Where we come from matters. Our origins form an important part of a distinctive personality, which can become a group identity when we share these origins. More often than not, our use of language, especially our dialect, is an expression of that distinctiveness.
Category: Republished
A (scientific) defence of the Brussels sprout|Trevor George
Traditional, supremely healthy, tasty and good for the environment, Brussels sprouts are one of Mother Nature’s wonderful gifts to the table. It’s time to lift them from their humble status, celebrate their goodness and appreciate them for the super food they really are.
How a ‘Ukraine-plus’ Brexit deal could solve Theresa May’s problems|Ursula Ott and Pervez Ghauri
A Ukraine-plus arrangement could therefore be the deal that May is looking for – no European Court of Justice oversight, a trade deal that does not include free movement of people, room for third country agreements and security and defence collaborations. This could achieve most of May’s white paper objectives and appeal to the different factions in her party.
Theresa May’s deal is almost exactly the Brexit the UK voted for|Craig Berry
...their opposition to May’s deal is logically inconsistent with their own argument that May has underplayed the UK’s hand. The trade negotiations that will now ensue, if parliament accepts the withdrawal deal, is their chance to prove that the EU does need the UK just as much as the UK needs the EU – and that it’s possible for the UK to secure long-term access to EU markets without undermining its trade policy autonomy.
Why self-identification should not legally make you a woman|Kathleen Stock
Let’s try a thought experiment. Imagine a world in which human members of the biological category “female” aren’t systematically disadvantaged...
How perfectionism became a hidden epidemic among young people|Thomas Curran and Andrew Hill
For the first time on record, young people are expected to be materially less well-off in adulthood than their parents. And it’s not just their material well-being that’s at stake – their mental and physical well-being is threatened by this hidden epidemic of perfectionism
The ‘real you’ is a myth – we constantly create false memories to achieve the identity we want|Giuliana Mazzoni
...it turns out that identity is often not a truthful representation of who we are anyway – even if we have an intact memory. Research shows that we don’t actually access and use all available memories when creating personal narratives. It is becoming increasingly clear that, at any given moment, we unawarely tend to choose and pick what to remember.
When Crime Pays: Mobsters who Spent More Time at School Earned More Money | Giovanni Mastrobuoni et al.
When it comes to education, you may not think of a mobster or gang member as top of the class, but it turns out that even criminals benefit from more time spent at school...
We asked the British public what kind of Brexit they want – and the Norway model is the clear winner|Charlene Rohr, David Howarth, and Johnathan Grant
It is now more than two years since Britons voted to leave the EU. But what has been learned in that time about what British people want for their future relationship with the EU?
International students on British drinking habits – ‘people don’t know when to stop’|Thomas Thurnell-Read, Lorraine Brown, and Philip Long
Having seen depictions of British pubs in television, film and, increasingly, social media, most international students were aware of alcohol consumption being important to British culture before they came to the UK. This prior perception was confirmed by their initial experiences on arrival. Our interviewees felt that getting drunk was an important part of British cultural life and reported being initially surprised that drinking to excess was an expected part of university life...