A Social Experiment in Creative Thinking
"Ignorance is bliss" Americans used to get 30 minutes of local news and 60 minutes of national news each day. If you missed the broadcast, you had to read a newspaper in the morning. That's it. That is all the news media consumption that was available. Now we have a 24 hour cable news cycle … Continue reading We Are Victims of Moral Panic
ABSTRACT The supernatural has been a topic of sociological study for over a century, and belief in the existence of paranormal phenomena is permeating into various aspects of the media. Although publicly labeled as a deviant group, paranormal believers comprise a majority in the United States. When different supernatural belief systems are combined under … Continue reading Religious Difference in Supernatural Beliefs (My Master’s Thesis)
Most of us feel compelled to post only the "best" aspects of our lives on social media. Others post mostly the "worst". Those of us who present the "best" parts of ourselves on social media are not only seeking validation and praise, but are inadvertently harming others. Those of us who present the "worst" are … Continue reading Social Media Responsibility
In sociology, mental health has long been viewed as a “social construction” like gender, race, etc. It is absolutely true in this case. Autism is new a “spectrum” that can be as wide as the mental health community wishes it to be. Homosexuality and transgenderism used to be afflictions that no longer appear in the … Continue reading Exposing the “Mental Health Crisis”
On Valentine’s Day a 19-year-old kid marched into his old high school and opened fire on students who walked out of their classrooms when the killer pulled a fire alarm just before the end of the school day. Reports have come out giving us some insight on his life. The media (both mainstream and social) … Continue reading Social Suicide and Mass Murder
The patriarchy is alive and well. Men are the highest paid group in the United States. Over 95% of the Fortune 500 has a man as CEO, and most of the other executive positions are held by guys as well. The richest woman in the world, Liliane Bettencourt, is still only the 14th wealthiest person … Continue reading A Masculine Manifesto
Think of all the things we take for granted in life. The concepts of white privilege and patriarchy are that white males have certain historical advantages that they never actually think about. Things are becoming more egalitarian, for sure. However, Western civilization has been, for better or worse, a product of straight white men exploiting … Continue reading Taking God for Granted
The subject of "privilege" for straight, white, Christian males is once again rearing its ugly head. Whenever this topic arises, those who are accused of privilege insist that they are not, while those who are doing the accusing refuse to see their own culpability in the structural problems that face the downtrodden in our American … Continue reading The Privileged Pilgrim’s Progress
My name is Alex Simmons, but what does that really mean? Who am “I”? I am a Christian, a husband, the father of four lovely girls, a sociologist, a drummer, a UNLV graduate student, and a UNLV employee. These are roles and statuses, but is that all I am; the sum of roles and statuses? … Continue reading The Triune Self
It's fun to think of the scientist as a person seeking empirical knowledge without bias. The belief that science is the superior, or even only, means to gain knowledge IS biased; and flawed. How many of sciences findings have been replaced with updated research? The Earth was flat until it wasn't. The sun revolved … Continue reading The Bias of Unbiased Science
