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Showing posts from April, 2010

Cat Personality and Coat Color

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Does coat color affect personality? There is some question as to whether a cat’s coat color is a good predictor of his personality. Any cat owner will tell you this is true, and the web has several lists of personality types. This quote provides three possible mechanisms for the relationship between cat coat color and personality type. Coloring can affect the animal’s perceptions, putting him at a physical disadvantage. The chemicals involved in pigmentation are related to, or metabolized to form, neurotransmitters that affect mood. The genetic code for personality is on the same chromosome as the genetic code for coat color. Relationships between coat colouring and behavior appear to occur in a variety of other species, and a number of possible reasons for their occurrence have been suggested. First, changes in pigmentation may directly influence the function of sensory organs. For example, the lack of protective pigment in the iris of albino animals leads to problems of...

Science is Empiricism

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I have been looking into a device called a Perkl-Light Energy Spa. Unfortunately the proprietor has a serious dislike of scientists. I don’t know if I can purchase the device from someone who has such disdain for empiricism. I could deal with it if he at least provided some background on how the device works. The implication is that the device likely hasn’t been tested and optimized. I sent him a note. I am an electrical engineer and a reiki master. Your epistemological rant is a little offputting. Reiki is about being a receiver of sorts, feeling Ki in the Chakras and the aura and situating the hands to help it move. It’s not a talent, it is a human sense that we all have but many ignore. You are surrounded by radio waves every day, but without a radio you can’t detect them. Before radios were developed, radio waves coming in from space met the definition of “Subtle Energies” that the New Agers like to bandy about. Does it make sense to stat...