Sponges

Was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle mentally ill?

Sherlock Holmes was formulated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as virtually a God of Reason, a kind of contemporary Athena or Apollo. And, indeed, he is almost worshipped as such, to this very day! So much so, that Conan Doyle himself repeatedly tried to kill him off, but had no alternative but to keep writing the lucrative Sherlock Holmes stories if he wanted to maintain his luxurious lifestyle, no one was terribly interested in his other books. #sherlockholmes #arthurconandoyle #englishliterature #victorianengland #englishhistory #britishhistory #dectectivestories #psychology #psychiatry #psychoanalysis #spiritualism #fascism #mussolini #mentalillness

How much of a mess did Albert Einstein make of things?

The Extreme Right -- Property vs. People.

The Jameson Raid

Self interest

Fascism in popular American music

Fred Astaire as propagandist

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