The list of errors, negligence, lies, dances of figures and contradictions of governments in relation to COVID-19 and other issues could be enough to write a book.

However, they have not assumed their responsibilities. They have avoided blame. Modern politicians are now very skilled at managing the press and adept at reframing issues in their favor.

slippery slope

Dishonesty is like a slippery slope, where small ethical transgressions pave the way for larger future transgressions. If a politician lies and can save himself from responsibility, in the future he will lie more, and more... until it's almost grotesque.

Just like researchers point out British researchers from University College London, the repetition and escalation of lies desensitize the brain's amygdala, and the repetition of this behavior, to which most politicians are so accustomed, encourages even more deception in the future.

The team has also considered the possibility that the activity of the amygdala represents the moral conflict resulting from contrasting the desire to appear honest, on the one hand, to the temptation to lie to obtain maximum personal benefit, for another.

Another difference between a common lie and a political lie is that it not only seeks to scam the electorate, but also generate adhesions or consensus or separations or dissent.

In fact, many politicians can be classified as psychopaths, at least as this study carried out with American presidents suggests. The study was carried out in 2010 by Scott Lilieneld, the forensic psychologist Steven Rubenzer and professor of psychology at the Foundation for the Study of Personality in History, in Houston, Texas, Thomas Faschingbauer. Back in 2000, Rubenzer and Faschingbauer had sent the NEO Personality Inventory to the biographers of every U.S. president in history.

In Xataka Science

Why are there people with extreme political opinions?

The results suggested that a number of US presidents displayed psychopathic traits. As explained Kevin Dutton in his book The wisdom of psychopaths Regarding the test that had been sent to the biographers of the presidents:

It included questions such as: “You have to take advantage of others before others take advantage of you,” and “I never feel guilty about hurting people.” In total, there were 240 such questions. And a trick. It was not the biographers who were being analyzed, but their subjects. Biographers, based on their knowledge, had to respond on behalf of their subjects.

In Xataka Science

Political rhetoric is becoming simpler because there is more and more democracy, not less.

Furthermore, political rhetoric has been diluted and simplified precisely due to greater democratic participation. As abounds in it Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in the Age of Distraction, of Derek Thompson:

The greater simplicity of political rhetoric is actually a sign that political speeches aim to reach a broader audience, so they are emulating other populist forms of mass entertainment, such as music.

But politicians are not only responsible for significant mistakes made within their departments, but also for behaviors that are considered contrary to your ministerial code of conduct. Again, the conventions hold that ministers must resign if their actions are considered dishonest, intended to mislead parliament or the public, or bring the government into disrepute.

We are far from reaching those standards, and it seems that we are going to be increasingly so. Until it becomes grotesque.

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The news

Politicians commit negligence and lie but manage to avoid responsibility because they can

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

.

Although we have all assumed that the Venus of Willendorf symbolizes fertility, a new interpretation suggests that we are actually seeing something else.

The Venus of Willedorf, and other Venuses, would be a sign of the fear or hope of hunter-gatherers due to the sudden drop in temperatures and the lack of food associated with them. The Venus, then, It would be a symbol of caloric opolence.

Climate change and diet

This is what a researcher at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus suggests, Richard Johnson, in A study published in the magazine Obesity.

The first modern humans entered Europe during a warming period about 48,000 years ago; as he explains:

We demonstrate that these figures correlate with moments of extreme nutritional stress.

Known as Aurignacians, they hunted reindeer, horses and mammoths with bone-tipped spears. As temperatures dropped, the ice sheets advanced and disaster struck. During the colder months, temperatures dropped to 10-15ºC.

It was during these desperate times that obese figurines appeared. They were between 6 and 16 centimeters long and made of stone, ivory, horn or occasionally clay. Johnson and his team measured the statues' waist-hip and waist-shoulder ratios. They found that those closest to the glaciers were the most obese compared to those further away. Obesity, according to researchers, became a desired condition.

In Xataka Science

No country in the world has less than 20% of people who are overweight or obese and that is a problem for COVID-19

We found that body size ratios were higher when glaciers advanced, while obesity decreased as the climate warmed and glaciers retreated.

The figurines may also have been imbued with spiritual meaning: a kind of fetish or magical charm that could protect a woman during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding.

In Xataka Science

As the size of the abdomen increases, the probability of suffering from dementia increases.

The increased fat would provide a source of energy during pregnancy through weaning the baby and also as much-needed insulation.

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The news

The Venuses would not be a symbol of fertility, but rather a consequence of an extreme climate and associated famines.

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

.