Last week, the following thought entered my mind: Are all crises caused by human stupidity? If so, does that explain why history repeats? I'm inclined to say "yes" to both questions. In general, geological processes take (very) many thousands of years (eg, glacial periods, interglacial periods, magnetic pole reversal, ocean current reversal, Earth's wobble). There's...
For a long time, I’ve wondered about the Great Filter in civilizations. Why do initial successful civilizations eventually fail? It also relates to the Fermi paradox: if there is any extraterrestrial civilization, why haven't they contacted us by now? All civilizations seem doomed to fail after their initial success; often for unknown reasons (eg, Cahokia, USA)....
It occurred to me that (blind) ideology might be responsible for human stupidity. According to a 2018 paper in the Journal of Degenerative Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, author James F Welles claims it is indeed: The Ideological Basis of Stupidity. Since 1990, he wrote at least 3 books on stupidity. The diagram in my recent blog on Needs, Wants,...
Recently, a Dutch-Flemish boy of eleven years graduated cum laude in Physics at Antwerp University. He started studying at Eindhoven University of Technology at the age of nine (Brussels Times). What does this event imply for topics like our biological clock, consciousness, epigenetics, learning vs teaching, nature vs nurture, talents, and/or the age when our brain...
Lately, I've been watching the Mentalist again on Amazon Prime Video. In many episodes, you'll hear Patrick Jane (a.k.a. Simon Baker) saying: "There's no such thing as a psychic". Still, people around him continue believing that he actually is. His denial is fruitless. This observation brings me to today's blog title: People need and want to believe.On 19...
My motto is trust but verify. I borrowed it from Ronald Reagan who borrowed it from a Russian proverb (Wiki). To a large extent, my motto avoids distrusting and/or mistrusting most people (difference). I trust myself, except for my "addiction" to (Dutch) liquorice confectionery a.k.a. "drop(jes)". Once they're in stock, they must be eaten. Mostly, I...
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