In his 1742/1768 poem, Thomas Gray wrote two famous last lines: “[..] where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise”. The old English word "folly" means foolish; bliss is "a state of complete happiness or joy". My blog’s title is a paraphrase of those two lines. Small human problems often arise from misunderstandings and/or wrong assumptions. Both can be solved...
CNN, 31 October: "American Airlines canceled another 634 flights on Sunday, more than 12% of its total operations for the day, the company said Sunday. The airline has now canceled more than 1,500 flights since Friday, as it deals with weather issues and staffing shortages that started last week." Some media claim that vaccine mandates are causing those staffing...
Both governments and their opposition - of whatever kind - use fear to bolster support in contentious issues (eg, covid-19). Governments force us to choose sides by threatening us with expulsion from society (eg, fines, imprisonment, passports). The opposition stirs our fears by labelling government policies as a conspiracy and as a brutal attack on our rights (eg,...
The Wall Street Journal title: How Often Should You Shower? Celebrities Ignite a Ferocious DebateWSJ subtitle: Hollywood types including Jake Gyllenhaal, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher and Dax Shepard take a lax approach to hygiene, stoking a contentious uproar on how often one should bathe. It mirrors a similar discord in the medical community, and among everyday...
Last Monday, I noticed a very interesting message in a leading Dutch newspaper: Germany intends to change its law and remove the number of contaminations as a corona benchmark. Instead, it will use the number of hospital admittances as a benchmark for its corona policy. On 7 July 2021, Dutch parliament adopted a similar measure but our caretaker government still...
Each day, I receive some 150 newsletters from various backgrounds. I scan all topics and read several articles. There’s a considerable overlap in their topics, which allows me to create some efficiencies. Some articles look promising initially, but are not. The opposite also happens. I’ve plenty of time, being without a paid job. I use that time to read, think and...
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