Interesting findings. I think it’s interesting that the decline in religiosity seems to be more lack of trust in religious institutions, rather than just non-belief. I’m curious how this will affect organized religions. It seems religion is becoming more personal, with less of a social aspect, for better or worse.
I think the core of this is the hurtful aspects of gender roles men and boys face about how to handle and express emotions creates the situation of increased suicidality. Yeah firearms access is going to enable suicidal people to act upon their ideation, but taking it away just leaves you with a depressed/anxious guy, who doesn’t have the knowledge or resources to overcome his negative emotions. I’m not saying this in a “it’s a mental health issue not a gun issue” way, but society really normalizes the ignorance of mens’ emotions and for men to not build support for managing their emotions, be it intimate friendships, healthcare resources, healthy expression of emotions.
I think it’s good topic to bring up, because there’s a lot of things leading to men not doing too well, and I think it’d be dumb to ignore it, given the rise of acts of violence we’ve seen in the past decade from men who really feel disconnected or disillusioned with society. Finding out what we can do to help men cope with hardship in a more productive way, and ultimately address the root causes of the issues they face can improve things for men, as well as everyone in society.
I think a big part of it is the mindset that college education should train you to do a job, rather than provide a knowledge based on which job-specific training can be built upon. I think this is dually precipitated by employers not investing in training/educating their employees anymore, and outsourcing that cost to the employee, but also the issue of students who throw a fit about taking class X because they’re going for a degree in Y (I see this a lot with science/engineering majors when having to take classes in the humanities).
I’m in medicine, and one of the biggest issues I see in my field, as well as science in general, is a lack of ethics and cultural understanding. The humanities give context for scientific findings, and guide us in the research process. Without it, we wind up with the Tuskegee trials or Nazi medicine. The same sort of things can happen in tech (privacy, security, wellbeing) and engineering (safety, integrity).
Humanities aren’t a waste of money. They broaden your knowledge of our world and the people in it. Maybe you don’t have interest in art or history, but law, ethics (or other areas of philosophy), and sociology all can help a person be more well-rounded.
I found an old table sitting by the dumpster so I went and bought some stain and paint and i’m going to clean it up and refinish it for an extra table in my office. I’m excited, It’s been a while since i’ve built/rebuilt a piece of furniture.
My children are interested in making their own soap. I bought one basic piece of white soap and I have cocoa powder. I plan to melt and mix them slowly. Am I doing this right?...
Hobby stores and websites have melt and pour soap that you can melt in a mixing bowl, add fragrance and color, then pour it into a mold and let cool. The beauty bars you can often buy at the store (dove, irish spring, etc.) are made with detergents, and don’t often react well to trying to melt them, the stuff made to be melting has extra glycerin to help it melt down and harden without getting nasty.
Brambleberry is where I buy my soap supplies. They also have guides and youtube tutorials/Q&A vids. www.brambleberry.com
Making soap is fun! The easiest thing would be some melt and pour, and fragrance oils and a cheap bowl and loaf pan from Walmart or the dollar store.
America's nonreligious are a growing, diverse phenomenon. They really don't like organized religion ( apnorc.org )
Teenage boys' suicide rate is skyrocketing because of firearms access ( 19thnews.org )
Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College. Whose Fault Is That? ( www.nytimes.com )
NYT gift article expires in 30 days....
(August) What are you working on now, DIY? ( beehaw.org )
Making any progress, you slackers? Tell us about it!
Easiest way to make my own cocoa soap?
My children are interested in making their own soap. I bought one basic piece of white soap and I have cocoa powder. I plan to melt and mix them slowly. Am I doing this right?...