A Diet of Worms - Philosophism etc.

"Our problems are the result of one of two things. Acting without thinking and thinking without acting." “It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.” Daniel Webster "Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." Galileo ============================ During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. - George Orwell  ‘I can’t tolerate your intolerance and I hate you hateful people!' ----------------- "And the doctor, who like his father was a little given to soliloquy, as indeed are most men not in sympathy with their surroundings,..." "...nothing irritates really unfortunate people like the mock humility of t...

Ramblings For people like me, a wanderer without home or inheritance, faith is more than hope in the unseen. It is also blood, family and nation. Keeping the faith is often as much about staying true to ones roots as it is a belief in various cosmic intangibles. And if those roots keep you tethered to those you love and are loved by, how can that be irrational regardless of how amorphous the evidence of its basis in reality? "The Opiate of the Masses", he says, taking a drag of his cigarette. "I'll drink to that!" replied the bartender.

Serenity Now - Oracle Bones for the Modern World. A. - [Get it?] If you are losing your ability to laugh at the world then someone told you the punch line wrong. If you are constantly getting upset over conditions that you have no control over you probably need to adjust your view of the world. Whether you believe that someone is in control and planned all of this, or that all is chaos, you're still the same speck of stardust. You can shimmer or sputter, your choice. 2. - [Don't Confuse Me With the Facts...] Embrace Cognitive Dissonance. Learn to independently validate the things that you always believed you always believed. Being proven wrong is liberating. {insert mother's Christmas ham story here} D. - [I knew it!] Avoid Confirmation Bias. Be extra skeptical of data that supports your preconceived notions. VII. - [Stampede!]  Avoid the Herd. Abandon the wagon. We are all individuals. We can think for ourselves. eleven. - [Taste the Rainbow] There are no absolut...

Skeptoid (Bryan Dunning) Revisionist History (Malcom Gladwell) Freakanomics How I Heard It