Everything is Special, Nothing is General (Knowledge)

I’m guessing that sounds sort of extreme … yet I am repeatedly led to this belief. I don’t believe in such a crass statement as “everything is special, nothing is general“, but I do notice something about the way other people believe to know something about which they obviously have little or no knowledge whatsoever.… Continue reading Everything is Special, Nothing is General (Knowledge)

Knowing Ignorance

Knowledge and ignorance are closely related concepts. One thing I’ve found puzzling for many years already is to what degree awareness is also involved. In my opinion, it seems unfathomable how anyone could know something and at the same time pretend to not know it. Yet followers of Freud apparently consider this to be so… Continue reading Knowing Ignorance

Does Google Own the Internet?

For the faithful [1], the answer is almost certainly a resounding “YES!” Yet before jumping to conclusions, let me take a step back in time. A long time ago, messages (i.e., “dialog boxes”) like this were quite widespread. I think they were seen as confusing, and gradually gave way to other question-and-answer combinations. What I… Continue reading Does Google Own the Internet?

X did Y, and I don’t care

I am reflecting on my recent posts over the past couple weeks. Two weeks ago, I described how mainstream media uses “bait and switch” tactics to get suckers to look at advertising. [1] This is usually done with a headline that claims something sensationalist along the lines of “X did Y”. Last week, I went… Continue reading X did Y, and I don’t care

Do Not Read This

This image of Putin and Tillerson toasting a deal between Exxon-Mobil and Rosneft to collaborate on their engagement to develop oil drilling in arctic regions is a still from the movie “Merchants of Doubt” (2014). You have probably never seen it before — I don’t imagine it was a blockbuster at any local cinema. The… Continue reading Do Not Read This

Sensationalism, Individualism, Mainstream Media Bait & Switch Tricks

I have and hunch that these three things (Sensationalism, Individualism, Mainstream Media Bait & Switch Tricks) are all linked — as if they were all parts of the same “complex”. [1] The complex situation I am referring to is the “Bait and Switch” game which most mainstream media organzations engage in. You might think that… Continue reading Sensationalism, Individualism, Mainstream Media Bait & Switch Tricks

Order + Dis-Order

My thinking about the complexity of the world was significantly influenced by a book recommendation I followed up on about a decade ago. It was summer, so one of my friends asked about influential books … and a friend of hers mentioned “The Social Construction of Reality” (by Berger & Luckmann). I decided to read… Continue reading Order + Dis-Order

Mainstreaming vs. Mass Throttling

This week I am very much under the influence of a few podcasts which address (or “report” on) topics I find fascinating, yet which are not directly in the “wheelhouse” of my interests. The topics covered, while somewhat similar, seem rather unconnected (apart from both being related to my own interest in such topics as… Continue reading Mainstreaming vs. Mass Throttling

Free Speech & Market Speech

I have been mulling over one of my long-held beliefs a lot lately … and the big puzzle for me is: why do so few people get it? I think the answer is a combination of several things — and that is a big part of why it seems to be complex, not simple, not… Continue reading Free Speech & Market Speech

A jumping off point for the truth

I listen to quite a few podcasts, and I have already mentioned some of them here before. Now I am going to mention an episode of “Factory Settings” (another episode of which I also mentioned a few months ago — see “There (but for the Grace of God) Go I“). In this new (or at least… Continue reading A jumping off point for the truth

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