Roth fighting the End of History

Today, A little dose of Academic Trivia (not that anyone cares, but I found it interesting at least, and I'm sure your inner dork is dying to know): 

Francis Fukuyama's famous and infamous book, The End of History and the Last Man, is the most recent attempt (1992) at a universal and directional history in the wake of the Cold War. In it, he describes history as driven by modern science and the human quest for recognition. These two things together point towards liberal democracy as the best of all possible outcomes for humanity. 

In The End of History Fukuyama cites two articles by Michael Roth on Hegel and Kojeve. However, Roth's himself is very critical of Fukuyama's thesis and believes that Fukuyama misinterpreted Hegel and Kojeve (as in misinterpreted Roth's interpretation of Hegel and Kojeve?). Roth's review of The End of History can be found here.  

p.s. thanks to Justin for the Mushroom cloud action

The Smarter You are, the Less Sex You Have

So someone apparently decided we needed a medical study to prove what we all already knew--that the nerdier you are, the less sex you end up having (especially if your nerdiness tends to manifest itself in the maths and sciences).

After surveying thousands of high school-aged respondents, the study found a significant relationship between IQ and sexual experience. As Gene Expression explains:

Students with IQs above 100 and below 70 were significantly less likely to have had intercourse than those in between. Also like the other study, they found teens with IQs ranging from 75 to 90 had the lowest probability of virginity (the authors note this is also the same IQ range where propensity towards crime peaks).

Depending on the specific age and gender, an adolescent with an IQ of 100 was 1.5 to 5 times more likely to have had intercourse than a teen with a score of 120 or 130. Each additional point of IQ increased the odds of virginity by 2.7% for males and 1.7% for females. But higher IQ had a similar relationship across the entire range of romantic/sexual interactions, decreasing the odds that teens had ever kissed or even held hands with a member of the opposite sex at each age.

While these authors leave off at grade 12th, it would seem plausible to expect that this relationship extends beyond high school. To explore this, plenty of interesting facts come from a 2001 campus sex survey by the joint MIT/Wellesley college magazine Counterpoint (PDF). Looking within and between colleges, IQ appears to delay sexual activity on into young adulthood.

By the age of 19, 80% of US males and 75% of women have lost their virginity, and 87% of college students have had sex. But this number appears to be much lower at elite (i.e. more intelligent) colleges. According to the article, only 56% of Princeton undergraduates have had intercourse. At Harvard 59% of the undergraduates are non-virgins, and at MIT, only a slight majority, 51%, have had intercourse. Further, only 65% of MIT graduate students have had sex.

The student surveys at MIT and Wellesley also compared virginity by academic major. The chart for Wellesley displayed below shows that 0% of studio art majors were virgins, but 72% of biology majors were virgins, and 83% of biochem and math majors were virgins! Similarly, at MIT 20% of 'humanities' majors were virgins, but 73% of biology majors. (Apparently those most likely to read Darwin are also the least Darwinian!)

Of course, math and science majors at Wesleyan are more oft than not to boast of their virility by joining the facebook group: People who, despite an Interest in Science or Math, are socially apt and have fantastic Sex Lives. But, you know, the facts don't lie.

GPA Calculator

Because speculating about grades is more fun than working for them.

Instead of studying for finals I made a GPA calculator, available for download here. You can either input your current GPA and number of credits and find out how future grades will affect you, or keep track of all your grades ever.

I promised I'm not obsessed with my or anyone else's GPA. Just with spreadsheets, and calculating things, and academia. Yay!