Recently, somebody said to me that someone’s life is complete. Initially, I agreed given her/his high age. Afterwards, I started contemplating about the meaning of a complete(d) life. In my view, a complete(d) life has three (3) dimensions: body, mind and soul. Usually, we refer to the first dimension (eg, ageing). Sometimes, our brain or mind thinks our life is...
I have been wondering if my 7 Belief systems (eg, 2016 summary, 2019 update, 2023 update) each have an opposite. My 2021 blog stated: The opposite of love is indifference, not hate. My recent (Dutch) blog, Does everything have an opposite?, wondered about indifference as its opposite. Obviously, we could argue about these opposites: Love vs hate; Money vs debts,...
Occam's razor is a problem-solving principle that suggests the simplest explanation for a phenomenon is usually the best one. Sherlock Holmes' principle seems (very) different: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." (Wiki) Both principles rely on statistical probabilities. Quite often, the...
Onlangs publiceerde de Volkskrant deze email nieuwsbrief: Voorspelling: er komt een kabinet van ‘het midden’. Mijn inziens staat deze "voorspelling" gelijk aan een open deur want er zijn nauwelijks andere opties. Meer interessant was echter deze quote: ‘De linksige mens’ kon zich volgens hem ‘storen aan de gebezigde taal en de hufterigheid’ van het kabinet Schoof....
Last week, it became clear that the American economy had slightly declined in the first quarter of 2025. No surprise given the "100 days of chaos" (eg, FT, NPR). The Wall Street Journal gave a good explanation for the (annualized) 0.3% decline: "The U.S. economy contracted in the first three months of 2025, as businesses rushed to stock up on imports ahead of...
In March 2018, I wrote about the simplicity bias, part-1 to part-5. It took me some months before I realised everything is getting more complex (eg, in life, nature, universe). In September 2018, I started writing on the complexity bias (1). Many episodes followed (eg, part-14 in 2024). Today, starts part-15. Early April 2025, Quanta published this article: Why...
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