Are People Rational?

ABSTRACT. It is common for Bertrand Russell’s admirers to repeat his many quips about other people’s lack of good sense, for example, “most people would die sooner than think – in fact, they do so.”1 But it is less common for them to assert that this view is one of Russell’s fundamental assumptions about human nature and at the core of his serious moral, social, and political thought. This essay aims to show that this expressed scepticism about human reason is indeed a core assumption of Russell’s public philosophy throughout his life. Even if one accepts this, however, one can still ask: “But is it true?” It will be argued that there is much support for Russell’s view of human reason in recent psychological literature. Examples of how this assumption affects Russell’s social and political thought are indicated. 1. The complete and correct quote is “We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of thought, and most people would die sooner than think – in fact, they do so.” (The ABC of Relativity, 1925

Class in New Zealand: Past, Present, and Future

In the wake of the global financial crisis and amidst a tide of concern about inequality, now is an opportune time to revisit the topic of class. It is conspicuously absent from most of the discourse surrounding the current state of capitalism and its iniquities, but it is critical to a full understanding of them. In New Zealand, we have always tended to shy away from talk of class, but like all capitalist societies this is a class society, and we are all connected to and divided from others by class relations. Class also connects our present to our past and future, playing key roles in the periodic economic and social transformations shaping our history. New Zealand has been through at least three such transitions, which have all involved significant shifts in class relations and class structures. At this current uncertain juncture in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, we may have the opportunity to forge another transformation. &nbsp

Chemistry of the Mitragyna Genus

Previous work on the Mitragyna alkaloids was largely haphazard, and very little attempt had been made to correlate the known properties. The first task in this investigation, therefore, was to do this. The properties of mitragynine, mitragynol, mitraphylline, rhynchophylline, and rotundi-foline, and of formosanine, from a species of the closely-related genus Ourouparia, have now been more completely examined. Concerning the occurrence of the alkaloids, several interesting results were encountered. There has been controversy as to whether or not mitrinermine from M. inermis and "rhynchophylline" from O. rhynchophylla are the same alkaloid. It has now been shown conclusively that they are the same. The hitherto unknown d-form of mitraphylline has been found in the bark of M. rubrostipulacea, and in M. ciliata, previously uninvestigated, notundifoline has been found in the leaves, and rhynchophylline in the bark. Sitosterol has been identified in the bark of M. inermis, and quinovic acid in the bark and leaves of various Mitragyna species. As far as functional groups are concerned, it is now known that the alkaloids contain no N-methyl groups, but are methyl esters and often contain additional methoxyl groups. Although neither mitraphylline nor rotundifoline gives hydroxyl or keto derivatives, acetyl-rhynchophylline is known. While neither mitragynine, mitraphylline, rotumdifoline, nor formosanine reacts with diazomethane, rhynchophylline does to give a methyl derivative. Mitragynol deserves special mention. This alkaloid, because of its solubility in sodium hydroxide, formation of azo dyes, and giving of several phenolic colour reactions, seems to be phenolic, but several reactions are difficult to explain on this hypothesis. Diazomethane, acetic and propionic anhydrides, and acetyl chloride with mitragynol all give the same reaction product, possibly the result of isomerisation. Such isomerisation occurs in the hydrolysis and re-esterification of ester alkaloids, e.g., other Mitragyna alkaloids, and Yohimbe and Seneco alkaloids. Two known degradation products have been re-examined. The base C9H13N resulting from the selenium degradation of rotundifoline has been shown to be 3:4-diethylpyridine, and the neutral compound C10H9NO formed in the calcium oxide distillation of rhynchophyllic acid and formerly considered a carbostyril is shown by its spectrum to be an indole. The various known properties of the compound suggest that it may be a 2:3-dimethyl-hydroxy-indole. Prom a detailed study of colour reactions and of ultra-violet spectra, it is concluded that the alkaloids are indolic. If this is so, and if they have the skeleton of any known indolic alkaloid, it is possibly that of the Pseudocinchona, but more probably that of the Yohimbe type. Since at lower temperatures there was difficulty in determining the number of active hydrogen atoms in the various alkaloids, an investigation was made of the effect of temperature on the determination of active hydrogen atoms. Examination of a range of 38 compounds each at the temperatures: room 50-60, 100, and 160 in phenetole showed that at elevated temperatures no abnormal values resulted. Low values were met in fluorene compounds. A smaller range of compounds, where low values had been either reported in the literature or encountered in this investigation, was investigated also in butyl ether and in mixed solvents. In these cases the expected values were obtained, if not at room temperature, then at least at higher temperatures. Although some hydrogen atoms, e.g., the second in an amino group, do become active only at higher temperatures, it is felt that many low values reported are due not to inactivity but either to insolubility of reactant preventing complete reaction, or insolubility of reaction product adsorbing the methane produced In one case where this could happen, mechanical stirring during the reaction led to the expected value being obtained

Reshaping the Division of Labour: Work and Class in New Zealand Since the 1980s

This thesis is concerned with the relationship between economic restructuring, the changing division of labour and social stratification, with particular reference to New Zealand in the period since the 1980s. It begins with a critique of theories of capitalist development, leading to the adoption of an approach which focuses on both the longterm evolution of the division of labour and the ways in which production and employment are subject to periodic upheavals from episodes of economic crisis and restructuring. The regulation approach is used to analyse the restructuring of the New Zealand economy following the global crisis of the 1970s, which transformed it from a model based on mass production and interventionist regulation to one based on flexible production and liberal regulation. This provides a context for analysing related changes in employment, focussing particularly on the massive job losses in New Zealand’s goods-producing industries, the subsequent period of high unemployment and the eventual resurgence in job growth based on more flexible use of labour, expansion in producer and consumer service industries, and growth in both skilled and routine whitecollar occupations. The remainder of the thesis is concerned with the effects of these changes on patterns of social stratification. A consideration of the theoretical and conceptual issues surrounding class, stratification and the division of labour leads to the development of a model of class structure based on relations of production and hierarchical divisions of labour. Census data is reclassified to fit the model and analysed to show changes in patterns of stratification since the 1980s, looking particularly at shifts in the relative size and composition of middle-class and working-class employment and the implications for class formation. The model is also used to analyse changes in structural inequalities between the sexes and between ethnic groups, with a focus on the ways in which different groups were affected by the restructuring process and how this was influenced by historically gendered and ethnicised divisions of labour. The thesis concludes with an assessment of the extent of change in employment and stratification and whether this is indicative of a transition to a post-industrial economy

Reshaping the Division of Labour: Work and Class in New Zealand Since the 1980s

This thesis is concerned with the relationship between economic restructuring, the changing division of labour and social stratification, with particular reference to New Zealand in the period since the 1980s. It begins with a critique of theories of capitalist development, leading to the adoption of an approach which focuses on both the longterm evolution of the division of labour and the ways in which production and employment are subject to periodic upheavals from episodes of economic crisis and restructuring. The regulation approach is used to analyse the restructuring of the New Zealand economy following the global crisis of the 1970s, which transformed it from a model based on mass production and interventionist regulation to one based on flexible production and liberal regulation. This provides a context for analysing related changes in employment, focussing particularly on the massive job losses in New Zealand’s goods-producing industries, the subsequent period of high unemployment and the eventual resurgence in job growth based on more flexible use of labour, expansion in producer and consumer service industries, and growth in both skilled and routine whitecollar occupations. The remainder of the thesis is concerned with the effects of these changes on patterns of social stratification. A consideration of the theoretical and conceptual issues surrounding class, stratification and the division of labour leads to the development of a model of class structure based on relations of production and hierarchical divisions of labour. Census data is reclassified to fit the model and analysed to show changes in patterns of stratification since the 1980s, looking particularly at shifts in the relative size and composition of middle-class and working-class employment and the implications for class formation. The model is also used to analyse changes in structural inequalities between the sexes and between ethnic groups, with a focus on the ways in which different groups were affected by the restructuring process and how this was influenced by historically gendered and ethnicised divisions of labour. The thesis concludes with an assessment of the extent of change in employment and stratification and whether this is indicative of a transition to a post-industrial economy

Academic Specialties in U.S. Are Shifting; Hiring of Women Geoscientists Is Stagnating

Women have been receiving a greater proportion of the bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the geosciences over the last 10 years, reaching near 40% in 2000 (latest data available), while receiving only 28% of the Ph.D.s that year. Women are now only 20% of assistant professors at Ph.D.-granting institutions, a proportion that has not changed in the last four years. As part of a larger study to find what key barriers continue to prevent larger numbers of women geoscientists from becoming academics, data have been compiled from the National Science Board [NSB, 2002], and the American Geological Instititute\u27s (AGI) Directory of Geoscience Departments [Claudy, 2001] on geoscience specialty by gender