• „Antisocial personality traits predict utilitarian responses to moral dilemmas“ http://j.mp/p3w9Rp Seems there’s more to being really human. #
• RT @sueddeutschede Fährunglück vor Tansanias Küste: Überfüllte Fähre kentert vor Sansibar — viele Tote befürchtet http://j.mp/pT6ggp #
• This will bring me back to civilization after this year. And show you how old you have become http://j.mp/qRvU2A Internet memes 101 #Pogue #
• Bürgerliche entdecken laut #FAZ dass sie sich vom Kapital missbrauchen ließen die Linke recht hatte http://j.mp/pytr9h CDU moralisch leer #
• #Krugman models and explains financial crisis‘ infamous deleveraging http://j.mp/qHNzyG policy implications: government spending Strong! #
• Ozy’s law: „Misandry mirrors misogyny“ http://j.mp/pS7gpR (gender stereotypes cut both ways). True, but power issue remains. #feminism #men #
• Kapitalistische Elite ist (mangels Systemkonflikt?) zynisch geworden: Ende der Glücksversprechen, Markt als Schicksal http://j.mp/q5ZOHI #
• Contemplative book review on electronic „information bubbles“ http://j.mp/oFragA how much „other“ thinking do we need? #
• #Krugman makes me wonder why (crude) moral judgement seems to trump analysis in economic policy http://j.mp/q5Bicp http://j.mp/qMakTw #
• Top Ten Green Energy News http://j.mp/o5MYcT Wind lenses, wave energy, Egypt goes solar and wind, solar prices sharply down, … Wow! #
• Über 20% des deutschen Stroms sind bereits „grün“ http://j.mp/qsIjos Und die öffentliche Zustimmung sogar zur Ökostromumlage ist riesig #

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• #nytimes analysis of German green party success spearheading a worldwide trend http://j.mp/ru4yNR I really love German politics right now! #
• The US conservatives‘ game of saying things you don’t mean to people who (mostly) don’t believe them either http://j.mp/rlbVRl #
• Average penis size explains more variation (20%) in GDP growth than political regime type http://j.mp/rn8GpS #hardscience #bewareofnumbers #
• NATO not occupying Libya after all, doing business there is not bad, and extremists are not taking over either http://j.mp/oo3HLd #
• Bundesnetzagentur entscheidet sich gegen Reserve-AKW http://j.mp/ozRmI5 Atomausstieg ist ist damit rund — allerdings mit Kohle… #
• Könnten die Bayern ernsthaft die CSU abwählen? http://j.mp/o4sDns Laut Forsa hätte Rot-Grün-Freie Wähler gerade eine satte Mehrheit. Go Ude! #
• Gender-Theorie kommt in französischen Schulbüchern an http://j.mp/oCKN8i Glückwunsch, Frankreich! Wird die Welt doch langsam besser? #
• 2011 is not 2004: we should stop thinking of the internet as „anti-people“ and of „offline“ and „online“ life as separate http://j.mp/rgJvky #
• Wow. In Finland, speeding fines are relative to your income. Police has direct access to tax records — a fine… /via @SebastianSanne smart! #
• #travelinsight 73: Farmwork is damn hard. My soft student’s hands are all blistery from few hours of weeding. Still, #WWOOF rocks #

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I just finished an application for a scholarship to do my Ph.D. in Freiburg starting next year. So yes, after some eight months out there in the world I clearly felt I like the thought of going back to science a lot. I’m actually really excited about it, because the project tackles some philosophical and practical questions at the same time, and is set up in a very multiple methods kind of way, ranging from physiological measurements to open („qualitative“) interviews, all of which suits me perfectly. The title still sounds quite technical though, in English it would be something like this: „Importance of Cognitive and Psychophysiological Processes for the Effectiveness of Exposure Therapy in Agoraphobia and Panic Disorder“.

But this just for background, what want I want to write about here is the experience I had writing the application, because I feel it illustrates and supports constructivist concepts of a „narrative self“ which I like a lot.

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• A vegetarian’s guide to talking to carnivores http://j.mp/omeLUu thoughts on moralizing and justification, and typical fact claims rebuked #
• Bill Clinton #vegan for health reasons, and enthusiastic about it http://j.mp/mQFGp5 „I also have, believe it or not, more energy“ #
• Memory should be treated „as a form of trace evidence“ http://j.mp/oIIfNE legal system follows social science on eyewitness testimony #
• Head and feet evolved for running http://j.mp/p9Bqnv persistence hunting and barefooting #
• Great Recession is a Great Contraction: global economy is „overleveraged“, and creditors (i.e. savers) have to lose money http://j.mp/oCWYvg #

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Time to look back to Berny an my climbing of Mt. Kilimanjaro, too. As I hoped and expected, the pain is mostly forgotten, the excitement and memories of the amazing views is still vividly there. I almost feel I could do it again, while I remember strongly feeling the opposite immediately after coming down…

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Before things get too far behind, here some commented pictures from my first „back to Kenya“ trip — most of these have also been on facebook, but of course without the little stories in between…

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• Policies can make politics: US stops deporting non-criminal illegal immigrants http://j.mp/nQXL1K at least the federal government… #

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• #travelinsight 72: I hate taxi drivers who scare you of their own city and countrymen for business. And love the „dangerous local quarters“. #
• #travelinsight 71: When traveling, you sometimes need a lot of luck! Miraculously always had it so far, quite a lot in one day recently. #
• #travelinsight 70: My #1 important technical advance ever: washing machine. No, don’t tell me you need the wheel for that! #
• #travelinsight 69: One time a teacher, always a teacher? Seems so. Explaining physics to the children in my Kisumu guest family #
• Uups. The mountain messed up my calendar — the peak was August 1 of course, otherwise how would I have internet now? #
• The power of compromise applied to science http://j.mp/mR6XQ1 you don’t think evolution and creation work together? They do #
• August 2, 2011, 6:15am http://twitpic.com/5zw5aw Uhuru Peak. Didn’t think it was going to be that hard… More pictures on my blog soon. #

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In a way, this was the beginning of traveling again: still based in Kagondo, exploring the immediate surroundings. I was invited by a very lovely young priest to visit him in his parish — the big island „Bumbire“ and some 80 small surrounding islands in Lake Victoria.

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After some two weeks of traveling again, it is time to finally put here the last last pictures from Kagondo. At least until the next visit, which might be in September, and hopefully soon again after this year!

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