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QotD: Pandemic Patriotism
Apr. 19th, 2020 10:26 ampatriotism,
it is unsafe
to be intelligent.
--Isaac Asimov, quoted in TheBulwark.com
patriotism,
it is unsafe
to be intelligent.
--Isaac Asimov, quoted in TheBulwark.com
QotD: Viewpoint Diversity
Feb. 16th, 2020 08:14 am--Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt in Coddling of the American Mind; How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure, p113.
QotD: Defining Success
Nov. 19th, 2018 11:42 amWhat is success? To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate the beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
"...growing up in church desensitizes you to logical inconsistencies, and that opens up large numbers of people to manipulation tactics employed by individuals and institutions keen on controlling groups of people for their own self-serving purposes."
—Neil Carter in How Faith Breaks Your Thinker
APRIL 10, 2018
SOURCE: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/godlessindixie/2018/04/10/how-faith-breaks-your-thinker/
Excellent resource on logical inconsistencies:
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. No one in this world, so far as I know—and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby."
--Henry Louis Mencken in 'Notes On Journalism' in the Chicago Tribune (19 September 1926)
--Henry Louis Mencken in 'Notes On Journalism' in the Chicago Tribune (19 September 1926)
This factoid from the documentary on netflix called (Dis)Honesty. It's about a scientist and his experiments about lying. He (and others) have found that about 80% of Americans at least believe that they are above average, and this is diplomatically called the Optimism Bias. So 80% of us believe that we are smarter than average. Better drivers, lovers, cooks. You get the idea.
If 50% actually are above average, and 30% more think they are when they are not, then we are surrounded by blowhards, egotists, optimists of the ickiest kind. I guess the other 20% knows that they are below average or thinks that they are even if they are above average.
If 50% actually are above average, and 30% more think they are when they are not, then we are surrounded by blowhards, egotists, optimists of the ickiest kind. I guess the other 20% knows that they are below average or thinks that they are even if they are above average.
There was a pretty good turnout at the usual CFI venue, a beer and pizza retreat called the Lucky Lab. David is younger than I expected, pretty much right out of school having gotten a master's in Religious Studies. He points out the difference between Religious Studies and Theology right up front: his education is more about comparative religion and history than about the dogma of any one ism.
He has written several books, including Disproving Christianity, which he wrote right out of undergrad school I believe. The Belief Book and the Book of God are intended for the education of children by parents who want to satisfy their natural curiousity with actual information instead of indoctrination. And he announced last night for the first time in public that he has signed a contract for his next book, No Sacred Cows, which will be a manual for teaching critical thinking to children and adults.
I am very excited that this young man has taken to writing, and based on his public speaking, I suspect he is a clear and concise writer. I look forward to reading some of his books, and I may start giving them as gifts too. =-]
His main point in this talk is that the reason that there is so much dogmatic religion in the US is the lack of religious studies education. People who do not know what religion is and what it has done in history are more likely to be religious, and more likely to be fundamentalist. He says that to protect your children from falling prey to fundamentalism, teach them about all relgions, and satisfy their curiousity with real information. Without this education there is in his words a "snowball effect" that leads to a widespread lack of critical thinking---which is exactly what we are seeing in today's political sphere. If there were a strong component of religious studies integrated into primary school history and philosophy classes, there would be more critical thinking nationwide.
He mentioned an organization called the OASIS network, which is jokingly called "atheist church" but really it "an alternative to faith based community" that provides among other things programs for kids. For freethinkers surrounded by religiousity, the name is really appropriate
Here's his blogpost on how to respond to door to door religion sellers:
https://davidgmcafee.wordpress.com/2015/12/07/how-to-respond-to-door-to-door-evangelists-and-hotel-room-bibles/
**Created tag: freethinker
He has written several books, including Disproving Christianity, which he wrote right out of undergrad school I believe. The Belief Book and the Book of God are intended for the education of children by parents who want to satisfy their natural curiousity with actual information instead of indoctrination. And he announced last night for the first time in public that he has signed a contract for his next book, No Sacred Cows, which will be a manual for teaching critical thinking to children and adults.
I am very excited that this young man has taken to writing, and based on his public speaking, I suspect he is a clear and concise writer. I look forward to reading some of his books, and I may start giving them as gifts too. =-]
His main point in this talk is that the reason that there is so much dogmatic religion in the US is the lack of religious studies education. People who do not know what religion is and what it has done in history are more likely to be religious, and more likely to be fundamentalist. He says that to protect your children from falling prey to fundamentalism, teach them about all relgions, and satisfy their curiousity with real information. Without this education there is in his words a "snowball effect" that leads to a widespread lack of critical thinking---which is exactly what we are seeing in today's political sphere. If there were a strong component of religious studies integrated into primary school history and philosophy classes, there would be more critical thinking nationwide.
He mentioned an organization called the OASIS network, which is jokingly called "atheist church" but really it "an alternative to faith based community" that provides among other things programs for kids. For freethinkers surrounded by religiousity, the name is really appropriate
Here's his blogpost on how to respond to door to door religion sellers:
https://davidgmcafee.wordpress.com/2015/12/07/how-to-respond-to-door-to-door-evangelists-and-hotel-room-bibles/
**Created tag: freethinker
Tags:
3 types of mistakes
Feb. 24th, 2016 02:23 pmAccording to this recent article in Scientific American, the three types are 1) the Dunning-Kruger type, in which the protagonist vastly overestimates his skill or knowledge, 2) impulsive mistakes, and 3) mistakes of inattention. I've never made any of those, have you?
QotD: Foresight
Jan. 15th, 2016 12:50 pmForesight isn't
a mysterious gift bestowed at birth.
It is the product of particular ways of thinking,
of gathering information,
of updating beliefs.
These habits of thought can be learned and cultivated
by any intelligent, thoughtful,
determined person.
--Philip E. Tetlock and Dan Gardner on page 18 in
Superforecasting; the Art and Science of Prediction
a mysterious gift bestowed at birth.
It is the product of particular ways of thinking,
of gathering information,
of updating beliefs.
These habits of thought can be learned and cultivated
by any intelligent, thoughtful,
determined person.
--Philip E. Tetlock and Dan Gardner on page 18 in
Superforecasting; the Art and Science of Prediction
Tags:
QotD: Radical Self Love
Jun. 18th, 2015 01:05 pmRadical self love
In the tantric tradition it is said that chaos is 'extremely good news.' When you are willing to enter into your neurosis, your confusion, and your hopelessness, you approach the threshold of the sacred world. No matter where you look, all you see is path. Nothing is out of place and every state of mind is shown to be valid and workable. Even your most disturbing emotions are revealed to be of the nature of light, sent to magically evoke the infinite qualities of love buried within the darkness.
It is risky to let in the possibility that you are not broken, are not a mistake, and are not in need of fixing; that you could actually fully step into this world and participate right here and right now – that you need not wait until certain feelings are present or absent, for the right 'partner' or groovy spiritual career to show up, or for things to look quite the way you thought they were supposed to. If you will let her, the beloved will come in at once and remove all of this, leaving you naked before the truth of your illuminated presence.
Here, you will no longer be able to hide out from your unique natural perfection, pretending you are unworthy. You will no longer be able to assert your unlovability as you discover that what you are is love itself. You see so clearly that there is no 'you' here and 'love' over there; this old idea has been burned up in the fires of transmutation. When you are no longer able to conclude that a mistake has been made, you will see that even your neurotic spinning is weaved of particles of luminosity, brilliance, and intelligence.
Please do not postpone your participation here until things look the way you thought they would. Love is here now. And is burning up in its longing to move through you to set this world on fire.
~Matt Licata
In the tantric tradition it is said that chaos is 'extremely good news.' When you are willing to enter into your neurosis, your confusion, and your hopelessness, you approach the threshold of the sacred world. No matter where you look, all you see is path. Nothing is out of place and every state of mind is shown to be valid and workable. Even your most disturbing emotions are revealed to be of the nature of light, sent to magically evoke the infinite qualities of love buried within the darkness.
It is risky to let in the possibility that you are not broken, are not a mistake, and are not in need of fixing; that you could actually fully step into this world and participate right here and right now – that you need not wait until certain feelings are present or absent, for the right 'partner' or groovy spiritual career to show up, or for things to look quite the way you thought they were supposed to. If you will let her, the beloved will come in at once and remove all of this, leaving you naked before the truth of your illuminated presence.
Here, you will no longer be able to hide out from your unique natural perfection, pretending you are unworthy. You will no longer be able to assert your unlovability as you discover that what you are is love itself. You see so clearly that there is no 'you' here and 'love' over there; this old idea has been burned up in the fires of transmutation. When you are no longer able to conclude that a mistake has been made, you will see that even your neurotic spinning is weaved of particles of luminosity, brilliance, and intelligence.
Please do not postpone your participation here until things look the way you thought they would. Love is here now. And is burning up in its longing to move through you to set this world on fire.
~Matt Licata
QotD: Simplicity
Oct. 16th, 2014 04:01 pmAny intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.
--E.F.Schumacher
--E.F.Schumacher
QotD: Learning that Counts
Jun. 29th, 2014 11:34 amIt is what you learn
after you know it all
that counts.
--Earl Weaver (Baseball Manager)
after you know it all
that counts.
--Earl Weaver (Baseball Manager)
QotD: Stupidity in Science
Jun. 13th, 2014 01:54 pmProductive stupidity means being ignorant by choice. Focusing on important questions puts us in the awkward position of being ignorant. One of the beautiful things about science is that it allows us to bumble along, getting it wrong time after time, and feel perfectly fine as long as we learn something each time.
--Martin A. Schwartz
http://jcs.biologists.org/content/121/11/1771.full
--Martin A. Schwartz
http://jcs.biologists.org/content/121/11/1771.full
American men have a variety of handicaps, not the least of which is that ruggedly independent badass image they try so hard to live up to. But it does them a disservice when it prevents them from really being close to others. There's no guarantee that they'll have or develop the ability to really connect deep down .... so it's something to celebrate when it happens. It turns out that age 80 is not too late to develop emotional intelligence. =-]
WORTH READING:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/06/opinion/brooks-the-heart-grows-smarter.html?smid=fb-share&_r=2&
WORTH READING:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/06/opinion/brooks-the-heart-grows-smarter.html?smid=fb-share&_r=2&
QotD: Always With You
Apr. 13th, 2013 04:04 pmIf ever there is tomorrow when we're not together, there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. I'll always be with you.
~Winnie the Pooh
...and a fond goodbye to Dr Wilson, who taught us well and with great humor... he died two days ago in a motor vehicle accident...
~Winnie the Pooh
...and a fond goodbye to Dr Wilson, who taught us well and with great humor... he died two days ago in a motor vehicle accident...
In the process of googling various symbols that might be developed into a logo for my medical practice (I was studying on the rod of Aesclepius vs the rampant American confusion with the Caduceus) I ran across a blog that is distinctly American right wing Christian conservative in nature. The image that drew me in was this so-called "Obama Screw-U", which is derived from the Caduceus symbolizing treachery and profiteering:
That was humorous, but not exactly fair or kind. After a bit more surfing I found an article on Leftwing Pathology that posits that left wingers are essentially psychopathic. I will bypass the commentary on this page because in general it is name calling and not productive. But I do see how this is completely true from the conservative perspective.
Conservatism, most basically, is a limbic or mammalian mindedness emphasizing deep emotional connections, visceral aversions, and a strong instinctive sense of rightness vs wrongness. Liberalism is neocortical, involving the ability to weigh conflicting theories and integrate disparate data. To conservatives, liberals are immoral, or even psychopathic because they don't act from their hearts and guts. Liberals think about it, and make decisions based on information. The liberal method doesn't appreciate the power of people's personal attachments and belief systems. It hurts people's feelings. To the liberal, conservatives are dimwits who can't think rationally about anything. Of course the conservatives feel that they are the rational ones, they just consider different things to constitute "information".
It's about as bad as trying to get Israelis and Palestinians to talk to each other.
Conservatives feel a great deal more emotional pain when they are asked to act contrary to their own values. Liberals are expert at rationalizing--or neocorticalizing, if you will. Liberals are capable of acting more like a psychopath and being indifferent to pain both inside and around them.
But there's a spectrum. Some people are nearer the middle between emotional/instinctive/believing and intellectual/rationalizing/skeptical. Some can see both sides. Our limbic systems are intact and we can love deeply and hold values that matter, at the same time that our neocortices are developed enough to see that sometimes fairness that hurts is better in the long run than unfairness that feels safe and good. Maybe we could spend a little more time and energy trying to understand and be human to each other. We may not be able to develop policy that satisfies the deeply held attachments of conservatives, but we can at least acknowledge when the situation calls for deeply painful compromise, and try to be kind. The liberal who can't understand conservatives is more foolish than the conservative that can't understand liberals.
That was humorous, but not exactly fair or kind. After a bit more surfing I found an article on Leftwing Pathology that posits that left wingers are essentially psychopathic. I will bypass the commentary on this page because in general it is name calling and not productive. But I do see how this is completely true from the conservative perspective.
Conservatism, most basically, is a limbic or mammalian mindedness emphasizing deep emotional connections, visceral aversions, and a strong instinctive sense of rightness vs wrongness. Liberalism is neocortical, involving the ability to weigh conflicting theories and integrate disparate data. To conservatives, liberals are immoral, or even psychopathic because they don't act from their hearts and guts. Liberals think about it, and make decisions based on information. The liberal method doesn't appreciate the power of people's personal attachments and belief systems. It hurts people's feelings. To the liberal, conservatives are dimwits who can't think rationally about anything. Of course the conservatives feel that they are the rational ones, they just consider different things to constitute "information".
It's about as bad as trying to get Israelis and Palestinians to talk to each other.
Conservatives feel a great deal more emotional pain when they are asked to act contrary to their own values. Liberals are expert at rationalizing--or neocorticalizing, if you will. Liberals are capable of acting more like a psychopath and being indifferent to pain both inside and around them.
But there's a spectrum. Some people are nearer the middle between emotional/instinctive/believing and intellectual/rationalizing/skeptical. Some can see both sides. Our limbic systems are intact and we can love deeply and hold values that matter, at the same time that our neocortices are developed enough to see that sometimes fairness that hurts is better in the long run than unfairness that feels safe and good. Maybe we could spend a little more time and energy trying to understand and be human to each other. We may not be able to develop policy that satisfies the deeply held attachments of conservatives, but we can at least acknowledge when the situation calls for deeply painful compromise, and try to be kind. The liberal who can't understand conservatives is more foolish than the conservative that can't understand liberals.
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QotD: Emerson on Success
Nov. 10th, 2012 01:23 pmSuccess:
To laugh often and much,
to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children,
to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others,
to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition,
to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
To laugh often and much,
to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children,
to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others,
to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition,
to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
And that's just what we need to make the movie Idiocracy predictive. A recently published Harvard University meta-analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has concluded that children who live in areas with highly fluoridated water have "significantly lower" IQ scores than those who live in low fluoride areas.
SOURCE
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/14/fluoride-effects-in-children.aspx?e_cid=20120814_DNL_artNew_1
SOURCE
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/14/fluoride-effects-in-children.aspx?e_cid=20120814_DNL_artNew_1
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QotD: Change
May. 23rd, 2012 01:19 pmIt is not the strongest of the species that survives,
nor the most intelligent,
but the one that is most responsive to change.
-—Charles Darwin
nor the most intelligent,
but the one that is most responsive to change.
-—Charles Darwin
Word of the Day: Sapiosexual
Apr. 3rd, 2012 02:20 pmsapiosexual = one who is sexually attracted to intelligence in others
