The real generosity|سخاوت واقعی

A Voice from Iran

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Sara was a waitress in a restaurant.

It has been a little while that her washing machine was broken, and she was saving money to buy a new one.

She was a single mother and had to work very hard to be able to cover their living costs.

One of the nights at the restaurant, Sara handed the menu to a couple with a smile. The couple said: “It is our anniversary tonight.

We have been laid off because of the economy, and looking for a job, so please bring us the cheapest food on the menu. We really can’t afford it, but it is a special night we couldn’t ignore it.”

Sara brought a bottle of champagne. The couple got worried; Sara shook her head and said: “Don’t worry about the price. Yes, I remember, the cheapest on the menu.”

Then Sara served two great dishes that…

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Cuttlefish Pass Marshmallow Test

Cuttlefish are amazing little critters. They are cephalopods (along with octopus, quid, and nautilus), they see polarized light and can use that to change their skin color to match their surroundings. They have eight arms and two tentacles, all with suckers, that they use to capture prey. They, like other cephalopods, are also pretty smart. And now, apparently, they are also in the very elite club of animals who can pass the marshmallow test.

The “marshmallow test” is a psychological experiment of the ability to delay gratification. The basic study involves putting a treat (like a marshmallow, but it can be anything) in front of a young child and telling them they can have it now, or they can wait until the adult returns at which time they will be given two treats. The question is – how long can children hold out in order to double their treats? The interesting part of this research paradigm are all the associated factors. Older children can hold out longer than younger children. The greater the reward, the more children can wait for it. Children who find ways to distract themselves can hold out longer.

For decades the test and all its variations was interpreted as a measure of executive function, and correlated with all sorts of things like later academic and economic success. However, more recent studies have found (unsurprisingly) that there can be confounding factors not previously recognized. For example, children from insecure environments have not reason to trust that adults will return with more treats and therefore take what is in front of them. This could be seen as an adaptive response to their environment.

In any case – the core phenomenon seems robust. At the very least it requires a certain amount of self-control and perhaps some metacognition to be able to inhibit a desired behavior for future gain. Which animals have passed some version of this test? Chimpanzees are the best documented. Not only will they wait for a larger reward, they will find ways to distract themselves to help them do it (demonstrating metacognition – self-awareness of their own mental state). Some other primates, corvids, parrots, and dogs have also demonstrated some ability at delayed reward. This list makes sense – these are all animals who have demonstrated cognitive abilities rare in the animal world and associated with humans.

We can now add cuttlefish to the list, and this also makes sense because cephalopods have also previously demonstrated good problem-solving skills. The research not only shows that cuttlefish can delay gratification – wait for a greater reward – but that smarter cuttlefish were able to do it better. The researchers tested the ability of the cuttlefish to learn associations, and the ones who performed better were able to hold out longer on the marshmallow test. This reinforces the notion that some degree of cognitive ability is required in order to delay gratification.

This may also be a specific skill, not just a marker of overall cognitive power. In other words, perhaps there is some specific selective pressure that favors individuals with the brain wiring to delay reward. What would that be in cuttlefish? This is where evolutionary speculation comes into play, but this is what the authors surmise. Cuttlefish are predators, but they are also prey. They use camouflage and hide in order to avoid being eaten, which means before they get to eat they have to wait patiently until the coast is clear. A juicy morsel may swim by, but the cuttlefish has to stay hidden because there are also predators nearby. Cuttlefish who could not control themselves were more likely to get eaten.

This scenario makes sense, and perhaps could be tested by seeing, for example, if there is a correlation between average wait times for hunting prey and chance of becoming prey among cuttlefish. In any case – there is probably a combination of overall general intelligence and the specific ability to delay gratification at work here. Another way to look at this, which fits with the evidence, even with people, is that gratification can be delayed if there is another cognitive factor at work that is stronger than the immediate desire to obtain the treat.

This seems to come down to math – various factors are being weighed affecting the final decision. In the case of the marshmallow test, it is not just a binary choice – there is also the amount of time that an individual can hold out. So this experimental paradigm may be optimal for weighing various factors. As mentioned, for example, the bigger the later reward, the longer people can hold out on average, without any apparent upper limit. It’s a calculation. Much of our decision-making may be similarly calculated (at least in the aggregate), just not as obvious.

It’s hard for us to imagine what is happening inside the mind of a cuttlefish, a product of a distant evolutionary path. But there is some convergence here, probably because some things are fundamental and basic, like calculating optimal outcomes.

The post Cuttlefish Pass Marshmallow Test first appeared on NeuroLogica Blog.

Interpol warns fake vaccines seized in China and South Africa are ‘tip of iceberg’ | Coronavirus | The Guardian

Police in China and South Africa have seized thousands of fake doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, the global police organisation Interpol said on Wednesday, warning this represented only the “tip of the iceberg” in vaccine-related crime.

The Lyon-based agency Interpol said 400 vials – equivalent to around 2,400 doses – containing the fake vaccine were found at a warehouse in Germiston outside Johannesburg in South Africa, where officers also recovered fake masks and arrested three Chinese and a Zambian national.

In China, police successfully identified a network selling counterfeit Covid-19 vaccines in an investigation supported by Interpol, which has 194 member countries, it said.

They raided the manufacturing premises, resulting in the arrest of around 80 suspects and seized more than 3,000 fake vaccines on the scene, it said.

Interpol said that in addition to the arrests in South Africa and China it was also receiving additional reports of fake vaccine distribution and scam attempts targeting health bodies such as nursing homes.

It warned that no approved vaccines were available for sale online.

“Any vaccine being advertised on websites or the dark web will not be legitimate, will not have been tested and may be dangerous.”

Source: Interpol warns fake vaccines seized in China and South Africa are ‘tip of iceberg’ | Coronavirus | The Guardian

Coronavirus tracker: California reported 4,389 new cases, 278 new deaths as of March 2

The end-of-day totals from California public health websites for Tuesday, March 2, registered 4,389 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases there have been in the state to 3,553,920.

The 14-day total of new cases, 5,381, is down 87.3% from the Jan. 1 high of 42,268.

There were 278 new deaths reported Tuesday, for a total of 52,777 people in California who have died from the virus.

There were 5,110 hospitalizations of people with coronavirus-related infections reported on Tuesday. That’s a 77.6% drop since the Jan. 1 high of 22,853 people who needed hospital care.

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Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University, the World Health Organization, the California Department of Public Health, The Associated Press, reporting counties and news sources

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Interpol warns fake vaccines seized in China and South Africa are ‘tip of iceberg’; Brazil suffers another day of record Covid deaths; Greece prolongs lockdown to 16 March

12.47am GMT

Police in China and South Africa have seized thousands of fake doses of Covid-19 jabs, global police organisation Interpol said on Wednesday, warning this represented only the “tip of the iceberg” in vaccine-related crime, AFP reports.

The Lyon-based Interpol said 400 vials – equivalent to around 2,400 doses – containing the fake vaccine were found at a warehouse in Germiston outside Johannesburg in South Africa, where officers also recovered fake masks and arrested three Chinese and a Zambian national.

12.36am GMT

Greece has extended its coronavirus lockdown to 16 March as it reported the highest number of new cases recorded so far in 2021.

“We are at the toughest part of this pandemic,” health minister Vassilis Kikilias told reporters as he warned that public health resources in Athens had been under “unbearable pressure” for weeks.

“At the rate of new hospitalisations, the health system is stretched beyond its limits in terms of infrastructure and staff,” he said, adding that there was an “important rise” in cases of the more transmissible virus variant first detected in the UK.

“The measures aim to reduce mobility…we stay at home, in our own neighbourhoods,” civil protection deputy minister Nikos Hardalias told reporters.

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More than 200,000 Americans signed up for Obamacare within two weeks of Biden reopening healthcare marketplace | The Independent

More than 200,000 Americans have signed up for healthcare through the Affordable Care Act marketplace within the first two weeks of a special three-month enrolment period during the coronavirus pandemic.

Joe Biden re-opened the federal health insurance marketplace to uninsured Americans from 15 February through 15 May.

Federal health officials said the number of new enrolments from 15 February through 28 February is three times higher than the number of enrolments within the same time period over the last two years.

The figures represent an “increase from 76,000 and 60,000 consumers signing up for health insurance during the same period in 2020 and 2019, respectively,” according to the Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

“These numbers are an encouraging sign – but we can’t slow down until every American has the security and peace of mind that quality, affordable health coverage provides,” the president said in a statement.

During Donald Trump’s administration, the typical enrolment season for the ACA marketplace – where qualifying Americans can choose from government-regulated health plans offered by insurers – was within a six-week period at the end of each year. Otherwise, Americans can only access the marketplace if they have experienced a significant live event, including unemployment, the birth of a child or if they have moved to another state and no longer qualify for their state-specific plan.

Health officials urged Mr Trump to open the marketplace as millions of Americans lost their employer-supported health insurance plans after mass layoffs in the wake of the economic fallout from the public health crisis.

Nearly 15 million Americans lost employer-sponsored health insurance plans by October 2020, according to a report from the Commonwealth Fund. That includes roughly 7.7 million people who lost their jobs along with employer-backed health plans, and the 6.9 million family members and dependents who relied on that person’s care plan for their health coverage.

Following his inauguration, Mr Biden issued an executive order to temporarily reopen the government’s insurance marketplace.

According to the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services, more than 385,000 people requested coverage on a submitted application and more than 54,000 were deemed eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program,

Source: More than 200,000 Americans signed up for Obamacare within two weeks of Biden reopening healthcare marketplace | The Independent