Comments for To Conquer Confusion

Comment on Riding and Reading for Climate Action by Climate Ride Recap | To Conquer Confusion

Climate Ride Recap | To Conquer Confusion — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:22:20 +0000

[...] ← Riding and Reading for Climate Action [...]

Comment on Riding and Reading for Climate Action by Cricket Hunter

Cricket Hunter — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:17:37 +0000

This you tube cartoon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW3b8jSX7ec is the best, most intuitive explanation of how we know the crazy weather is generally attributable to climate change, even if we can’t say “definitely, absolutely” that a single event is that I have seen.

The most convincing picture of the data I’ve seen (at least for my comprehension) is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbgUE04Y-Xg&feature=related . It depicts how the warming trend is very, very clear using all kinds of data points from all over the world, and includes the cycling of the seasons. After watching it, your automatic thought when you see other items will be “what about the rest of the data? how and why did you select these? At least that’s mine…

Comment on Bless Me Father, for I have Sinned. It has been Six Months since My Last Blog Post…. by Jess

Jess — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 06:10:30 +0000

Thanks Nicholas – I appreciate your thoughts about the closure of the STS program at Penn State. I am not sure that I have anything to add to the exchange between you and Erich about the high church/low church distinction in STS – though I think it gets at the crucial problem of social relevance that has bedeviled intellectuals in the academy since the 60s. But here let me just say that I completely agree with Erich that at its closure, the Penn State STS program had thoroughly remade itself into a program focused on teaching and research in line with the main currents of STS as an interdisciplinary academic field, and the closure wiped out years of hard work by several of us laying foundation for an expanded program. Anyway, I was really glad to see your post. I hate to see all this vanish down the memory hole because I think there are important things to be learned from it. I may have some more to say about it at some point soon.

Comment on Bless Me Father, for I have Sinned. It has been Six Months since My Last Blog Post…. by marilynmann

marilynmann — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 23:07:30 +0000

Looking forward to reading your posts, whether on your academic work or other topics.

Comment on Bless Me Father, for I have Sinned. It has been Six Months since My Last Blog Post…. by Nicholas

Nicholas — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 18:13:23 +0000

Hello Jesse! I’ve only just started reading your blog, but apparently we are somewhat similarly “homed” here at PSU, although I am at Altoona, mainly, teaching our engineering students about STS, disasters, and ethics. Recently, I was writing about the shutdown of the STS program … maybe you’d be interested, maybe not. Here is a link: http://installingorder.org/2013/03/27/sts-program-at-penn-state/

Comment on The Alzheimer’s “Hockey Stick” and the History of Late Twentieth Century Biomedicine by Primum non forgetful | Hole Ousia

Primum non forgetful | Hole Ousia — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:10:06 +0000

[...] Ballenger, J. Blog: To Conquer Confusion. The Alzheimer’s Hockey Stick. 20 Jun 2012. http://conquerconfusion.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/the-alzheimers-hockey-stick-and-the-history-of-late… [...]

Comment on The Alzheimer’s “Hockey Stick” and the History of Late Twentieth Century Biomedicine by Hole Ousia

Hole Ousia — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 11:56:42 +0000

[...] [6] Ballenger, J. Blog: To Conquer Confusion. The Alzheimer’s Hockey Stick. 20 Jun 2012. http://conquerconfusion.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/the-alzheimers-hockey-stick-and-the-history-of-late… [...]

Comment on History and the Will to Power in the Alzheimer’s Field by 10 links for August — News from Somewhere

10 links for August — News from Somewhere — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:10:58 +0000

[...] Gallery now available Exploring the Geography of Urban Animals in Nineteenth-century Toronto History and the Will to Power in the Alzheimer’s Field How Advertisers Convinced Americans they Smelled Bad Gin and Tonic: A Short History of a Short [...]

Comment on Marginalizing the Psychiatric in Dementia Treatment by Jess

Jess — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 10:52:43 +0000

Thanks for the comment Al. I hope my post seemed constructive and not dismissive or ignorant. So let me make it absolutely clear that I view your work as a vital challenge to the over-medicalization of dementia. The only thing I would say in reply to your comment is that the distinction you make in it is far from minor. It is a better characterization of the evidence we have about what is going on with dementia than the reduction of dementia to brain pathology that has dominated the field for the past few decades, and more importantly opens the door to the person-centered interventions in dementia care that you champion.

Comment on Marginalizing the Psychiatric in Dementia Treatment by Al Power

Al Power — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 16:16:13 +0000

That’s an interesting response to my post, Jess, and although that was not my intended implication, your point is very well taken! There is danger to reductionism along both neurological and psychiatric lines, and you were absolutely right to point that out, as my meaning could have been misconstrued.

To clarify, I did not mean to use my neurologic description of dementia to endorse a highly medicalized approach. Instead, I tend to endorse a minor but very important disctinction: I believe that most of the distress arising in people living with dementia is caused by unmet needs and challenges to one’s well-being, and not specifically to their brain changes. However, those very real brain changes challenge one’s ability to meet his/her needs and/or communicate them to others, which is why a person with dementia is more likely to exhibit distress than a person without.

That may seem like too fine a point, but it’s important, because it helps explain why I did not intend to endorse an overly medicalized approach.

Thanks for raising that issue. I’ll keep it in mind in the future!