Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cause

Shoot the Messenger? Cult of Personality?

divabat — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:11:26 -0800

Which causes or ideas have become more about the messenger than the message? I remember, for a while after "An Inconvenient Truth" came out, there was a lot of fuss given on Al Gore personally alongside (and sometimes more than) the attention on climate change. Now Al Gore's fame has quelled a little, but I was wondering if there have been any other social causes or new ideas that are now only remembered because of the presenter - or even if those ideas have fallen by the wayside in favour of the presenter's personality.

While Princess Diana brought landmines to greater public attention, it wasn't the cause of her fame, and the landmines cause hasn't diminished just because of her. Similarly, there isn't one clear person that can be credited for the gay rights movement or the feminist movement.

However, how many people would understand Albert Einstein's Theory or Relativity or how it's relevant to today's world? How about Stephen Hawking's work on astrophysics? Has their "celebrity" overshadowed understanding of their work on a mass level?

Also, has there been any studies or research done in this area? Is there a name for this phenomena?

When and howdo prey animals die, vs. preadator species?

orthogonality — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 12:28:18 -0800

How do prey animals die versus predator animals? What are the causes of mortality for prey animals in their natural environment? For predator animals?

Basically, I'm looking for aggregate breakdowns of causes of death (by percentage), and for prey animals especially death consequent to predation. Ratio of death by predation / death by all causes would be sufficient, especially if combined with age (age range) at time of death.

Especially useful would be statistics for closely related but distinct species or sub-populations.

Less useful but helpful would be comparisons of histograms of age at mortality contrasting several predator and prey species/populations, e.g, 30% of mice die before age one month, 20% age one month to one year, 20% one year to 18 months, 30% 18 months or greater.

Bonus if prey population is mice.

Underlying questions, do histograms of age at mortality differ for prey species and predator species generally? Where do primates, including humans in their natural environment, compare? Do sub-populations within a species/population show significantly different age-at-mortality histograms?

Disorderly State Laws.

emptyinside — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:14:40 -0800

How does the state law differ between California and Oregon? I'm moving to Oregon in a month and want to know what sort of surprises are in store for me. Anything is welcome, but I specifically want to know about:
(my understanding follows each issue)

1) Reproductive Health Care, in CA, condoms, birth control, etc, are free. In OR?

2) Tenant Law, 30 days notice, regardless of anything else in CA. OR requires a 'cleaning deposit' which isn't refunded.

3) Employment, in CA, it's basically at-will unless otherwise noted.

4) Public toilets, does OR require ass-gaskets (paper covers)?

5) I'm sure I'm not thinking of something important (more important than public toilets?) that is entirely relevant.

Thanks! Again, it doesn't have to be limited to the above.