Last Sunday, a local friend joined me at my table at his restaurant. He had a blog topic for me: pushing boundaries. He was not talking about the recently popular term of transgressive behaviour (in Dutch: grensoverschrijdend gedrag). More specifically, he wondered why I'm not pushing my boundaries. Children are always pushing their boundaries with respect to...
Cause-effect
China: from pragmatism to ideology?
26 Apr, 2022
American ideological wars have confused non-Western countries, like China and Russia. America (and Europe) look weak and vulnerable in their perspective. This may explain Putin's "historical blunder" by invading Ukraine. As Aristotle already stated: "A common danger unites even the bitterest enemies". I am confused by the apparent transformation of successful...
What’s next after globalization?
31 Mar, 2022
Several articles express that the Western sanctions, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, mark the end of globalization (eg, Axios). I tend to agree with that. Hence, my blog's title: what's next after globalization? See Wikipedia for illustration. To a large extent, these changes are like swing of a pendulum. This results in swings between (amongst others):...
Accountability vs responsibility for war
23 Mar, 2022
There's quite some discussion about the responsibility for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That's weird as there's one country that attacks, and one country that defends. It's simple. However, some people have a habit of confusing a discussion by suggesting that accountability is similar as responsibility (my blogs). Notwithstanding the above, there is...
Peace dividends and European welfare states
9 Mar, 2022
On 28 January 2022, a Pittsburgh bridge collapsed hours before a visit of the 46th US president to promote his Build Back Better Plan, a huge investment in US infrastructure (eg, CNN). The irony was not lost on me. Ever since, I've been wondering about military spending, infrastructure and welfare. The final push for this blog came from this article in The...
Why is our tolerance waning?
21 Feb, 2022
Compared to the previous century, in which I grew up, I notice that our intolerance towards 'others' is (still) increasing. Our intolerance relates to (the freedom of) (i) speech, (ii) worship (ie, religion), (iii) sexuality (eg, LGBT, non-binary) and (iv) making own choices (eg, unvaccinated). Why?? The common denominator above is identity. We dislike others being,...
Archives
Framework Posts
The final taboo
Society’s farewell to the best & brightest
Drivers of Change: a 2022 update
The meaning of Life = living a meaningful life (2)
Quality vs Quantity
New: a proxy World War
“What is faith?”
The dark side of Hope
From pandemic to endemic
How did we get so far??
The positive power of negativity
Common sense, ignorance, stupidity and wisdom
The big-small principle
2021 Conceptual Framework
Life is a revolving door
Why are human beliefs stronger than our conscience?
Let’s work together
Who is to blame for hospital demand exceeding supply?
Dutch PM: “What more can I do??”
Is ideology responsible for stupidity?
Introspection
How do you help yourself?
Asymptomatic
Asymptomatisch
Mechanization, Automation, AI & Robotics
Needs, Wants, Beliefs, Awakening & Wisdom
Tweedeling in de samenleving
Collateral damage
Emptiness
Is politiek nog relevant in Nederland?
The SpaceTime dimension and the alternate Energy-Matter dimension
We need Knowledge, we want Power, and we believe in Love
Is consciousness a dimension not limited by space and time?
The asymptomatic Covid anomaly
What constitutes a relationship?
Everything follows Why (7): the DIKW model
No More Fear of Dying
Mission, goals, strategy, tactics and operations of viruses
Ideology vs pragmatism
Competition vs cooperation
From Knowledge to Power – the 7 Belief systems in the age of monism
The Art of War
Needs, Wants & Beliefs in reverse
2019 corona virus versus 1918 Spanish flu
Awakening – a conceptual framework (2)
Awakening – a conceptual framework
Our search for the truth
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish (2)
One question says more than a thousand answers
The 3 roads to Wisdom
The 7 Belief systems – a 2019 update
The inflation conundrum
Theory of Everything (2) – the Flow
Theory of Everything
The 7 stages of Liberalism
Love, Knowledge and Power
Communication, thoughts and language
Personality, Attitude & Behaviour
Conceptual framework (6)
Knowledge = Power and the Great Filter in civilisations (5)
Drivers of Change
The 7 Belief systems – a conceptual framework
Enlightenment vs False Beliefs
Fast vs Slow thinking (3)
Old and wise
Conceptual framework (4) – drivers of human behaviour
The 4 levels of Consciousness – an integrated framework
Conceptual Framework (3) – update
Humanoid sapiens, our future descendants
The road to recovery from a burn-out (3)
Conceptual Framework (2) – Why does evil exist?
The ignorance of Nationalism and arrogance of Globalism
Arrogance of Left and Ignorance of Right
You can only hurt someone with the truth
Sumerian civilization (5): Soul vs Spirit
Everything follows Why
A conceptual framework
Faith, Beliefs and Willpower
The Road to Recovery from a Burn-out or Depression (2)
A brief narrative of the future
Faith vs Religion
The 7 Belief systems – a summary
White Supremacy (2)
Opinions and criticism
Human Emotions (2) – a revisit
Why are opinions stronger than facts?
Numbers – mathematics, space, time, weights & measurements
The “what if” question
What makes a relationship truly unique?
The Great Flood (16,000 BC – 4,000 BC)
The meaning of Life = living a meaningful life
Our individual purpose
The road to recovery from a depression or burn-out
The Seven Stages of Love – for Men
Love – a 7th Belief system
Technological Revolution (1800-2100) and a New Renaissance (2100 onwards)
Belief systems – the Truth
Belief systems (part 2) – the ultimate human response
Belief systems – known unknowns
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Recent Posts
- What is the “Great Replacement” right-wing conspiracy theory? (the Economist)
- Democracy might be in crisis. But Autocracy certainly is (FT)
- “I just don’t care anymore.”
- “Solitude has always been my analgesic of choice.”
- Love, Knowledge & Power and zero-sum
- The final taboo
- “Without love, life has no meaning”
- How the Ukraine War May End (GPF)
- Germany Is Rising Above History to Support Ukraine (Bloomberg)
- Pushing boundaries
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