Sunday School

A robotic Theory of Mind.

This is a really interesting experiment to do with the objective reality (bird’s eye view) of a cooperative situation.  I think it applies as perspective-taking in a cooperative situation, but not when we’re trying to guess what someone is thinking.

Apparently it is very hard to ascertain someone else’s internal…[Read more]

Just so everyone knows, the kettle boiling link is a satire site with a general right-wing orientation.

Thanks, Reg!

Have a great week everyone!

“We, the people, far more alike than different, bring our many unique talents and skills together for the good of all. Tonight, I call for peace and understanding. Yes, I’m an atheist. I’m white. I’m a parent. I’m originally from Illinois. I’m a transgender woman. We are all different in many ways. If we have prejud…[Read more]

The Constitution DOES address the separation of church and state.

Yes, It is just that members of Project Blitz ignore that fact. I have on occasion explained that to school indoctrination boards in Texas.

PS – thanks for the video link last week for the book I referenced.

Great to see more about Pluto.

Indeed Davis, it is one of my favorite…[Read more]

Great to see more about Pluto. Perhaps before Earth sets on fire a few people will be able to escape and settle somewhere…and eventually get around to visiting Pluto. One day. Who knows.

The Constitution DOES address the separation of church and state. It does so in the First Amendment, which most people seem to think is restricted to just free speech. In fact, it includes “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Thanks, Reg!

Have a great week everyone!

Have you read or seen Guns, Germs, and Steel, Davis? I’m just giving an “in a nutshell” version. Prof. Diamond goes into much more detail, even in the video version. Of course, one important aspect of European success not encapsulated in the work’s title is a thirst for exploration, religious evangelism, and conquest for personal gain which…[Read more]

Thanks, Reg!

Europe was successful because of the enlightenment and secularization, not because of geographical quirks. I mean you’ll find remarkably similar geographical and climactic patterns in China as you do in Europe. Equally so the geography and climate of Northern Africa is very similar to that of Southern Europe and yet their development was…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:

Unseen wrote:

White people, in other words, flourished in a uniquely friendly environment compared to Africa, Asia, the pre-European Americas, and Oceana, each of which suffered from one or more disadvantages compared to Europe, based on their geography.

If you ask me, it’s the opposite, or at least, that is a major f…

[Read more]

Unseen wrote:

White people, in other words, flourished in a uniquely friendly environment compared to Africa, Asia, the pre-European Americas, and Oceana, each of which suffered from one or more disadvantages compared to Europe, based on their geography.

If you ask me, it’s the opposite, or at least, that is a major factor.  The environment in…[Read more]

When I was a student I shared a house with 5 girls for a few months. In those days students would hitchhike to and from home some weekends. On Sunday night at least one of them would have a story to tell about some experience along the way. I told them to soak a ball of tissue in hairspray or nail-polish remover before setting off. If they got…[Read more]

A lot of guys have a hard time sympathizing with women who have to deal with being called a bitch or being whistled at. But then, how often does a guy have a woman come up to him and emasculate them randomly in the street for no reason? I personally don’t know a guy who could so easily brush that off. But again, out of sight out of mind. If you…[Read more]

If you don’t want to plow through the book simply because you haven’t the time. Or if you want to know what the book is all about before you read it, you should know that the book has been turned into an excellent video, available here, but also in parts on Youtube:

https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/guns-germs-and-steel/

In a nutshell, the thesis…[Read more]

Our brain constructs our sense of self from the people around us

I have to admit, I’m not much the wiser after reading about that research.

I think that our sense of self is both personal and public – what we are to ourselves, and what we are to others.  The two feed into each other.  That’s why, other people help to develop our sense of self.

AOC and the problem of male incivility.

I have sometimes heard female friends talk about how they have been verbally abused by random men in the street.  I witnessed it once at a cash point machine: I was gobsmacked.  It’s never happened to me, particularly.  Single women and mothers seem to get picked on by society.