I just heard someone say the phrase “The Red Queen Effect.” I didn’t know this one, but basically it’s when you have to run faster and faster just to stay in the same place. It’s a perfect descriptor for America’s economy in the 2020s. With inflation rising everywhere on everything and wages staying essentially stagnant, … Read more
I have a friend who is a positive thinker and so prides himself on his excellent mental health. Interactions with him go like this. I notice something about the current political climate in our country and he counters with details about how everything will be OK. I call it OK washing but it has consequences … Read more
The effort to “Kill the Universities” “The increasing reliance on AI tools is linked to a decline in critical thinking and cognitive skills, particularly among younger users. Studies suggest that as people offload cognitive tasks to AI, their ability to engage in reflective problem-solving diminishes.” – Live Science I deliberately belong to a right wing … Read more
A Scary Experience with AI on a Mortgage Payoff AI stopped my last payment on a mortgage I had had for 30 years. OK. That was a good move. The amount normally paid was wrong for the last payment but since all my payments were on automatic, it took a while for me to find … Read more
One more “Use the digital world to get your customers to do YOUR job” so poor corporatists can save money I just got a notice on my phone with a link so that I can conduct an inspection for my insurance company for the property insurance I just paid for on a rental. It requires … Read more
My doctor gave me an absurd “living will” to sign that said “I want people to be cheery around me and, essentially, put on a happy face when I am dying.” WHAT? Don’t they care that they are losing me? Do we have to have a happy death followed by a celebration of life funeral … Read more
I am in a profound state of grief. I find no comfort in Christmas sentiments. As one soldier fighting in Vietnam in December said in a moment of rage and despair, “Merry fucking Christmas.” Don’t give me your greetings of Merry Christmas. I am grieving for Rachel because she and her future children are no … Read more
Propaganda hijacks your beliefs and you don’t know it. You are sure they are your beliefs. It makes you angry when you hear an opinion opposite to yours, as if it goes against the “real” truth. This observation comes from experiences with a right wing intellectual group I belong to. Suppose you are an MD … Read more
My upcoming book, Redeeming Christianity, (soon to be published by Bilbo Books) contains these quotes on skepticism by Paramahansa Yogananda. Useful principles for thinking… “There are two kinds of doubt: destructive and constructive. Destructive doubt is habitual skepticism. Men who cultivate that attitude disbelieve blindly; they shun the work of impartial investigation. Skepticism is a … Read more
They’ve been called a lot of different names over the years: ad guys, mad men, spin doctors, Satan’s little helpers. And those are just a few. These are the people who tell us what to buy, where to buy it, and how it will make us cooler and more attractive to the opposite sex. They … Read more