Ethics and morality used to be a benchmark for evaluating our own deeds, words and intentions (eg, good-bad, right-wrong). Today, other people insist on evaluating what we say or do. We could call them prudes (Dutch: fatsoensrakker), the righteous (Dutch: moraalridder), or woke (Dutch: deugen). Hence, my blog title: is morality now a benchmark for judging others...
Why
Free will: no one can predict what you’ll do. Seriously?
4 May, 2023
People who know me well will claim that they can predict my choices. I think, feel and believe their view is valid. Nevertheless, neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene claims that ‘Free will is real. No one can predict what you are going to do’ (El Pais-2023). The explanation may be in statistics. Knowing someone well implies that you've witnessed many events, in which...
Knowingness, a sibling of Know-it-All
25 Apr, 2023
Recently, I learned a new word: knowingness. It featured in a 2023 article in Aeon-Psyche magazine: Our big problem is not misinformation; it’s knowingness. In my view, knowingness is similar to the proverbial phrase: Mr./Mrs. Know-it-All. Also see this 20th century quote: "The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure...
If you don’t like the rules, change the game
21 Apr, 2023
Late March, I published my blog: If you can’t win the game, change the rules. Recently, I considered entering into a game following an opportunity. I did not like the rules of that game and decided not to participate. Hence, my blog title: If you don't like the rules, change the game. Strictly speaking, my game comes with an immense downside: losing it all. I'm not...
Unknown unknowns
13 Apr, 2023
Strictly speaking, unknown unknowns are (like) oxymorons because we cannot know the things that we do not know. Human inventions challenge the notion that unknown unknowns could or would even exist. As an individual, I have (very?) many unknown unknowns. Unknown unknowns may, however, not exist when we view (all) humans as a group rather than as aggregated...
The pros and cons of EVs
24 Mar, 2023
Full disclosure: I'm not an Electric Vehicle (EV) driver. I doubt I will ever become one. In my view, EV technology is a transition between fossil fuels and - probably - hydrogen. I think and feel that I would believe in hydrogen vehicles (see Wiki). Hence, this blog is not for EV believers. In my view, the pros and cons of Electric Vehicles (EVs) are like this:...
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