Scurt, cateva confirmari – ca sa zic asa – ale unor articole si idei crete din trecut. E vorba de creierul mamelor, severitatea pedepselor si homosexualii indulapati. (“Told ye” inseamna “pai nu ti-am spus?!”).

Am invatat de mic ca a le reprosa altora ca nu te-au ascultat este enervant. Multi plozi trec probabil prin asta, in incercarea lor de a demonstra adultilor ca nu sunt cu totul si cu totul fara insemnatate. Fara a cade in “sindromul Cassandra”, de cate ori expun un punct de vedere controversial (chestie care se-ntampla des) si apoi descopar noi (sau vechi) dovezi in sprijinul ideii, ma strabate aceeasi bucurie copchilareasca.

creierul

Cand scriam acum cateva saptamani ca mamele au creierul modificat de copii (cu tot cu desen explicativ), nu ma asteptam ca la numai cateva zile Scientific American sa dedice ideii un intreg numar. Iata un sumar:

• Mirosul
• mood swings then level-headed, calms nerves
• more courage and adventurous – rat mothers
• decisions – prefrontal cortex
• feel good – nucleus accumbus

Pe scurt, cea mai mare parte a creierului nostru e ocupata de procesarea stimulilor vizuali, pe de o parte si a relatiilor interumane, pe cealalta, acestea fiind si printre cele mai dificile de duplicat cu AI. Este normal si firesc ca relatia cu un copil, a carui crestere (si implicita nevoie de protectie) are loc pe parcursul mai multor ani, sa ocupe o bucata atat de mare din resursele cerebrale ale parintelui principal, in detrimentul altor abilitati mai putin folosite, cum ar fi capacitatea de orientare.

severitate

Al doilea “exact cum ti-am spus” se refera la severitatea pedepselor, mai precis ce-ncepusem sa spun in critica ctp-ului. Time a publicat recent un set de poze cu puscaria Halden, care este o pensiune moderna ce ar reprezenta un pas inainte pentru majoritatea romanilor care, dupa cum stim, traiesc fara canalizare. Tot in Time, sunt citati britanicii, care s-au hotarat sa treaca de la obiceiul de a intemnita cat mai multi oameni la o versiune de justitie mai relaxata, care pe deasupra salveaza si bani de la buget:

It seems even justice isn't recessionproof. On Tuesday, June 29, U.K. Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke outlined radical prison reforms that he said would both "shut the revolving door of crime and reoffending" and save money for the government, which is straining under a £135 billion ($230 billion) deficit. While Britain's coalition government must first conduct a review of sentencing policy and then reach agreement on how to proceed with the proposed policy changes, critics and supporters alike see the announcement as paving the way for alternative sanctions and a reduced prison population.

Speaking at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at London's King's College on Wednesday, Clarke broke with Conservative orthodoxy by suggesting that taking the hard line on criminality — "banging up more and more people for longer" — doesn't deliver results. "Too often, prison has proved a costly and ineffectual approach that fails to turn criminals into law-abiding citizens," he said. "In our worst prisons, it produces tougher criminals."

Britain's prison population has nearly doubled since 1993, when Clarke last oversaw the prison service as Home Secretary. That year, England and Wales had a prison roster listing 44,628 inmates. Today it stands at 85,000 — "an astonishing number, which I would have dismissed as an impossible and ridiculous prediction if it had been put to me in a forecast in 1992," Clarke said. England and Wales together now have the largest prison population in Europe and one of its highest rates of incarceration, jailing 154 of every 100,000 residents, compared with 111 in Italy, 96 in France, 87 in Germany and 71 in Norway.

Clarke framed the need for reform in economic terms — a move that no doubt stems from the government's June 22 announcement of an emergency budget meant to eliminate the nation's deficit within four years. Keeping a prisoner in jail in Britain costs, on average, about £38,000 ($57,000) — more than it costs to send a child to Eton, an elite boarding school for boys. All told, the government spends about £2.2 billion ($3.3 billion) annually on the country's inmates. And the expenses are set to go up: under the previous Labour government, Britain embarked on a £4.2 billion ($6.3 billion) prison-building program — the largest in Western Europe — meant to boost the number of available prison slots from 87,000 to 96,000 by 2014. Current plans include the construction of five supersize jails that can hold 1,500 prisoners each.

Partea interesanta este ca nu numai tarile scandinave au astfel de politici de incarcerare, dar acestea au fost adoptate pana si in alte tari. In ce priveste eliminarea sugerata de ctp, iata de pilda politia californiana batand un barbat schizophrenic pana la moarte.

Din pacate, majoritatea romanilor n-au mirosit cafeaua inca, chiar si cei mai luminati. Nu demult, aveam o discutie cu Adrian Mihalcioiu in care acesta imi spunea ca el ar prefera chiar si taxe mai mari daca asta rezulta in incarcerarea cat mai multor tigani. Exista si un studiu care masoara impactul educatiei din puscarie. Superintendentul unei scoli americane a cerut guvernatorului sau sa-i transforme scoala in inchisoare, intrucat va primi mult mai multi bani pentru fiecare elev astfel, iar educatia a fost taiata intr-un asemenea hal incat a devenit imposibila.

homofobia

Al treilea “pai nu-ti zisei?” se refera la teoria homosexualului inclosetat amintita precadere in pasareii si aputulonii, dar si in homosexualii artificiali, pentru g, coada ursului. Ideea asta mi-a venit nu numai mie vazand cum cei mai acerbi luptatori impotriva homosexualitatii (aflati cu predilectie intre Conservatori) sfarsesc prin a fi demascati public ca homosexuali. Exista un studiu (PDF) facut cu mult timp in urma, care a gasit ca barbatii homofobi sunt mult mai excitati de gay porn decat cei toleranti.

opera

Am diseminat recent stirea unui asa-zis “studiu” preluat de CNN si multe alte “oficioase” si agentii de stiri cum ca cei ce folosesc Internet Explorer sunt mai prosti iar cei ce folosesc Opera sunt cei mai inteligenti, comentand “two legs bad, four legs good”, dupa sloganul de indoctrinare folosit de purcelusii din Animal Farm. Se pare ca a fost o pacaleala, zice BBC.

Eu am mai “patit-o” si cu Lovenstein care zicea ca Bush e de doua ori mai prost ca altii – un hoax fantastic de asemanator – si-mi place sa cred ca nici atunci n-am fost pacalit.

Sources / More info: sciam-brain-kids, time-halden, time-uk-prisons, ithaca-school-prison, wiki-cassandra, ppg, cp-homophstudy, CNN-IEplasa, BBC-demasca