Interesting Friday Links for Bored but Curious People

Some interesting recent blogs and research available on the internet.

Marginal Revolution. Measuring Economic Growth from Outer Space. Using light visible from outer space can give a good idea about growth. Even more interestingly, you can see, for example, where the places are that grow following discovery of natural resources.

British Psychological Society. Gentlemen take Caution Interacting with a Lady. It seems that cognitive functions are lower following interaction with a female than with a male.

Neuroworld. Giving Burglars their Due. I love this. Here is the first paragraph

“So, you’re on vacation. A burglar has staked out your home. He’s figured out a way in. He’s taken the trouble to climb up the fire escape, to get your window open, and to sneak inside. He’s risked a lot to be here today — the least you can do is make sure he (or she, don’t want to be sexist!) doesn’t go away empty handed.”

Stumbling and Mumbling. Gender and Decision-Making. A discussion of the evidence that men and women make decisions differently. Some examples: i. Majority female groups are more generous to outsiders but all-female groups are less generous; ii. Men are better at negotiating; iii. Men perform better under pressure iv. Men are more over-confident; v. Women are more risk-averse. But what does it all mean?

And some academic research:

Religion and Health Behaviour amongst Teenagers. More religious teenagers engage in less risky health behaviour than less religious ones. I always find it very interesting when (any) religion is shown to have useful survival benefits. As a non-religious person, I have to acknowledge nonetheless that religion serves some very interesting social, psychological and survival needs. Not all religions can be true by definition, but they could be useful – that leaves heathens like myself in a difficult position. An atheist, Voltaire also had this problem but said that despite his own beliefs he wanted “my lawyer, my tailor, my servants, even my wife to believe in God, because it means that I shall be cheated and robbed and cuckolded less often. … If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him”.

Speaking about the Roman Empire in which the worship on one god did not preclude the existence of other gods, Edward Gibbon wrote: “All religions seem to the people equally true, to the philosopher equally false, and the magistrate equally useful”.

Should non-believers nonetheless be happy to encourage religiosity amongst other people on the basis that it encourages good behaviour? That can no doubt be the subject of a future (and no doubt ranting) blog entry, but for the moment, it seems like any cost-benefit analysis should weigh up the positive impact of religion, however untrue those beliefs might be*.

Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries. I am a firm believer that business is key to development. After all, development largely means producing more things so you can consume more things, be it a corrugated iron roof, or a road, or a medication, or food, or transport, or education, or whatever. To consume it, it has to be produced.

I found two interesting papers on Entrepreneurship and Reforms in Developing Countries and Measuring Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries.

* I say “untrue” because it is my belief that they are, but also, whatever one’s own beliefs are, by definition, most of the rest of the world must hold untrue beliefs.