Intellectual humility distinct from general humility, study finds

January 26, 2021January 6, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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As part of a larger body of work to explore “the Science of Intellectual Humility,” a joint-research team has investigated the differences between two types of humility. The two types are each characterized by a cluster of traits: general humility by social traits, and intellectual humility by a composite of traits that add up to a love of learning.

“We were happy to discover that intellectual humility seems to be a concept that has its own place in the minds of the general population distinct from general humility,” Peter Samuelson, post-doctoral researcher in psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary and lead study author, told The Speaker about the work.

Intellectual humility distict from general humility, study finds — Peter L. Samuelson, Director of Research and Evaluation at Thrive Foundation

“By the same token, there are many shared characteristics between an generally humble person and an intellectually humble person in the folk conception (such as modesty) which we expected. What surprised us from the study was that intellectual humility is distinctly tied together with love of learning, curiosity, and a desire to seek the truth. These were not words used to describe a wise person and seem unique characteristics of an intellectually humble person in the folk mind.”

The research team undertook a bottom-up study of the meaning of humility, and found two clusters of traits associated with humility in the minds of participants. One type of humility, called “socially humble,” included traits like sincerity, honesty, unselfishness, thoughtfulness and maturity. The other type, called “intellectually humble,” had to do with a love of learning. Curious, bright, logical and aware were among the traits in this cluster.

Samuelson explained the distinction between general and intellectual humility, which can lead to a greater desire to learn new things from other people.

“While we did not test the difference between intellectual and general humility in the folk understanding (we compared ideas the general public had of an intellectually humble person, a wise person, and an intellectually arrogant person), the main distinction is that intellectual humility uniquely impacts how a person learns and acquires new knowledge.

“While characteristics of general humility may help a person be willing to learn from others and open to new knowledge, the unique characteristics of intellectual humility–such as an understanding of the limits of one’s knowledge, a search for the truth, a love of learning, among others–can motivate learning beyond what general humility can. It should be no surprise that the ‘intellectual’ aspects of intellectual humility are what make it distinct from general humility and that some of the social aspects (modesty, not bragging, being considerate, being friendly) are shared between the two forms of humility in the folk mind.”

Samuelson explained how a greater understanding of what constitutes intellectual humility could lead to improvements in people’s lives–in particular, he commented on a need to benefit from each others’ differences in a time when people have the option to tune out those who disagree.

“According to the understanding held by the broadly representative sample of the general population we surveyed–cultivating the virtue of intellectual humility could help enhance a lifelong love of learning and could bolster curiosity and truth seeking, as well as help people be open to engaging others in those endeavors and thereby promote a more collaborative and civil search for truth.

“These qualities are sorely needed in an era when in every sector of our society people seem quite sure they are right and those who disagree with them are wrong (intellectual arrogance), who seem to want to listen to people who will only confirm what they already know. Developing the virtue of intellectual humility will not only help us learn, but also help us collaborate and learn from each other, and could move the needle toward more civil discourse in our society and ultimately finding the best solutions to our intractable problems.”

The report, “Implicit theories of intellectual virtues and vices: A focus on intellectual humility,” was completed by Peter L. Samuelson, Matthew J. Jarvinen, Thomas B. Paulus, Ian M. Church, Sam A. Hardy, Justin L. Barrett, and was published in the Journal of Positive Psychology. The research is part of a larger grant from the John Templeton Foundation to study “the Science of Intellectual Humility,” and was housed at the Thrive Center for Human Development at Fuller School of Psychology in Pasadena, CA.

Syria’s apocalypse: Any light at the end of the tunnel?

January 6, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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Four years into the Syrian struggle, there seems to be little hope of an end to this war, rightly described by Noam Chomsky as “suicidal” in an interview conducted by the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadin TV channel back in January 2013. Thus far, the death toll is staggering, as 200,000 to 300,000 have been killed by the ongoing violence— figures that vary depending on the source. The human toll, however, is far more difficult to determine, as an additional 300,000 Syrians remain detained in the nightmarish prisons and torture cells of the regime, a number that pales in comparison to the eleven million—roughly half the country’s population—that have been displaced. Combined with the “non-human” losses, which include the destruction of half of the country and the division of its territories among warring parties, the devastating toll on the hearts and minds of the Syrian people is virtually impossible to quantify, despite the magnitude of these numbers.

To date, there have been many efforts to put an end to this insane conflict, formally starting with those initiated in late 2011 by Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary General. As his initiative quickly failed, he was then followed by Lakhdar Ibrahimi, the veteran Algerian-Arab diplomat, whose position as the Arab League Envoy granted him his mandate from both the UN and the League of Arab States while also situating him between the Arab World and the world at large. However, after his concerted efforts crumbled, he resigned and was replaced by Staffan de Mistura, who was appointed on July 10, 2014 by the UN Secretary General as a special envoy mandated to try where his predecessors failed.

Diplomatic landmarks pointed the way, starting from the 30th of June 2012. On that date, the Geneva I Conference on Syria was held thanks to the perseverance of Kofi Annan. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and British Foreign Secretary William Hague were among the more vibrant players who attended. The conference called for the establishment of a Syrian transitional “governing body” which would include figures from both the regime and the opposition, who would collectively supervise, amongst other things, a centralized ceasefire, the release of all political prisoners, the writing of a new constitution leading to the birth of a democratic system, and the facilitation of free and fair elections in which all political parties can participate.

The position of the Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad remained largely undecided in light of different interpretations regarding just how such a transitional scheme would be executed. While the US advocated his removal from power during this transition, the Russians insisted that the transitional period be presided by him, something regarded by most Syrian opposition organizations as an obstacle to any real change aiming at ending the dictatorship and establishing a democratic system.

Geneva II was initiated in Montreux, Switzerland on the 22nd of January and continued in Geneva on 23rd of January 2014. Then representatives of the Syrian regime and the opposition held two rounds of direct talks. The first took place on January 24, and the second from February 10 to 15. The defiant, arrogant, and uncompromising position of the representatives of the Syrian regime prevented any meaningful results, as they reiterated the exhausted claim to be fighting a war against terrorism, labeling the entire opposition as “terrorists” in order to delegitimize their claims. Frustrated Lakhdar Ibrahimi, who remained all along too diplomatic to blame the regime, apologized to the Syrian people for his failure to have the two negotiating sides demonstrate any seriousness to end the conflict.

Now, almost a year after the Geneva II peace talks—talks that were largely ceremonial and amounted to little quantifiable or even symbolic progress—the political initiative is being taken by Russia, the main international backer of the Syrian regime. Russia’s motivation may be attributed to the need to remind all invested parties—particularly the US and its regional and international allies—of its ongoing influence in Syria.They may view this as more pertinent now than ever in light of the US-led military campaign against the Islamic State (IS), formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has since September 2014 seen the US-led coalition carry out hundreds of air strikes on IS positions in Syria, one month after the strikes started on IS targets in Iraq. While the Syrian regime benefited indirectly from such strikes against what is now its most formidable military rival, the Asad government is still wary of any American-engineered involvement on Syrian soil, regardless of Obama’s relentless claim to be waging a war that seeks to “degrade, and ultimately destroy” ISIL. What makes this involvement more worrisome to the Syrian regime is that it is part of a wider plan to exert military pressure on the regime by making other “moderate” groups of the military opposition reap the fruits resulting from the weakening of IS in Syria. This has been made more obvious as the US is making no secret of its plan to train anywhere between 5000 and 15, 000 additional Syrian opposition fighters on Saudi soil in the spring of 2015.

In late December 2014 the Russian foreign ministry sent invitations to representatives of the Syrian opposition, both within Syria and in exile, to hold talks with Russian officials between 26 and 29 January 2015, to be followed by direct talks with representatives of the Syrian regime. The ultimate aim, according to the declared intention of the Russians, is to reach a political solution to the struggle in Syria.
The big question here is: Would this step produce a light, however dim, at the end of the horrific (almost surreal) Syrian tunnel? The answer depends on several factors. The key factor, above all, probably lies in the sincerity of this Russian initiative, including Russia’s willingness to commit to its own endeavors beyond the point of empty rhetoric. If its efforts serve simply as a reminder to all parties involved in the Syrian conflict, regional and international, of the continued Russian influence in Syria, then there is little hope of any concrete results. This seriousness will eventually be tested during the talks between the opposition figures and the Syrian regime’s delegation. If the Russians persist in supporting the regime’s stance with regard to “leading” the transitional period of political change in Syria, then the whole process will bring forth nothing but a stillbirth. The majority of the Syrian opposition has already made a major concession by accepting to share the transitional governing body with regime figures that they claim have “no blood on their hands.”

The Russian initiative is coordinated with the Egyptian government, which will host important talks among representatives of 23 Syrian opposition organizations, to be held in Cairo on January 21 and 22, 2015. If these delegates can agree on a broad stance that would transcend the fragmentation that has thus fair plagued the Syrian opposition, this would represent a significant step forward. This latter achievement would be added to the signing in Istanbul of a “roadmap” on January 3, 2015 by representatives of most Syrian opposition forces. These include dozens of political and military organizations. The roadmap proposes, among other things, a “transitional government” with full executive powers, including those enjoyed by the president and the prime minister, and a “military council” to be equally divided between the regime and the opposition. Anticipating the stalling tactics of the Syrian regime, the signatories to the roadmap stipulate that the proposed negotiations with the regime must not drag on for more than three months.

Syria watchers will be following closely the results of such important strings of meetings, namely those held by the Syrian National Coalition in Istanbul, which ended on January 4 2015; the broader meetings of the Syrian oppositions, to be held in Cairo on the 21stand 22ndof January 2015; and the meetings between representatives of the Syrian opposition and Russian officials in Moscow, which will be followed by direct talks between opposition members and Syrian envoys from 26th of January. The final results of all these negotiations will impact the Syrian conflict for months to come, if not longer.

Analysis by Faysal Mohamad

Artist appeals for hard work and self-reliance in South Sudan

January 6, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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JUBA, South Sudan – A South Sudanese local artist and a former presenter of Juba’s Capital FM, Ronyo Remmy, with a stage name of Dr. Remmy, has who founded a studio in Juba, has said peace and development lie with the entire people, rather than waiting for external actors.

“The welfare of our communities, families and individuals rests on our collective efforts to take advantage of opportunities to fight for peace, diseases, poverty and gender based violence.”

He said if the people can work together, the cause of poverty leading which leads to the backwardness of our communities and nation as a whole, will make progress.

The artist stressed his desire for all mankind to enjoy life above the poverty line and save women from HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

“People, especially the youth, have to change their behaviors because they are at risk of getting the deadly sexually transmitted diseases.”

He called on government and non-governmental organizations to empower women, children, youth, orphans and business communities as one way of poverty eradication and holistic sustainable peace, love, unity and development amongst ourselves.

Dr. Ronyo further urged people to work hard, rather than waiting for simple things such as personal belongings to be put on the table by relatives, and to initiate small businesses which he said will grow with time and help them.

James Abola, the team leader of Akamai Global, a business and financial consulting firm, wrote that other people wrongly think that they can get rich by demanding money from others.

In this category, Abola cited friends and relatives who think they are entitled to enjoy the wealth of other people solely because of their relationships.

“You cannot become rich using demand technique because victims will become more careful as they avoid getting robbed. But even if you succeed with the robbery, you must lose this money one day if there is truly God,” Abola said.

The artist compared a small business undertaking to a mango plant which grows into a big tree after few years, and the mangoes are eaten by the owner who planted, the rest by the neighbors and the surplus is sold, a source of money.

Asked about his future plans, the artist said he plans to build an informed health and united developed community, regardless of tribes, states and regional origin through his music and videos.

He has so far produced two albums and is now working on a third. The first album has songs such as “Suffering,” “No More War,” I Miss My Darling,” “Be Ready,” and the second contains, “Why Are We Fighting” and “Let’s Come Together”–popular songs.

Commenting on joining music in 2009, the artist pointed out that, “It was when I recognized the existence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Discrimination and the different forms of human abuses amidst vast socioeconomic, cultural, and political differences in our present society, and noting with appreciation the various policies, structures and opportunities put in place by the government, donors and micro-finance institutions, convinced me to educate the people via music.”

Besides educating the masses, he said that music helps him in life by paying his bills since he is married and saves to further his education by enrolling in one of the universities early next year in Uganda.

The artist said he has performed in Juba and other counties in Central Equatoria in South Sudan, Arua, Nyadri and he had a tour on Sept. 19, 20, 21 and 22, 2014, with Young Mulo in Arua, Paidha, Madi Okollo and Nyadri in Uganda.

By Moi Julius

Moyo and Kajo-Keji residents urged to be patient

January 6, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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JUBA, South Sudan – The people of Moyo and Kajo-Keji County of Central Equatoria state have been told to remain patient as a lasting solution is being found leading to the demarcation of the contentious border areas.

This follows a ministerial meeting of the two ministers of internal affairs of Uganda and South Sudan together with officials from both countries convened at Crown Hotel in Juba.

Aronda Nyakairima, the minister of internal affairs of Uganda who led the Uganda delegation, said in 2009 that Kiir and Museveni met on the border and a decision was taken action on which the people of Moyo and Kajo-Keji are now asking.

Nyakairima appealed to the people to remain calm as a solution to the border row is going on by leadership of the two countries.

“As we wait, we must ensure that there is no provocation, escalation instead of de-escalation. We create an enabling environment for peaceful co-existence by keeping matters until a solution is got.”

“Up to now the people of Kajo-Keji and Moyo are still waiting and asking where is the decision, and we are telling them to be patient and they are asking how long are we going to be patient?” he said.

He said other people have become speculators especially now with the discovery of oil. “Everybody who looks at something say there is likely to be oil and I need to occupy this land because you never know.”

According to him, the development of minerals is a major industry, which makes people wanting to occupy areas add the attachment to the value of land to all of the people, has never been serious as it is now.

Nyakairima assured the people of both areas that work is going on and is to be executed by technical people–not the politicians.

“You hear elders saying that I know the border, do not waste my time. No, this is state-state border. Either it is determined at Berlin conference at midnight.”

On the conflict between the government and the SPLA opposition rebels, the minister said Uganda and the entire region is on the side of the search for peace and stability.

“You have a conflict going on. We are together in it to find a solution,” Nyakairima added.

He said that at the meeting at Crown Hotel in Uganda that they were having issues with trade, and said the ambassador would follow it up as Nyakarima called for removal of barriers to trade.

On immigration, he said the governments of Uganda and South Sudan were yet to harmonize immigration services.

South Sudan Interior Minister Aleu Ayeng Aleu said the demarcation is to be handled by a technical committee from both sides.
“We need patience and the people of Moyo and Kajo-Keji to go back to their traditional relations as same people.”

He also said there are several border issues and others with Kenya adding it is the work of the government to address warnings against taking the law into the hands of the local people, “It is important that there is cooperation.”

Speaking to the New Nation, Janga Duku, an MP from Kajo-Keji, said the meeting captured important areas that led to the conflict.

“The resolutions if implemented will pacify the area. The resolutions by Presidents Kiir and Museveni will be followed up if implemented or not.”

He said the two communities of Moyo and Kajo-Keji in selecting a committee of elders to sit and identify their ancestral land was important.

According to him, it is a positive resolution which bars eviction of people both South Sudanese and Ugandans regardless of the demarcation.

Resolutions reached in the meeting were revisiting the directives of the two presidents, provision of the report on the border clashes by the two IGPs, joint border patrols in the contentious issues, regular border meetings by elders from Moyo and Kajo-Keji and border demarcation to be effected.

The conflict between communities in Kajo-Keji County and Uganda’s Moyo district left almost 12,000 South Sudanese refugees displaced and forced to return to South Sudan.

By Moi Julius

400,000 out of school due to political crisis

January 6, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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JUBA – An estimated number of 400,000 are out of learning institutions in the country following the outbreak of last years’ political crisis.

The government and education partners working in the sector provided the figure following a joint stakeholders meeting held at the Juba Grand Hotel by Save the Children, UNICEF and the national Ministry of Education, DFID, USAID and EU.

The ministry and partners affirmed their commitment to providing quality education to all despite the current crisis.

Teachers in the rebel-controlled areas have not been able to get their monthly salaries as it is hard for the government to reach them due to insecurity.

“We cannot pay teachers in opposition controlled areas. It’s risky to me and whoever takes the money to the people supposed to be paid,” the undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Michael Lopuke, told reporters in Juba.

He said the low salaries for teachers have been the problem of the past and the present since teachers in South Sudan have been complaining.

Lopuke said the war has also set them back but expressed commitments to focus on the challenges of the teachers as they look into the problems faced by learners.

The undersecretary announced that seven of the ten national teachers training institutes in the country are operational.

According to him, Malakal has been merged with Ranbul in Juba and Rumbek with Maridi to continue teacher training.

Statistics from the government show that only 60 percent of the teachers in the country are trained and only 13 percent of the primary teachers are female.

He also said with the current crisis, a number of schools are without teachers and others are only being assisted by volunteers.

UNICEF country representative in South Sudan, Jonathan Veitch, called education a national crisis despite the fragile gains made since independence in attendance, curriculum development and girls education.

“In terms of education in the conflict areas, it has gone to zero,” the UNICEF chief in South Sudan remarked.

“The right to quality and relevant education is fundamental to the holistic well-being of children, their families and the future of their communities. Education must be made a priority in humanitarian response and this is what we want in South Sudan.”

He commended Western Equatoria for welcoming the internally displaced persons (IDPS) and refugees adding the number of learners in a single class room went up to 150.

“We have not been able to get children in the conflict affected states due to displacement, teachers, destroyed buildings.”

He called for the need to focus on getting children back to schools as according to him, education reduces the effects of trauma, conflict resolution, peace and tolerance among rival tribes.

Veitch pointed out that the government and the opposition has signed a recommitment not to recruit children into armed groups and not to occupy schools, as many were occupied when the crisis began not only by armed groups, but by IDPs.

The country representative added that it was not good to throw out IDPs in learning institutions, saying SPLA have identified some schools to vacate mentioning one in Bentiu, the capital of oil-rich Unity state.

Asked about the number of schools vacated by armed groups, he said that they have no evidence but have been receiving commitments to leave.

According to him, less than 100 schools in the country have been occupied by armed forces from both sides of the conflict.

Commenting on the payment of teachers, Save the Children CEO, Jasmine Whitebread, said there should be ways of addressing it as it is a responsibility of the Government.

She also said they are looking for donors to support them in the area of the payment of teachers.

The CEO added that education should be prioritized, especially in the conflict-affected areas. “One priority is education because it helps to keep children safe, secondly it is the way for children to have a future and of the country,” she said.

“Again and again, we find that children and families prioritize education even in crisis situations. They say that without education, there is no future and as humanitarian actors we must listen and respond to the priorities of affected population.”

Whitebread told the displaced that there are still ways for them to continue with education, “Education can be delivered even in emergency.”

In a new survey undertaken by Save the Children, children, parents and community leaders affected by the violence say education is a number one priority.

Education is key to helping children establish a sense of structure and normalcy during crises. It lowers their risk of being exposed to violence and exploitation as well as to early marriage, and allows them to develop healthy coping strategies, according to Save the Children.

In South Sudan, an adolescent girl is three times more likely to die during childbirth than complete the primary school cycle.

Only 1.6 percent of secondary school-going age are females are enrolled in secondary school and 35.4 percent are enrolled in primary school.

With only 1 in 3 school age children across the country currently enrolled in school, the Ministry of Education, Save the children and UNICEF affirmed their commitment.

Moi Peter Julius

Poultry farmers call for out-growers to satisfy customers in South Sudan

January 6, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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JUBA – A returnee poultry group called South Farmers is urging communities and individual farmers to become poultry out-growers to enable them meet peoples’ demands.

“Since we started processing our grown up broilers we have witnessed a shift from consumer taste demanding more of locally produced broiler chicken, deviating away from the imported frozen chicken this demand makes it difficult for us to meet the needs of our customers,” James Nyikole the manager of the group said.

“Therefore, we are reaching out and calling for the potential poultry farmers in and around Juba to join our out-grower scheme where they grow the broiler chicken for us at agreeable price and weight.”

According to Nyikole, “It means farmers will have to focus on production of broilers at the farms’ level and once the chicken have reach a particular weight which has to be agreed prior we will then buy the chicken for our processing facility and we can then supply the consumer market.”

He said it is the only way to reduce the imported frozen chicken dramatically and promote local production leading to the growth of the gross domestic products.

“No single country can grow by importing products but rather engaging on local production has a larger multiplier effect on the economy.”

Nyikole added that South Sudan is the only country in the region that imports frozen chicken.

The group leader mentioned countries in the region such as Uganda and Kenya do not allow imported frozen chicken into their countries because they are protective of their local and infant poultry sectors.

“We also urge the government to follow suit and offer the poultry sector level playing ground for the benefits of our farmers. The support of the government is very crucial in developing entrepreneurial spirit in this country,” said Nyikole.

He also called on the government to join them in sensitizing the population to encourage local production and increase duties on imported frozen chicken to offer level playing field.

In addition Nyikole appealed to the government to help remove custom duties on chicken feeds and other agricultural inputs so that these goods once imported are cheaper to the farmers and they would be encouraged in their efforts.

Recently, national government officials visited the facility which is located west of Juba.

The first was on the Oct. 5–the Minister of Defence and SPLA Affairs, Kuol Manyang.

Manyang was impressed to see the facility in the country and he offered his interest to lead by example by becoming a poultry farmer at his personal level.

He also said it is important for the government to incorporate poultry farming into the demobilization commission to assist demobilized men and women in uniform get engaged in income generation activities through poultry farms which have a shorter maturity.

“This is very interesting if our leaders can lead by example, it will encourage our people to get involved in farming to fight food insecurity,” said Auditor General Steven Wondu at the facility.

South Farmers is the production of One Day Old Chicks through their hatchery facility and in supply of feeds, and other poultry inputs, managing broiler farms and slaughtering facility.

Since the project started in April this year, they have seen a number of youth and women got involved in poultry farming and this has created direct employment.

“In addition local production of poultry by the citizens will also offer an opportunity to solve the problem of insecurity in the country and the fear in consumers mind that the imported frozen chicken have healthy concerns in human body and indeed these fears are real,” said Nyikole.

According to him, some of these imported chickens are grown on feed that came from genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), having lots of hormones to make them grower faster (3-4 weeks).

“No one knows when they were slaughtered, time in high seas and the time they arrive into South Sudan so the risk is greater on human health.”

He further said, “Now we have offered the alternatives for consumers in the country now to eat fresh chicken right from the farm. Either from our own farm or smallholder farmers themselves the offer them to the consumers,”

Moi Julius

Genome mapped for bowhead whale, which can live 200 years

January 26, 2021January 5, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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The complete genome for the bowhead whale has been mapped and the results have been presented by University of Liverpool researchers. The researchers expect that the research help build an understanding of “tricks of biology” that the species–which lives up to 200 years with low incidence of age-related diseases–have developed to increase their lifespans.

“My view is that species evolved different ‘tricks’ to have a longer lifespan, and by discovering the ‘tricks’ used by the bowhead we may be able to apply those findings to humans in order to fight age-related diseases,” Senior author Dr. João Pedro de Magalhães, of the University of Liverpool, in the UK, said of the research.

“Our understanding of species’ differences in longevity is very poor, and thus our findings provide novel candidate genes for future studies.”

The bowhead genome is the first to be sequenced among large whales. The researchers included in the presentation of their findings the identification of key genetic differences from other mammals, including genes related to cell division, DNA repair, cancer and aging.

The new genome map carries hope that physiological adaptations related to the whale’s massive size will become understood, such as the relatively low metabolic rate possessed by the large mammals. The team identified one particular gene–UCP1, which plays a role in thermoregulation–that they suspect may be important in this regard.

The researchers remarked that the bowhead not only lives long, but lives disease-free until an age much more advanced than that at which humans frequently begin to become burdened by illnesses.

Magalhaes also noted that large whales have over 1000 times the number of cells humans have, yet the large mammals do not seem to suffer from increased cancer risks associated with the massive amount of cells. Magalhaes suspects that this points to natural mechanisms possessed by the whales genes that more effectively suppress cancer.

Next for the team is a project to breed mice to express some of the standout bowhead genes. They hope to find genes for longevity and disease resistance.

The report, “Insights into the evolution of longevity from the bowhead whale genome,” was authored by Dr. João Pedro de Magalhães and was published in the journal Cell Reports.

Information on the research can also be found at the team’s genome resource webpage.

Elite bargainers refuse low offers more than regular bargainers and make more generous offers – study

January 4, 2015January 4, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

Elite decisions less rational and self interested, offer more (2)

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In a first-of-its-kind study undertaken by University of California researchers, elite bargainers–those responsible for making today’s most important policy and business decisions–were examined to find out if they, like other people, reject low offers even when those offers involve benefits. The research is expected to offer increased understanding of some of the problems faced in global economic and environmental dialogues.

“Professionals, who had a lot of experience in high-stakes bargaining, played even further from the predictions of classic economic models. Concerns about fairness and equity aren’t expunged by experience, and persist in a group of very smart and successful professionals,” Dr. Brad LeVeck, Assistant Professor at the University of California, Merced, and lead author of the study, told The Speaker.

Elite bargainers refuse low offers more than regular bargainers, make higher - study — Dr. Brad LeVeck

“Most experiments in human behavior are conducted on convenience samples of university undergraduates. So, when experimental results go against the assumptions in classic models from economics, many researchers are skeptical about whether those results will translate to the real world,” LeVeck told us.

“Inexperienced students at a university might just be making mistakes that more experienced professionals would avoid. At least when it comes to bargaining, our study shows that this isn’t the case.”

LeVeck’s study used a unique sample of 102 US policy and business elites who had an average of 21 years of experience conducting international diplomacy or policy strategy.

The names of the participating elites were withheld in order to mitigate possible false behavior that could have resulted from concern about harm to their reputations.

When participants bargained over a fixed resource–in the study the samples played “ultimatum” bargaining games that involved the division of a fixed prize, but the researchers had global agreements on international trade, climate change, and other important problems in mind–the elites actually made higher demands and refused low offers (below 25 percent in the share of a prize) more frequently than non elite bargainers. But elite bargainers also offered more.

“In our study, it wasn’t just the case that elite policy makers rejected low offers more often than the general public,” LeVeck said. “It was also the case that they made more generous offers.

“So, to a certain extent, these individuals have the right intuition about how to conclude a successful bargain. This suggests that considerations of equity and fairness are already taken into consideration by real world policy makers.”

Elites with more experience and age were found to bargain for higher gains all around.

“Our best evidence indicates that this finding is related to their professional experience… This could be because policy makers accommodate the possibility that low offers will be rejected, and therefore also learn that it’s generally ok to reject low offers.”

The positions from which the most important policy and business decisions are made, the researchers concluded, are occupied by elites who have either changed towards high demand bargaining or have been selected by some process that favors this type of elite.

Why bargainers reject low offers and why elite bargainers play for higher stakes are questions that are still unanswered. Past research has given weight to arguments that bargaining actions are not due to motives such as fairness, equity, or toughness, but may have more to do with spite, culture and social learning.

“Our study wasn’t designed to disentangle these explanations,” LeVeck said. “So, it’s difficult to know whether the people who reject low offers are individuals that intrinsically care about fairness for everyone, or are simply individuals who spitefully reject low offers (but would take more for themselves if it were possible). In the later case, people would care about fairness for themselves, but not for everyone. I suspect both of these motivations exist and affect the behavior of different people.”

The researchers considered other motives for elite bargaining tactics, such as future opportunities, other bargaining partners and power relationships, but those did not play into the experiments.

“I do think these types of complex, real-world considerations shape professionals’ intuitions about how to bargain,” said LeVeck. “However, other parts of our study show that policy and business elites think carefully about strategic decisions. This makes it less likely that these individuals were misapplying a lesson from the real world when they played the bargaining game in our study.”

The researchers pointed out that the study encourages a reappraisal of aspects of international cooperation, such as bargaining with regards to trade, climate and other world issues.

“Analysts and researchers are understandably skeptical when leaders complain that an agreement is unfair. It’s very plausible that the complaint is just ‘cheap-talk’: When pressed, those leaders should actually accept any agreement that is inline with their self-interest.

“By contrast, our findings raises the possibility that these complaints are more than cheap talk. Policy and business elites have some willingness to reject inequitable offers.

“So, when formulating proposals on issues like global emissions reductions or trade policy, leaders should pay attention to whether the other side will reasonably regard the deal as fair.”

The report, “The role of self-interest in elite bargaining,” was completed by Brad L. LeVeck, D. Alex Hughes, James H. Fowler, Emilie Hafner-Burton, and David G. Victor, and was published on the PNAS website.

By Sid Douglas

Drought ended the Mayan civilization – Rice University Scientists

January 4, 2015 by Rathan Harshavardan

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In an effort to understand why the Mayan civilization of Central America met its sudden demise, a new study at the underwater caves of the Great Blue Hole, located some 40 miles off the coast of Belize, has revealed that minerals found at the site indicate an extreme drought in the region between 800 and 900 AD, which may have forced the Mayans to adapt and relocate, reducing the plush region to deserted ruins.

A civilization that thrived for over 2,000 years across the area of modern-day southern Mexico, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, the Mayans are known to have been skilled astronomers, architects, masons, artists and mathematicians, chroniclers–as well as for creating calendar system and making doomsday predictions still referenced today. What spurred the team to investigate the lost civilization was the abrupt end of the once-thriving civilization, which continues to be widely referenced based on its pottery, artifacts and monolithic structures, as well as the desolate and ruined cities it left behind.

Andre Droxler from Rice University found that the mineral deposits in the caves of a 1,000-foot crater correlated with the period of the civilization’s demise.

Droxler’s team took core sediment samples and measured the ratio of titanium to aluminium. It is known that heavy rainfall deposit titanium from volcanic rocks into the Atlantic Ocean–ergo the Great Blue Hole. Over time, the deposits turn the crater into a “sediment trap”–a big bucket of titanium–leaving less titanium in the soil during dryer seasons.

A relief depicting the ancient Mayans. Source Flickr Dennis Jarvis.

With this information, Droxler compared the titanium levels in the soil to sediments dating to the Mayan era and found them to be significantly low. Live Science puts it in technical terms saying, “The team found that during the period between A.D. 800 and A.D. 1000, when the Mayan civilization collapsed, there were just one or two tropical cyclones every two decades, as opposed to the usual five or six.”

Although they wreak havoc, these cyclones were the only way the thirsty civilization was able to survive in the absence of a body of drinkable water. Besides water, the cyclones also redistribute titanium and other minerals to replenish the land of any minerals essential to make it inhabitable. The evidence recently observed corroborates a 2012 study published in Journal Science. A stalagmite from the caves in Belize dating to the Mayan era was analyzed and the observations are consistent with a sharp decrease in rainfall coinciding with the declining period of the Mayan culture.

By Rathan Harshavardan

Is Jay Wilds the real star of Serial?

January 4, 2015January 4, 2015 by Rathan Harshavardan

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For those who are unaware, Serial is Sarah Koenig’s search for the truth behind Hae Min Lee’s murder in 1999.

The case is simple. The victims of the crime of passion in question were two teenage immigrant American lovers who split up at the turn of the century. Born abroad and raised in the US, Hae from Korea and Adnan Syed from Pakistan, puppy love, if their relationship at the time could be called one was occupied their time together. Like all teenage crushes, the relationship cookie crumbled. Then there was Don. Onion Inc’s The Serial, called Don’s involvement with Lee a “bombshell.” Anyone who splits moves on, and so did Hae. Wiser than before, she moved on to an older man quicker than expected, who obviously would take her seriously, and hopefully not break her heart. Jilted by his first love, Adnan was upset, as would any hot-blooded boy experiencing his first heartbreak. He tells his “friend” Jay Wilds he’s upset, wants to hurt Hae, and misses school, but returns to his usual humdrum life as a student at Woodlawn High in Baltimore.

Weeks later, Lee was found dead, asphyxiated in a carpark, and a year later Adnan was arrested, tried and sent to a life in prison for the crime.

What sent him so quickly to jail was his friend Jay Wilds’ statement.

Everyone involved in the case was heard from, all except for Jay. Zigzagging his way through the trial, at least according to Koenig’s and attorney Rabia Chaudry’s research, Jay’s statements were questioned during the production of the first season. Chaudry’s believes that a version of events as sporadic as Jay’s ideally will have been questioned if not totally dismissed during Adnan’s trial. Cristina Gutierrez, Adnan’s defense lawyer, presented evidence that might have changed the course of the case. Alas, for her and Adnan this wasn’t enough for an acquittal. Adnan was sent to jail for life, Gutierrez was disbarred and later passed way, and Hae’s family moved back to Korea with no closure at all.

For Chaudry, whose keen interest in the case resurrected it from the dead, some things weren’t really adding up. She wanted justice for Adnan, and the logical way to get to it was question Jay’s statement. Very quickly, Serial turned from the quest for Hae’s killer to a full blown ideological war between Jay and Adnan. Adnan had to defend himself and so the taped interviews with Koenig provided an insight from his point of view. For Jay who declined to make any comments on the case, there were the old tapes, but just weeks after Serial ended he turns up to clear his name.

Released as a three part interview, The Intercept’s Natasha Vargas-Cooper spoke to Jay about Serial. If you’ve read the lengthy interview, you simply will find a defensive and understandably upset Jay recount events that occurred on Jan. 13, 1999 as simply as he can. Condensed and focused on the occurrence of the events on the day, during the trial and almost 13 years after Serial tossed his name notoriously in the mix, Jay made no bones about his thoughts on Serial and Sarah Koenig.

In the first part, Jay talks about being a 16-year old dope dealer dealing with racism, being ostracised from the popular clique in the school, taking refuge on the downlow with small groups of friends, music and the outdoors and resenting school, like any normal teenager in Maryland.

Jay vaguely hung out with Adnan, barely remembered anything the both of them shared in common apart from smoking weed, having the odd laugh, his relationship with Hae –he, who thought the athlete was wiser than her years – and what he worked as to pay his bills. For two people who supposedly buried a young woman sent to her death disgracefully as it was, here is where most listeners can’t understand what brought Jay and Adnan were ever together in this crime.

Jay mentions Adnan wanting to hurt Hae, but does not speculate or draw conclusions. He doesn’t even know why they broke up, yet, he is made privy to Adnan’s intentions of hurting Hae for moving on. I’m no criminal, but if I were to commit a crime, I’d probably put my confidence in a friend who I know very well. He or she will have my back and if we are really close, maybe even take the fall for me. That didn’t happen here.

By his own admission, Jay always felt like an outcast at school. He thought that Adnan was a prude and idolized Hae to a certain extent, which is what anyone who was looked down on would do at school. Typical high school behaviour, you see. What I can’t understand is why of all the Moslem friends Adnan had, if he was attached to his community that bad, would he zero in on Jay. Why would someone who just killed a girl, dumped her in the trunk of her car give their car to someone they rarely know to pick them up after the crime?

The whole premise has loopholes as wide as a ditch right in the middle of the street. Here’s how it went down according to Jay: Adnan ditched last period with Jay in the car. Adnan leaves his car and keys with Jay, who has to run to the mall to get Stephanie (his girlfriend at the time a gift). Adnan convinces him to take his keys and car, get dropped off at school. Jay buys the gift at the mall, goes to his friend Jenm’s house, smokes and get Adnan’s call to pick him up. He goes, picks up Adnan and just like that Adnan confesses his crime.

Up until this point the events on Jan 13, read like the script to a very bad C-grade movie. No crime even committed unintentionally has a script this bad. No crime is this simple. No crime is so badly planned, even by the dumbest of the lot.

But, let’s move on to Jay’s story. He picks Adnan up at this now infamous Best Buy, while Hae is dumped lifeless in the trunk of her car parked somewhere to be buried later. They go over to Cathy’s house to smoke where three other friends Jeff, Laura and Jenn have turned up too. If I was confessed to by someone who just committed murder, I probably would tell the police or some friends I know. Reporting the crime would at least rule me out as an accomplice, especially if I have been seen moving around with the criminal. Jay’s mind thinks otherwise. In what universe does killing someone deserve lesser justice than drugs or implicating the innocent. Even if they did launch an investigation, wouldn’t the police rule out everyone since you aren’t guilty unless proven?

Jay fears for his grandmother, a strong matriarchal figure who probably would have been devastated if she know her grandson had helped bury Hae. Afraid of being arrested for trafficking drugs, Jay seems to contradict himself when he claims that he was worried about his family and friends being involved in this crime. For anyone studying this case, the friends and family had nothing to do with the murder. Unexplained, but it is what it is.

Adnan goes home, meets Jay outside his house sometime later in the evening and convinces him to bury Hae in Leakin Park. According to Jay, who went home and was dealing with a moral dilemma the same time as Adnan, he finds himself agreeing to bury the lifeless body of a woman he respected, at the behest of Adnan who is now driving Hae’ car with her body in the trunk.

Not even the stiff, cold, and pale corpse in the car moves Jay to spring into action. Instead he is blackmailed into digging a hole in the ground, to bury Hae. The blackmail is as dead as a doornail; a police threat regarding drugs and some other “shit” Jay was involved in. In what world was murder not shit that hit the fan, I can’t fathom. For Jay, burying Hae was what sounded right at the time. A price to pay to earn Adnan’s silence.

It is clear that Jay and Adnan are probably the only two people who knew about what had happened. They decided to abandon the idea of burying her because she’s heavy, but complete it anyway with Adnan, doing it all on his own. A mind game with parking Hae’s car in an unrecognised location ensues and then they’re off to bed. Harebrained. That’s what the whole plan sounds to anyone listening to it.

I get why Jay’s often opposing statements may have us all confused. He’s worried sick over being arrested for drug possession or involving his grandmother and friends, and refused to speak to the police until he was badgered into it after they dropped the idea of pursuing him for drugs. So, when did drugs become far more important than the life of an individual?

Jay testified in the trial and was given two years probation for being an accessory to murder. Although he testified, he says wasn’t the whistle-blower, who led the police to Adnan for a crime only he and Adnan knew everything about. Instead he lays the blame for the first time with some coherence on a priest of the Moslem community Adnan belonged to, saying that a confession ot a confidante may have led to his arrest. Interesting fact, the Moslems are not bound by the absent rite of confession and either someone in the community would’ve been notified of it before Jay was, since he was well acquainted with those in the mosque.

Going through the condensed interview with The Intercept, I find Jay’s justification almost comical. The second part of the interview tries to gauge what mental and moral pressure, Jay had to go through to testify against Adnan. He says he’s sorry he was an accessory, but then all that talk about selling more weed or choosing the right circle of friends is incoherent bullshit. Pardon my French, but anyone can see through it. A criminal has already lost a sliver of humanity that can only be redeemed by repenting and making up for it, so Jay’s link to humanity has obviously been saved by someone who seems to have a vested interest in the case.

Serial blew up on the internet and had millions hooked to hear what was up with the case. Even as far as New Zealand, where I live, Serial had us hooked. For Jay not to have heard about his name on it is ridiculous. Serial’s production has been on all year, and his refusal to speak on grounds that only Hae’s family, who by now moved to Korea, deserved closure and answers is what put him on the spotlight.

As for the emails, Koenig is a journalist and writer by heart, and is evident in the professional wording of her villain. She never aimed to portray Jay as a villain, he did that really well all on his own, but wanted to hear his side of the story to bring it to a full circle. If anything, she may be accused of sensationalising the case, but then, most of us were left disappointed with the end.

Jay’s choice to come out now is interesting. The internet and technology have come a long way from 2000. We now have Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and whole lot of sites other than Reddit to look for Jay Wilds. It’s common knowledge that his life is changed post Serial. He’s angry with Julie Snyder, Koenig and Chaudry who’ve dug up the past and made his present a living hell.

Jay’s not going to give up blaming Adnan for the murder, Koenig for stereotyping him and the general public willing to harm him under a false sense of justice. Journalists are bound by a code of ethics that prevents them from taking measures to reveal information of any sort that can be tracked to them. It will ruin the reputation of the skilled storytellers who will be labelled the ones crying wolf every time, they want to tell a story. No journalist likes discredit, it is professional hara kiri. Jay is justified in believing that either Koenig or Chaudry are involved in leaking information, ut he probably will have to explain why he thinks they would want to do it 13 years later.

Serial was to Adnan and the listeners hope and an answer to the death of Hae Min Lee and an attempt to find the real killer in the whodunnit. Koenig speculated it until the end. There was Don, the cell records, the call, the note from the library and a whole lot of newly discovered evidence, but what it lacked was Jay’s version of the events.

Jay’s interview also brings his fear of being targeted to the fore. We’re sorry that people are targeting his family and bringing up a criminal past that runs in his family in the light of this case. There is no place for retribution from impassioned listeners, and dredging up a chequered past, when we’re all bound to have one isn’t helping Adnan. We aren’t the law and rightfully should refrain from judgement, until those equipped with the law decide where to take this case.

Adnan and Lee have found a new lease of life in 2014. They’re being remembered for what they were and so is Jay. His refusal, denial and timing of the tell-all interview is perfect, but now that he’s come out of the woods, he’s not going back in. If there is a justice system that works, we’ll hear a lot more about this case. Here’s to hoping that Lee’s family finally learns the truth, unfortunately only Jay has the truth and it is time he sets the record straight.

No matter what, Serial popularity has raised Jay Wilds’ notoriety through the roof and undoubtedly made him the star of the podcast. But this star has a lot to tell us about Adnan Syed, so let’s wait.

Rathan Paul Harshavardan

Retrial of a misjudged case 19 years after the man’s execution in China

January 3, 2015 by Joel Levi

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The fourth plenary session of the 14^th central committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) that took place between Oct. 20-23, 2014, has paved the path for a series of retrials of former misjudged cases, including the case of Huge Jiletu. Huge was sentenced to death and immediately executed after a violent inquisition process in 1996. The sentence came only 62 days after the rape and murder incident, of which, as it turned out, Huge was falsely accused. On Dec. 15, 2014, 18 years after Huge’s execution, he was acquitted by the Supreme People’s Court of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The main theme of the fourth plenary session is the “rule of law.” President Xi Jiping’s anti-corruption campaign targeting major CPC officials has been the topic of discussion on international media, official and social media in China, and at the dinner table of ordinary Chinese people for the past two years. The newly promoted strategy and doctrine, the “socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics,” appears to be a natural step forward to a further systematized rule of the CPC dominated government. But the meanings of the official report lie deep beneath the surface of the centrality of administration by law, and demands deciphering. Among many clues, a most telling one might be that the promoted “rule of law” still falls under the leadership of CPC. The report utilizes a rhetoric that separates the communist party and the CPC leading government by stating that the leadership of CPC remains above the Law, and yet, the government should be law-abiding.

The fourth plenary session, however, has brought misjudged legal cases in the past into the daylight. Huge’s case, for instance, had the chance to surface and be given a retrial on the Supreme Court of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the province where the case was first tried. Unlike 18 years ago when the case was closed with the conviction of Huge without sufficient evidence, this time Huge was finally given his long deserved exoneration. The change of the original sentence was based on the incompatibility of the confessed means of crime and the autopsy report, the lack of exclusivity based upon the results of the blood test, and finally, the inconsistency of Huge’s confessions on different occasions.

Notably, a man named Zhao Zhihong was arrested for rape and murder in 2005, and at the time had already confessed to be the true offender in the 1998 rape case. But the demand from Huge’s parents for a retrial of their son’s case, for reasons unknown never reached the Supreme Court. It forced Huge’s parents to continue appealing to higher authorities for the unsealing of the case. The case, however, remained sealed until the fourth plenary session of the CPC, and all of a sudden, at the new sweeping campaign of the “rule of law,” fell in the spotlight of legal debates.

Eighteen years ago, Huge and his friend found a naked woman’s body in a public restroom. They reported to the local police, and the 18-year-old Huge was immediately arrested by the police as a suspect in the crime. The case was tried in a rushed manner. Within a short period of only 62 days, Huge was sentenced to death and was immediately executed. The reason for such a hasty trial had much to do with the political campaign of the Chinese government at the time—local governments were told to crack down on criminal cases. The predecessor of the campaign was initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1983, with its slogan being “quicker and stricter.” The direct outcome of such campaigns was careless and heavy sentences in the short run, and disparity between laws for the campaign and the “normal laws” in the long run.

This kind of political campaign bears similarities with the “War on Drugs” in the 1970s and 80s in the United States. What often happens is the appearance of stricter administration, plus a higher efficiency in resolving crimes, obscuring the reality of “quick,” “rigid” and often times unfair judgment. But does a society eliminate crimes with harsher, hastier punishment? Or does it create space for governance that is casual and authoritative?

Moreover, the appeasing effect of a stricter administration comes from the public’s fear of disorder in the society. In both the case of China in 1983 and 1996 and the United States in the 1970s and 80s, the rise of crimes on the street coincided with the rise of unemployment rates of certain communities and the polarity of wealth in the society. Since the 1980s China has been in a process of radical urbanization, which created a large number of migrating workers in the city. These workers from the countryside became the most easily discriminated population by law and by social welfare, and many of them turned to other means of making money when the option of selling cheap labor became unavailable. The cracking down on crime not only did not help in alleviating the actual social problems, but it aggravated the inequality between poor and rich communities by covering it up.

Huge’s case also sheds light on the question of the death penalty in China. To what extent is a government justified in the kind of violence that it itself criminalizes? It is not just a question of politics and governance, but also of the irreversibility of the act of killing: when a person is put to death, a retrial retrieves only justice, but not the life that is already lost.

Analysis by Joel Levi

For an English translation of the official report of the fourth plenary session of the 14^th central committee of the CPC:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/news/2014-10/24/content_18795510.htm

Other sources:
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2014-12-31/134931348804.shtml
http://www.nmg.xinhuanet.com/xwzx/2014-12/15/c_1113639596.htm

Tanzanian youth group “Rat Road” storm areas in capital

January 26, 2021January 2, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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Violence broke out in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania last night as members of the violent youth community called Rat Road–“Panya Road” in the local Swahili–stormed areas around Sinza, Mwananyamala, Kinondoni, Ubungo and Makumbusho. Group members robbed shops and created havoc among the citizenry.

Tanzanian Police Commander Suleiman Kova made statements on the attacks through TBC1 news, saying that two of Rat Road members have already been arrested and the operation continues to apprehend the others.

“We the police have received information about where to find the others–that the young men known as the Rat Road are scattered over many parts…” Kova stated.

“These are young people who do not work. They do not have good values. First think about the seriousness of the problem, how the general information is greater than the weight of the event itself. I want to tell you people to continue your regular activities.”

Police are currently on patrol for Rat road members, assuring citizens that it was impossible for Rat Road to gain any ground in Dar es Salaam, because it was “impossible for Rat Road to be stronger than the army or police.”

News tip: Siligiye Nyax