My latest blogs were about ideology versus reality. It occurred to me that this difference may provide a fundamental explanation for collective stupidity vs individual wisdom. Before, I assumed that pragmatism was the antidote for ideology. My latest insights are in my diagram below. Our ideology is represented by our beliefs and in particular the 7 Belief systems...
Society
Desinformatie of slechts onwelgevallige informatie?
1 Sep, 2023
De Volkskrant, 31 augustus 2023: "Een grote meerderheid van de Nederlanders wil dat de overheid of de Europese Unie optreedt tegen online desinformatie. Bijna de helft vindt zelfs dat de vrijheid van meningsuiting moet wijken als mensen gevaarlijke informatie delen." Wat is eigenlijk desinformatie?? Mijns inziens is desinformatie hetzelfde als onwelgevallige...
Inclusivity vs honesty
24 Aug, 2023
Recently, Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant featured an article about preventing trans women from entering female chess tournaments. The article featured this (translated) quote: "The purpose [LO: of new game rules] is to keep [the game] as inclusive and honest for everyone." Note: markings by LO. The word "and" bothered me. In my view, the words inclusive and honest...
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...
The strawberry or wimp generation
7 Jul, 2023
My earliest reference is from 1993: Is America turning into nation of wimps and crybabies? Two books may have accelerated this topic: The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity (2005) and A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting (2008). Despite many references (eg, PT-2004: A Nation of Wimps), there's no Wikipedia...
Feeling deserted
15 Jun, 2023
Recently, Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant featured this column: More and more people are feeling deserted in a certain way. And actually we are indeed. I suppose columnist Danka Stuijver is right. One can feel deserted by many, like family, friends, colleagues, the government or society. Feeling deserted equals feeling a lack of love (max.) or attention (minimum) from...
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