The saying, “May you live in interesting times,” has often been attributed to Robert Kennedy, who referred to it as an “ancient Chinese curse.” The saying has an extensive history. (See “Quote Investigator” for details.) Regardless of the saying’s history, war, rumors of war, and civil unrest are more “interesting” than times of peace and prosperity. At present (April 2019), we have a lot of civil unrest, not only in the States, but also in many places around the world. We also have wars (and rumors of wars) in many parts of the world. In fact, we have pretty much . . . → Read More: Living in Interesting Times
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 Comments are closed  Blog  1984, Abel, ancient Chinese, Bible, Brave New World, Cain, China, Christian, Chrystal Blue Persuasion, civil unrest, conflict, crystal blue persuasion, curse, Eden, end-of-times, English, genetic manipulation, Great Wall of China, human aggression, Interesting Times, Irish, Korea, political factions, population growth, Robert Kennedy, rumors of war, Scotts, Shondells, Steven Pinker, Tommy James, Vietnam, Vietnam War, wars, WWII Back in 1994, Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray wrote a book, The Bell Curve, pointing out an inconvenient truth: half the population has below average intelligence. While much of what they said was considered controversial for a variety of reasons, the basic concept is incontrovertible. Half the population is below average when it comes to intelligence. George Carlin said, “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. In and of itself, that isn’t a major problem, as intelligence does not account for the main differences in human behavior. It . . . → Read More: The Bell Curve Comments are closed Blog agnosticism, behavioral psychologists, bell curve, blood and soil, Bob Dylan, Charles Murray behavior, Charlottesville, corruption, drug costs, ethnicity, European descent, George Carlin, George Harrison, hippies, homeless, honesty, human intelligence, Humira, hunting, intelligence, Malcolm Gladwell, mass shootings, Masters of War, militia, morality, National Rifle Association, NRA, Peace and Love, politicians, power, power corrupts, religion, Richard J. Herrnstein, Second Amendment, self-defense, Steven Pinker, The Tipping Point, tipping point, Tom Lehrer Steven Pinker’s new book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress is a beacon of hope in what I have been considering “dark times.” If you’ve been reading my blog awhile, you know that I haven’t been happy about Trump’s presidency. Pinker’s book has convinced me that there’s a lot more “ointment” than there is “fly.” Things in general will continue to get better in spite of Trump’s efforts to return us to the “dark ages.” Progress is not guaranteed, of course, but the long-term trend of history is increasing well-being for humans based on advances in . . . → Read More: Enlightenment Now Comments are closed Blog Big Enders, Buddhism, Catholics, chimpanzees, cultural differences, culture, dark ages, enlightenment, Enlightenment Now, Fisk University, fly in the ointment, gorillas, Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away, humanism, Imagine, Imprint Period, internecine, John Lennon, Jonathan Swift, Little Enders, Marian Fuson, Modeling Period, Morris Massey, Muslim Countries, Nashville, Nelson Fuson, Pinker, presidency, progress, Protestants, reason, science, Socialization Period, Steven Pinker, Stevie Wonder, Trump, well-being, What You Are Is Where You Were When “Evolution” refers to change occurring over time, typically in a positive direction. As Darwin envisioned it, species changed (gradually) over time to enhance their ability to survive. These days the word is commonly used for any change that seems to be for the better. Not everyone, of course, agrees on what’s “better.” When President Obama says that his views of gay marriage are evolving, he means that he is becoming more tolerant and accepting. Not everyone, including members of the Westboro Baptist Church, however, would agree that’s a change for the better. One of my favorite writers, Steven Pinker, . . . → Read More: Evolution Comments are closed Blog abortion, Angels, Beowulf, Better Angels of our Nature, change, Christ, Christians, Copernicus, crops, Epic of Gilgamesh, equal protection under the law, evolution, fracking, Galileo, gay marriage, Gaza, gerrymandering, global climate change, GMO, gospel, gospels, herbicides, Homer, ideas, Iliad, insecticides, Islam, Islamists, John, justice, King David, King Solomon, Luke, manuscripts, Mark, Mathew, Mideast, Muslims, Obama, Odyssey, Onan, oral tradition, peace, plantations, reality, same-sex marriage, scribes, slave, slavery, Steven Pinker, Ukraine, vested interests In the movie, “Master and Commander,” Captain Jack (Russell Crowe) asks the ship’s surgeon, Dr. Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany) to choose one of the two weevils crawling around in their food. The doctor initially says that they are the same in the critical aspects: “Arcades ambo. They are the same species of curculio, and there is nothing to choose between them.” When Captain Jack insists on a choice, the doctor chooses the larger one. The captain says that he has chosen incorrectly because “in the Navy you must always choose the lesser of two weevils.” Now that the political . . . → Read More: Lesser of Two Weevils Comments are closed Blog Arab Spring, Better Angels of our Nature, Captain Jack, Colonies, congress, corrupt, Dylan Rattigan, elections, evil, evolution, eye of the needle, Fugs, George Washington, get the money out, In Memoriam A.H.H., Master and Commander, money, occupy wall street, OWS, Paul Bettany, philanthropist, philanthropy, politics, red in tooth and claw, Russell Crowe, Steven Pinker, Tennyson, TV, weevils Richard Bandler, who has often been called “the best hypnotist in the world,” is fond of saying, “Hypnosis isn’t the exception…. It’s the rule.” The fact is that people—you, me, and everyone—tend to be in one trance or another most of the time. It is more a matter of which trance you are in rather than whether you are in trance. What we think of as “normal consciousness” is just one kind of trance with a particular set of beliefs. The more neuroscientists examine the way the human mind works, the more they discover that unconscious processes—processes operating below . . . → Read More: The Secret of Hypnosis Comments are closed Blog Antonio Damasio, awareness, Buddhist, change, conscious will, consciousness, Copernicus, cultural, David Brooks, David Wegner, Do, emotion, Flesh, Galileo, geocentric, George Lakoff, heliocentric, human nature, hypnosis, hypnotic suggestion, Joseph LeDeux, Mark Johnson, Muslim, neuroscience, neuroscientist, Philosophy, phobias, Quran, Richard Bandler, Ruiz, snakes, Socrates, spiders, Steven Pinker, synaptic, Tao, The Four Agreements, The Social Animal, trance |
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