My blog title has been on my list of topics for some time. I didn’t know how to address it. The recent news about a nurse, being a Female Serial Killer (eg, Guardian, 24 August), changed my perspective. This excerpt bothered me though: “babies who were grievously ill”. Most known serial killers are male, while only few are female. Guardian-2023: Female Serial...
Complexity vs simplicity
Is it a pity that we have so many opinions??
23 Aug, 2023
Recently, I had a conversation about the abundance of opinions. In our past, you had to send your handwritten or typed opinion in a sufficiently stamped envelope to a newspaper that might not even publish it. Since about 20 years, everyone can publish an opinion (eg, Facebook-2004, Twitter-2006). Hence, my question: Is it a pity that we have so many opinions?? The...
All warfare is based on deception (Sun Tzu)
25 Jul, 2023
If all warfare is - indeed - based on deception, would disinformation then qualify as lying? A simple answer would be a Yes. A complex answer would first look at human intentions. It could be argued that the victim has good intentions (eg, survival), while the aggressor has bad intentions. “All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack,...
Frenemies
24 Jul, 2023
When a friendship or a relationship is over, a new type of relation may emerge: the frenemy. Sometimes, it may still look like the friendship - or relationship - it once was. Usually, indifference is leading. The former is a micro example. China and Russia are a macro example; see my 2019 blog. "Frenemy" (also spelled "frienemy") is an oxymoron and...
If you’re not paying for the product, then YOU are the product
11 Jul, 2023
Last Friday, a free antivirus tool was accused of selling sensitive data of about 5 million of its Dutch users (eg, Telegraaf, Wiki). The Dutch indeed love free stuff and thus make an easy target. In a distant past, I've used this Windows tool as well. Such tools are, however, quite irrelevant in macOS. Back then, I assumed this Czech company was Dutch. For that...
Is criticism always personal?
6 Jul, 2023
Yes, criticism is always personal, despite what articles claim (eg, Quora). As a Receiver of criticism, we tend to fail to differentiate between Sender, Message, and Receiver (ie, us). There are exceptions because some Senders are skilled in delivering their Message of criticism. Hence, it makes sense that our response follows the 5 stages of processing grief a.k.a....
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