One of the links in my Trough of useful sources is to what used to be called Brain Pickings but has now been retitled The Marginalian. I receive regular emails with short essays on a whole range of subjects which often contain things that are very insightful.
Philosophical
A Worrying Epidemic of Intolerance of “Them”
This is certainly not a new topic within this blog although it has perhaps not been explicit for a while. I think the last time I waxed lyrical on Usandthemism was in this post. So many instances of this ‘disease’ crop up pretty much daily – and the problem is that most of the examples are far more complex and nuanced than most people are willing (or perhaps able) to perceive.
A Quote Affirming the Purpose of this Blog
I have – on many occasions – in these writings mentioned the cognitive bias that is termed “the Dunning Kruger Effect”. That stems from the results of some psychological based tests. Many have stated (perhaps with less research behind it) in alternative forms and I came across this one today from a philosopher.
Does Truth Matter
Of course it does – I hear you all say. Of course, I agree. However there are some nuances to explore and – more specifically, some examples of where truth seems to have no place in the conversations. Strangely it is almost exactly a year (took so long to do this one that it is now 5 years!) since I wrote Face It – You Don’t Know which in some ways explored the same topic – but from a slightly different viewpoint.
Should Everyone Be Woke
Today I did something that I have never done before – I had a ‘conversation’ with Copilot. I’m not sure how often I would repeat this, but I did find it to be more illuminating than I expected.
Always Too Young To Know Everything
I’ve been prompted to write something on this subject by a couple of videos that popped up as recommended on my YouTube feed this week – although it is also in many ways following on from my previous post when it comes to being well informed and the Dunning-Kruger effect. The idea, of course, is fundamental to the purpose of this blog – i.e. to continue to learn and to constantly remind yourself that there is much yet to be known.
Need to Clarify/Update my Thinking on This
The previous post on unreachable tracks put forward some thoughts on a diagram. Since posting that I have had a significant change of mind in terms of the ‘accuracy’ of the diagram.
Are Some Tracks Forever Out Of Reach
This post is a sort of follow on to The Train Of Life (if anything) from some time ago. It was triggered yesterday by seeing a figure that seemingly was first tweeted back in 2021, but which was new to me.
If Nothing Changes, Does Nothing Change
The quote (attributed to a few people) “if nothing changes, nothing changes” came into my knowledge bank today! As usual with this sort of thing it got me thinking – never a good sign…… and the result is that I want to put it into the context of my own worldview.
Who DO We Meet in Heaven
This post has been ‘brewing’ for some time without making it into the blog! For the purposes of this bit of writing we shall ignore the many mysteries surrounding the ideas of heaven and hell and simply assume that there is really a “good place” that we can all aim to attain. Some of those mysteries, by the nature of the question will need to be mentioned (but certainly not resolved) as we explore who we will meet there.