Scal Capone

Knob heads at supermarket checkouts who look shocked when the cashier asks them for the money to pay for their trolley full of shopping, and the ensuing delay as they root haphazardly to the bottom of their junk filled handbag to retrieve their purse. Just get the fucking thing out first, dick heads!

Scousers chasing the fash into the left luggage cabin at Lime Street.

YKI 4 LYF 2K18

Does comrade Batchain Puller still frequent this fine establishment? What about Stouffer?

Where y'all TLW legends at these days? Brotherly love The Fuckwit Formerly Known as Dirk

I have no wish to become embroiled in a debate about the semantics of altruism and come at this purely from a biobehavioural perspective. Reciprocal altruism is how evolutionary biologists refer to it. Altruism, whatever way you decide to describe it, has advantages. I'm yet to be convinced that altruism is a synonym for selflessness, I'm not sure they are the same thing. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocal_altruism To add, reciprocal altruism is not the only form of altruism.

Rats forsake chocolate to save a drowning companion By Emily Underwood 12 May 2015 5:15 pm We’ve all heard how rats will abandon a sinking ship. But will the rodents attempt to save their companions in the process? A new study shows that rats will, indeed, rescue their distressed pals from the drink—even when they’re offered chocolate instead. They’re also more likely to help when they’ve had an unpleasant swimming experience of their own, adding to growing evidence that the rodents feel empathy. Previous studies have shown that rats will lend distressed companions a helping paw, says Peggy Mason, a neurobiologist at the University of Chicago in Illinois who was not involved in the work. In a 2011 study, for example, Mason and colleagues showed that if a rat is trapped in a narrow plastic tube, its unrestrained cagemate will work on the latch until it figures out how to spring the trap. Skeptics, however, have suggested that the rodents help because they crave companionship—not because their fellow rodents were suffering. The new study, by researchers at the Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan, puts those doubts to rest, Mason says. For their test of altruistic behavior, the team devised an experimental box with two compartments divided by a transparent partition. On one side of the box, a rat was forced to swim in a pool of water, which it strongly disliked. Although not at risk of drowning—the animal could cling to a ledge—it did have to tread water for up to 5 minutes. The only way the rodent could escape its watery predicament was if a second rat—sitting safe and dry on a platform—pushed open a small round door separating the two sides, letting it climb onto dry land. Within a few days, the high-and-dry rats were regularly aiding their soaking companions by opening the door, the team reports online today in Animal Cognition. They did not open the door when the pool was dry, confirming that the rats were helping in response to others’ distress, rather than because they wanted company, Mason says. Rats that had previously been immersed learned how to save their cagemates much more quickly than those who had never been soaked, suggesting that empathy drove their behavior, she adds. “Not only does the rat recognize distress, but he is even more moved to act because he remembers being in that situation.” Next, the team put the rodents to the ultimate test, pitting chocolate against altruism. In this experiment, rats on the dry platform had to choose between two doors, one that allowed their soaked companion to escape from the pool and another that provided access to a tasty chocolate treat. The rodents chose to help their companions before seeking the snack 50% to 80% of the time, showing that the urge to help a fellow rat was at least as strong as the desire for food, the authors say. People differ from rats in many ways, but the study supports a growing body of evidence that there’s an evolutionary basis for helpful behavior, independent of culture or upbringing, Mason says. “Humans are not helping purely because mom taught us to help,” she says. “In part—and to what degree remains to be seen—we help because it’s in our biology.” http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavior/2015/05/rats-forsake-chocolate-save-drowning-companion

I'm not sure we have evolved frontal lobes because we're altruistic. That seems a bit chicken and egg to me. We have highly evolved frontal lobes because selection pressures in hominids favoured denser frontal networks, possibly on the basis that such networks could provision for the executive functions (planning, working memory, decision making etc) that were necessary to coexist in large social networks. Altruism is only a part of that. Dan Kahneman dissociates decision-making systems into two. System 1 is a relatively fast-acting, comparatively reflexive system which makes seemingly effortless subconscious decisions and adds emotional resonance to them. This system, one presumes, is the limbic system. System 2, on the other hand, is comparatively ponderous, it weighs up the costs and benefits of one's behaviour, thinks about the most profitable courses of action etc. This system is the frontal cortex (prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex etc). The frontal cortex extends dense glutamate fibers toward limbic system nuclei with the purpose of modulating the outflow of information through the basal ganglia. Thus system 1 is capable of controlling system 2. However, system 2 can feed back information to modulate system 1. Nevertheless, we can use reason to overcome crude, reflexive, emotional and often self-limiting behaviours but it's not very easy do so. Sure, this contributes to our ability to be altruistic but altruism has been observed in low-order species, including rats.

That's not a fact, it's an opinion. Reciprocal altruism is selectively advantageous for many species.

Momentum Merseyside are hosting a conference on the 28th November at The Florrie, Mill Street, L8 between 11am & 4.30pm. The following brief quote was contained in an email. Interested people can register for free here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/conference-rejuvenating-the-labour-movement-after-corbyns-victory-tickets-19333994498

The kinds of communism that have been implemented elsewhere tend to have totalitarianism sewn into them. Totalitarianism is inherent to particular forms of communism, especially those forms which advocate a violent revolution to overthrow the elite in order to replace it with a "temporary" authoritarian regime to govern the transition from a capitalist society to a communist one. Not all forms of communism are authoritarian, though.

Ha, I see little has changed around this place. then.

That's not really true, though, is it? I mean, that's why I voted for Corbyn as Labour leader, because I am poor. You know, as somebody who can't even claim benefits, who has only been able to acquire insecure, temporary employment during the last six months, I couldn't bring myself to vote for somebody who was prepared to hit the very poor hard. That's precisely what Burnham, Cooper & Kendall were offering. The establishment are terrified of the platform Corbyn offers but let me be clear, I don't think it's at all likely he will win in 2020. However, none of the others could have won in 2020 either.

I agree with all of that, I meant we as in our country's government. No more. No less.

Far too many people are caught up trying to apply linear solutions to inherently complex nonlinear problems. The cry for bombing Syria is just one such example of this. We need to consider the ramifications of our bombing campaigns before we decide on whether or not to bomb. The impulsive clamour for war from establishment politicians (Tories and the Labour right), especially the swiftness with which they have been seeking to establish a militaristic foothold in Syria since Friday's attacks, is indicative of a wholesale failure to clearly consider the consequences of a bombing campaign. For the most part, I am against a military presence in Syria. At present, I believe our government should be exhausting other avenues before we even consider war.

I briefly saw The Sir on the train. I think he was heading to Chester races. He now lives in Bristol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meaVNHch96o

It's mine too.

This is the greatest lyrical composition I've ever heard.

This is an incredibly touching thread.