Observations on the world and its inhabitants
Again this exploration is motivated by what I see on social media platforms. I often read or hear, “The fact is… (blah blah)..”. But what does that mean? What does fact mean? What do people mean when they refer to ‘fact‘? Of course I’ve not been able to directly quiz those who assert their ‘facts‘. ...
Obviously not. So why the title of this post? It is about the energy density of human beings compared to the Sun. ‘Hotter’ is of course loose terminology, but it makes it easier to appreciate. As some will not have seen or heard in Prof Cox’s series that he said that the average human being ...
Wonders of Life is a series available for free on BBC Iplayer – for those with a TV licence. This is a good series. I came across some clips on YouTube then hunted it down. The first one I watched was “What is Life?” Prof Cox explains things so that ordinary people can understand. It ...
For many people – and I don’t know what percentage – taking any sort of chance is ‘a gamble‘ or ‘gambling‘. Therefore crossing the road is taking a gamble because that is taking a chance with one’s life or limb(s). For them it means that loads of people are gambling with their lives everyday. Likewise, ...
In case some didn’t know ‘Don’t look up’ is a movie on Netflix. I have to say that I avoided watching it for the last 7 days because it appeared to be rubbish. But today someone gave me a nudge. If you don’t like Sci-Fi, or DiCaprio then tough. I then went on YouTube to watch ...
Errrh.. most of us know that we’re made of atoms and molecules and stuff. If I was to say “That’s nonsense!” as I did many moons ago, I’d be shouted down and called arrogant etc. That happened. It is still happening. Well, I’ve had to wait 40 years to be correct! Oh yes. When I ...
Wow! I came across the video below that explained it very well – how stupid people are so powerful. Like a panorama opened before me. Fear of intelligence was explained very well. It is something I’ve been observing for years – obviously because I am statistically in the top 5% of the intelligence distribution curve. ...
Mathematics rules! You may not like it – tough! What’s this about? I’ve been saying that mathematics and probability applies to COVID-19. Of course – being NOBODY – nobody else is interested? Do I give a flying banana? I do not! Well, I’ve decided to post all that I’ve said in various forums. You like ...
For quite some time I’ve been thinking that there must be a term to describe something I was observing over the last 25 years. Then I finally found it by accident today! This is not a lecture – just in case. I found it in Bo Bennett’s book ‘Uncomfortable Ideas‘. Definition The Semmelweis reflex is ...
Sure – it is another book; available on Scribd. Did say people who read this have to buy it? I did not. This post was in draft form for several months before publication today. Book review – this is not. Over the last 9 months. I’ve been studying cognitive and conative aspects of human nature, ...
Yep. That’s what I was told in a real FTF conversation tonight 2021-09-04 between 20:00 and 21:20PM. Some must wonder why I even engage in those kinds of discussions. Well, I discover how the average human being thinks. It is stupid basically – the patterns of thought – and the gross disregard for the rules ...
I am certainly not a prophet of anything! I’ve made a number of bold statements in a certain forum which have unfolded just as I expected. Predictions? Hold on – did I predict anything? I did not. None of my statements said ‘this is going to happen’. All my statements were probabilistic. I fully recognised ...
What causes you a pain in the neck or backside is important. So ‘cause‘, ‘causation‘ and ‘causality‘ should be important to everybody! But these words don’t mean exactly the same thing, though they sit in relation to each other. Who said this? I did! And you bet – I see these concepts pretty differently to ...
The photographs will be an instant distraction in this post. Yeah some saw a boiled or poached egg on plate, and will have thought ‘What’s great about that?!! FFS‘. Except that it isn’t ‘a boiled or poached egg’ in the usual sense of how eggs are boiled or poached (using water in a pot)!! It ...
Placebo is the name of a band. I’m not interested in the band, in this post. This is about the nature of the placebo (and related) effects. I’m not giving a definition on this occasion. Readers can jump on the net and find whatever definitions they like. I’m sharing some experience and knowledge of the ...
Oh – I just had to post on this. Well, I was at a hotel last week. I had not been for several months due to COVID restrictions of several types. I had observed similar things at local supermarkets before getting to the hotel. So, this isn’t specific to hotels. It was a whole ‘new ...
To be clear at the outset, I do not like the COVID-19 virus. It has caused a large number of deaths, chronic disabilities and economic chaos. Technology & work Right – once that’s out of the way, what I will say is that COVID has pushed all sorts of systems to adapt. You don’t ...
I’m obviously on a roll, with the topic of reality. From mid-June I’ve looked at various aspects of ‘reality’ from psychological and philosophical perspectives. Tough – I’m not providing links to those posts. What – everybody wants to be spoon fed. It ain’t happening! So – in the last week I’ve also been looking at ...
In case anybody thought they were gonna get a lecture with references to facts and figures, I state now – as I’ve done several times in the past – that I’m not here to spoonfeed anybody’s ass! I’ve been very silent on the COVID-19 virus until now. I’ve been watching – observing – what’s happening; ...
This is NOT about all the lovely things people can and should do with evidence and related issues. This is about what the human mind tends to do with evidence that is unpalatable (causing discomfort etc): Doubt it. Avoid evaluating it. Rubbish it. Apply unsavoury labels to persons who report the evidence – so as ...
This weekend I’ve been thinking a lot about this. I searched all my knowledge bases. I then broke this down to the simplest aggregate of ideas. At the outset, none of this is advice for any known or unknown individual. The bio-psychosocial model of care has been around for the last 30 years at least. ...
Taylor Wilson (not related to Taylor Swift – just in case), has been called ‘The Next Einstein‘ – not by me. This is not a spoon-feeding session so anybody who reads this had better do some searching on the net to learn more. I will post a few key links and videos but this is ...
I’ve been observing the Earth for some time – I’d say for approximately 40 years or so. Before that I was pretty much ‘asleep’ – yuh know, busy and wrapped up with so much other stuff. It has occurred to me, especially in the last 20 years, how we are destroying our planet. Did I ...
Some big questions arise after reading an article in the Financial Times: Is Earth the only living planet? “Lisa Kaltenegger is among the scientists hoping to find evidence of life on worlds that orbit stars beyond our sun.” – they say. Tough if anybody cannot access the article – and I’m not going to breach ...
What people immediately ‘understand’ is that this post is about understanding Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Well, it isn’t! This is the math behind or under Bitcoin: https://www.coindesk.com/math-behind-bitcoin You could spend your life understanding it – and it wouldn’t help anything. Preamble In this post where I say ‘Bitcoin’ I include all cryptocurrencies as a concept. This ...
In this post I explore several things related to the meaning of prediction. I explore patterns in relation to trends. It is important to define what people take prediction to mean and what I mean by prediction. I’m so totally uninterested in what Google or some guru out there thinks ‘prediction‘ is! Why – cuz ...
I’m going deeper – and this is a difficult one to put into words. For other posts tagged with ‘patterns’ go here (or not). In this post I return to ideas on patterns. But I’m looking under patterns i.e. what if something deeper than patterns is ‘programmed’ or programmable? I’ll refer to this as super-patterns. What this means is ...
Patterns in general, are important in life because wherever we find them they allow for a certain kind of predictability. Come on – if you know someone very well it is not uncommon to know how they might react to something you say or do. You must recall a certain tone in one of your ...
Thorium is a fairly common metal that can be used far more safely than Uranium to generate nuclear power. The ability of Thorium to become a ‘cleaner’ and more safely manageable nuclear material was known back in December 1945!! Yes – so why are you now hearing about this? And if you’re one of those ...
The following mindmap condenses some of my thoughts on the nature of expertise. It is for sure not complete – and thank you, I need no assistance or references. And because I’m not here to teach you who reads this, don’t be daft and expect me to unpack every part of what follows. I’m not ...
