I think perhaps reliability is actually a matter of a communally shared belief. Community members may actually consider something to be reliable because other members of the community believe in (more or less) the same thing. [1] This past week a few things appeared on my radar which reminded me of how central the notion… Continue reading Is Reliability a Matter of Communal Religious Belief?
Tag: propaganda
When the Hitler-Youth Woke Up, They Found They Were Not Only Being Mesmerized, But They Were Also Being Starved to Death
Apparently one of the latest crazes is a song-and-dance piece being spread via TikTok called “They’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats”. Probably one of the main reasons this seems to resonate so well with today’s youth is the very bleak outlook today’s younger folks have on life (which I attempted to describe a… Continue reading When the Hitler-Youth Woke Up, They Found They Were Not Only Being Mesmerized, But They Were Also Being Starved to Death
Voiding and Avoiding the Void
I have been writing about this stuff for decades, yet I have never (as far as I know) put it quite that way. Why do I put it that way now? It’s actually not me — it’s other people. Every day I see people saying they are putting this or that or whatever “out into… Continue reading Voiding and Avoiding the Void
Weird
Weird seems to be one of those “Words of the Day”. Last night, something occurred to me along those lines. Often, when I warn people about the propaganda they consume regularly via Google, they mention something peculiar (or weird?) — that if they click on something, or type something into Google’s search box, that the… Continue reading Weird
Some Reflections on the Relationships Between Influence and Rationality
I have spent a lot of time with the exact formulation of that title. What is a lot? What is a little? Somehow this line of thinking reminds me of the Pensees / Blaise Pascal, and the title itself seems situated nearby to Descartes’ Meditations yet perhaps even closer to Edmund Burke’s flowery view from… Continue reading Some Reflections on the Relationships Between Influence and Rationality
Dumb Americans
I sometimes have a way of saying things that people find awkward or even inappropriate, and I have a hunch the title I have chosen here is at high risk of becoming one of those situations. There is a lot to unpack here, and I don’t know if I will be able to unpack all… Continue reading Dumb Americans
Case Study in the Contrast Between Rational vs. Irrational Media: “I Don’t Believe in Beatles”
This week was no exception: Every week is another week in which I try to fathom why there is such widespread trust in irrational media; and every week I find it ever more difficult to fathom. And yet this week also provides a few exceptional cases (which are actually probably quite predictable, as the propaganda… Continue reading Case Study in the Contrast Between Rational vs. Irrational Media: “I Don’t Believe in Beatles”
How to Make Natural Selection Work
Now that I have written this title, I wonder why I have never before considered the context in which the term “natural selection” arose (and how this context perhaps influenced the selection of the term natural selection“). So I pulled a few volumes of decades-old paper encyclopedias off my shelves and in one of them… Continue reading How to Make Natural Selection Work
Human Resources are the Disconnect at the Intersection of Do-It-Yourself and Highly Regulated Markets
First, I would like to acknowledge the influence of the No Agenda podcast in contributing significantly to the conversation concerning the concept of “human resources“. In contrast, my own very lethargic enthusiasm for the topic has apparently taken many decades to crystallize and it was indeed not until I was actively pondering last night that… Continue reading Human Resources are the Disconnect at the Intersection of Do-It-Yourself and Highly Regulated Markets
Cleansing Democracy
I think maybe democracy and cleansing have never been quite as closely associated as in this title, yet I also think that maybe it’s about time they are. This past week or so, populations worldwide have been not only generally alarmed, but have indeed become bombarded with somewhat of a political frenzy. Hardly any of… Continue reading Cleansing Democracy
Socio Business blog 