Opposition Thinkers

Corporate Capitalist Machines

Till Eulenspiegel

Health Care as Control Strategy

The Road Less Travelled

Elephants

Disappointment

The Dunning-Kruger effect

One of the more commonly cited psychological phenomena these days is the Dunning-Kruger effect, which specifically posits that people with low skill level are inclined to exaggerate their level of skill, whereas people with high skill level tend to underestimate their own skills, in a particular area. This is popularly misinterpreted in popular culture to mean that smart people think they're dumb, and dumb people think they're smart. The problem with this, is that the very concept of intelligence is virtually impossible to define or meaningfully evaluate. The reason this misinterpretation is popular, is that everyone likes to think that they are smart, and everyone else is dumb, this gives them confidence in life, and improves their own self-esteem, thus reducing their stress levels. However, even the technically accurate use of the concept of Dunning-Kruger has many problems with it. Are the reports based on what people really believe, or merely attempts to impress the experimenter? People with high levels of skill cannot possibly overestimate their skills, and people with low levels of skills cannot possibly underestimate them, so, inevitably the precise statistical result desired was obtained! Almost everyone sees themselves as being above average in everything, we are natural optimists, so , those with low skill levels, will inevitably appear wildly optimistic. In other words, the "scientists" involved in this study have managed to achieve great popular success, and make great careers for themselves, and probably make a great deal of money, by discovering nothing whatsoever. Was this their actual intention? Who knows? Quite possibly! Alas, this is the nature of professional science. Science is politics, science is marketing, science is sales, science is attention-seeking. And, also alas, that is the true scientific method, there is no other! #psychology #dunningkruger #intelligence #skills #ability #interpretation #prejudice #selfevaluation #popularculture #stress #confidence #academia #science #philosophyofscience #attentionseeking #showmen #sales #marketing #statistics #statisticalerror #scientificmethod

Judaism

Terrific result in Israeli election -- Arab Palestinians hold the balance of power now.

"Land for the Landless" -- Lincoln's motto

Death Cults

Insect Evolution

The National Debt

Hunger

Balloons

Amputations

Writers who discuss things ending

Why can't people just get along?

The EU

Are prisons for punishment?

Worlds within worlds

Democracy

What do we really need?

Louis Ferdinand Celine -- the true master of international survivalist/pacifist tactics

I've always been fascinated by Louis Ferdinand Celine since I read "Voyage au bout de la nuit" as a young man. What a cynical nihilistic genius! However, I'd never read his astonishing "bagatelle pour un massacre", a superficially virulently antisemitic work which is, quite obviously, a caricature of antisemitism itself! Suddenly, in 1937, as Hitler is becoming all powerful, with no prior indication, whatsoever, Celine has become the world's biggest antisemite! And, both Hitler and the Pope are Jewish, too! According to Celine, anyway. The Nazis were afraid of this guy for chrissakes! While they were occupying France! I wonder if anyone has really understood this guy? But..but..but..the collaborationists used Celine's writings to "normalize" the roundups of Jews in France, right? Sure they did! That's why 75% of French Jews survived years of occupation, by far the largest percentage in any country the Nazis occupied. I guess Celine didn't "normalize" things too well, did he now? Maybe that was his intention, hmmmmmmm? Celine knew exactly what he was doing, my friends. Louis Ferdinand Celine could see what was coming. He knew the French and British would never fight off the Nazis, they were too frightened of having another Western Front with millions of deaths. So, what was the poor man to do? Well, Celine knew exactly what to do. He was the true master of international survivalist/pacifist tactics. Celine wrote a satire so brilliant that French people could read it, and read the Nazi occupying forces using it, and it would inspire them to protect the Jews of France, ridicule the Nazis, and rise again as a free and independent people! Celine had to flee for his life from France for Denmark in 1944, and Denmark protected him from France for seven years, until finally, in the early 1950's, he was "tried", "convicted", and almost immediately "pardoned" by the French government. Can you imagine how hard Celine was laughing about all this in Denmark? Then, Celine calmly returned to France, and resumed writing and practicing as a country doctor. So, who was really responsible for the liberation of France? Was it Charles de Gaulle, or the Americans? Or, was it Louis Ferdinand Celine? The pen, is mightier than the sword. https://archive.org/details/bagatelle-pour-un-massacre-pdfdrive.com/mode/2up #satire #caricature #funny #frenchlanguage #french #frenchliterature #wwii #antisemitism #philosophyofhistory #worldhistory #revisionism #historicalrevisionism #frenchhistory #alternativehistory #revisionisthistory #worldliterature #propaganda #history #degaulle #charlesdegaulle #france #irony #holocaust #nazis

Social obstacles to scientific and technical progress

Time

Showmen

Caste Systems

Success