19 Sep, 2023
A recent discussion with a friend made me think of a saying: intelligence is a curse (eg, see quote below). There is indeed some truth in that saying. In his famous poem of 1742, Thomas Gray suggested something similar: "[..] ignorance is bliss [..]". Is our intelligence really to blame?? My friend is an intelligent woman. She is determined that things must go as...
18 Sep, 2023
Until about a year ago, many articles claimed that China would surpass the USA as an (economic) SuperPower. I never believed those articles. China did and does not meet the SuperPower criteria. Today, many articles assume that USA may not be surpassed. I doubt that too. The Roman Empire was - probably - the first global empire. Alternatively, it was a multi-regional...
13 Sep, 2023
There's a Dutch saying that translates like the shore will stop the ship (ie, #16). There's no English equivalent. To some extent, it means that you can only push someone or things so far before they break (eg, source). I was reminded of this saying after reading that the GOP in Alabama ignores court rulings. My blog title has an implicit question: Is reality (eg,...
12 Sep, 2023
"Overcoming denial often depends on the nature of the problem. People often come to terms with the reality of a situation on their own given time and support." (source). I suppose this answer is valid. Still, by not challenging someone's denial, it may/will feel like denying someone's denial. In my past, I would confront someone's denial. I used to believe that...
6 Sep, 2023
Growth refers to many different topics: body, brain, business, cancer, climate, economy, ethics, inflation, politics, population, and the Universe. We use many different adjectives to describe growth, like: absolute, actual, historical, marginal, projected, relative. A decline is even negative growth. Source: Our World in Data The population diagram for 1750-2100...
31 Aug, 2023
Recently, I noticed this British Psychological Society article: Are people more honest than we think? I don't lie as I'm not intelligent enough to remember what I lied about, to whom, and when. A former colleague once joked that our then-boss must have been very, very intelligent (pun intended). The above must apply to most people. Hence, the outcome of this article...
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