly beans. Got it? Can you see it? Good.
Now, tell me...does the thing you're imagining...look something like this?
Ok, here's where things get interesting: Go grab your friends/co-workers/family members, and see who can correctly identify these objects the fastest (if at all). Answers are at the bottom.
How'd you do? Here are your answers:
1) A hand mixer. Or possibly a hair dryer. But probably a hand mixer.
2) Ballet slippers
3) A helicopter
4) I have no idea. Really. Your guess is as good as mine. (Ugly little bugger, though, isn't it?)
Heather E., Anne D., Lisa O., Leah C., Tessa, & Jenny, if you're lucky enough to live near Austin, Texas, you simply MUST go to the That Takes The Cake show this weekend. Their theme this year is Science Fiction & Fantasy, people. I hear someone is making a gumpaste Zaphod Beeblebrox. I mean, come ON. Could that BE any cooler?
- Related Wreckage: Cue Cards, Please?


text:
There's another dimension to that unfolding LIBOR scandal which cost Barclays, the British bank, its CEO and $450 million in fines after it was revealed that the bank had been manipulating international lending rates. Attention has shifted to why U.S. financial regulators, who knew about the rate rigging, didn't move to stop it more swiftly.
We're going to put that question to Robert Smith, correspondent for NPR's Planet Money. He joins us from New York. Robert, thanks for being with us.
ROBERT SMITH, BYLINE: My pleasure.
SIMON: Please give us a short refresher. What's this LIBOR scandal all about?
SMITH: Well, the scandal is whether banks lied about this rate. This rate is an indication of how much banks trust each other. It's how much they charge to lend to each other. But the problem was, they were coming up with this number by simply calling up the banks and asking them, hey, what's your estimate of how much it would cost for you to borrow money?
And the banks would tell them and then that number would end up being this benchmark for loans around the world. They think hundreds of trillions of dollars worth of financial bets were based on this number. And it's come out recently that Barclays was functionally lying about this rate when they were making this estimate. These emails came out where traders were betting billions and billions of dollars on this number, would say to their friends at the bank, hey, can we manipulate this number up a little bit or down a little bit? And that's the fundamental part of the scandal, that this number that everyone had counted on as sort of gospel has no basis in reality.
SIMON: How can it be that interest rates for so many mortgages and loans are based on something which, as you describe it, is essentially a shot in the dark, a guess?
SMITH: Well, I think part of it is this goes back to the sort of trust of the London banker and why would they like about such a thing? But it's also they thought they had this under control. They poll a number of banks, 16, 18 banks. They average them.
You know, normally rates move in very tiny increments. And they figure, well, if we throw out the top rates and the bottom rates, we average everything, it's going to come out with a number that's kind of hard to manipulate.
But then when then financial crisis happened, all sorts of rates started to just rocket up and rocket down. And that's when they started to see that, you know, maybe this rate that everyone thought was sacrosanct, maybe this is too easy to manipulate.
SIMON: Now, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Tuesday - at first he said LIBOR, to use his words, is structurally flawed. He said he knew about the interest rate fixing back in 2008 and so did Timothy Geithner, now the U.S. Treasury secretary. This raises the question, not just what did they know and when did they know it, should they have done more to ring the alarm bell?
SMITH: Right now, people are pointing fingers at each other across the Atlantic. The people at the Fed, Tim Geithner - he was at the New York Fed at the time - he wrote a note to the Bank of England, which is their Fed. And he said in this note, well, you know, you're going to need to fix this LIBOR thing, because people here in the United States had talked to bankers who said, yeah, yeah, we're manipulating. It's being manipulated all over the place.
And now the Bank of England says, well, you didn't give us any evidence. You just gave us a list of recommendations. What are we supposed to do with those? You know, they looked back and they said, if you, Tim Geithner, knew all about this why didn't you do anything? And Tim says, Well, I sent you an email. So they're sort of stuck in this back and forth over who should've done something.
SIMON: Is this a British bank scandal or are American banks going to be caught up, too?
SMITH: No. There were American banks who were contributing to LIBOR, Specifically J.P. Morgan Chase and Citibank. So they're being investigated right now. We don't know if specific banks are going to be charged, if they're going to have the same sort of settlement that Barclays did. But we are expecting other banks to be implicated. And we're expecting a lot more explosive inside emails revealing exactly how this manipulation was going on.
SIMON: Is there a better alternative?
SMITH: There's already talk about something that can replace LIBOR. I mean, who's going to sign a document now that, you know, your home mortgage or your credit card is based on some variant of LIBOR? I mean, it's just embarrassing at this point. But, you know, there are still trillions of dollars of bets all tied up to LIBOR, so they have to transition over to something new.
And already they've talked about various things that could stand in for this - overnight lending rates. Ben Bernanke even suggested that perhaps you could use Treasury bills as a benchmark. But basically you're looking for something that you can prove this time. It's not just a survey.
SIMON: Robert Smith, correspondent for NPR's Planet Money. Thanks very much.
SMITH: You're welcome.
SIMON: You're listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
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Princeton University professor Janet Currie tackles big questions about child health with the help of big sets of data.
Using birth records of more than 1 million babies and their mothers, she and a fellow researcher correlated maternal weight gain with child birth weight, a predictor of birth complications and future obesity of the child. Such records also helped her show that implementing electronic toll collection cut down on exhaust from idling engines and reduced the number of low-birth-weight and premature babies born to women who live near toll plazas, a sign of the impact of air pollution.
Currie, Princeton's Henry Putnam Professor of Economics and Public Affairs and director of the Center for Health and Wellbeing, focuses her research on the health and well-being of children. She has written about early intervention programs, programs to expand health insurance and improve health care, public housing, and food and nutrition programs. Her current research focuses on socioeconomic differences in child health, and on environmental threats to children's health from sources such as toxic pollutants.
She recently wrote an article in the journal Pediatrics highlighting the importance of providing researchers access to so-called "Big Data," like that she has utilized, while safeguarding patient privacy. Currie describes the benefits and risks of research using Big Data:
"There have lately been many discussions of the potential of Big Data to answer important questions. In medicine, much of this discussion revolves around gene sequencing and the use of bio-samples. But Big Data also exist in the form of birth and death records, hospital records, insurance claims, disease registries, and other administrative records. It is important for researchers to have access to these data while safeguarding patient privacy.
"Some of my previous work shows just how useful these records can be. For example, in an article in the Lancet, David Ludwig, a professor of pediatrics and nutrition at Harvard University, and I used information on birth records to compare siblings and showed using a sample of over 500,000 women and 1.1 million babies that the odds of giving birth to a baby over 4,000 grams (about 9 pounds) were over twice as large for women gaining over 24 kilograms (53 pounds) during pregnancy, relative to women gaining only 8 to 10 kilograms (18-22 pounds) during pregnancy. Larger birth weights are important because they are predictive of complications of labor and delivery, and of a higher probability of obesity later in life.
"In another study with Reed Walker, an assistant professor of economics at the University of California-Berkeley, I examined the effect of electronic toll collections (E-ZPass) on infant health in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. E-ZPass greatly reduced idling and emissions around toll plazas. By focusing on infants born to women living near toll plazas before and after E-ZPass implementation and comparing them to women located along the same busy highways, but farther away from toll plazas, we were able to show that the implementation of E-ZPass reduced the incidence of low birth weight and prematurity by 8 to 10 percent in the vicinity of the toll plazas. This result sheds light on the harmful effects of air pollution from automobile traffic on infant health.
"The use of administrative medical records for research raises ethical issues having to do with weighing the benefits of the research against risks to subjects. The main risk is that sensitive medical information could be disclosed. I have taken many different approaches to minimizing the risk of disclosure, ranging from working within state governments (where most such information is housed) to create anonymized data for research to adding small amounts of 'noise' to key variables (like latitude and longitude of residence) so individuals cannot be identified.
"Good stewardship demands that we use health information efficiently in order to advance the public good. If a question could easily be answered using existing data, it is perhaps immoral to needlessly subject a new set of subjects to the risk of medical experiments.
"Here are five examples of questions that could be answered using existing administrative data sets:
- Using linked birth records, hospital discharge data and emergency room visit records, it would be possible to ask whether children born with the aid of assisted reproductive technology are more likely than other children (or their own siblings) to have subsequent health problems;
- Using birth records linked to educational records, researchers could ask whether children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy were more likely to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder than siblings born when the mothers did not smoke;
- Using hospital records linked with education records, it would be possible to examine the impacts of head injuries such as concussion on educational outcomes;
- Using data on hospital and ER visits for asthma linked to data from air pollution monitors, it would be possible to see whether new cases of asthma were more likely to develop in high pollution areas, as well as how children with asthma responded to variations in pollution levels; and
- Using birth data linked to data from autism registries and special education records, it would be possible to see when children who eventually end up in autism registries enter the special education system and what sort of diagnoses they receive.
"These are the types of questions I am pursuing in my continuing research."