Gallup's Mirror

@Simon

In the comments people talk about how the worst part, in the new relaxation of modesty rules, is the change in God’s unchanging and immutable Word.  How does that work?  It’s a contradiction in someone’s world view.

One of the Elders must have had a divine revelation from the Creator of the Universe. “Seeing a female shoulder is no long…[Read more]

I am immune to “ChatGPT rotting my brain”:

I bring my thinking to ChatGPT, rather than leaving my thinking to it.

I value thinking as a craft, not a checkbox.

I interrogate my own ideas before accepting them.

I enjoy the process of discovery, not just the conclusion.

I use tools (including me) to refine thought, not to substitute it.

I rem…[Read more]

Yes, I agree with much of that assessment but its never to later to start. Banning cellphones during school hours and ongoing teacher training and development would be good too. In every country.

A.I. or Human…..take the test here.

One solution is to teach children critical thinking as a dedicated school subject, like math or history. Teach children how to question, explore ideas, and understand the history of thought. Learn to spot the differences between valid and invalid reasoning and cause vs. correlation. Understand how arguments are constructed and defended by knowing…[Read more]

The challenge facing the current American administration is not the pace of change, but its utter lack of a coherent vision for what should replace existing structures. This is not the “traditional conservatism” so often touted during GOP campaigns, where reform is pursued with caution and respect for institutional continuity. Instead, it is a rec…[Read more]

Thanks Reg 🙂

Have a great week everyone!

And docs are so overworked i think that it is understandable that they can’t always give good care.

One of my professional roles is to improve the IT systems of small medical practices. Most are owned by one MD with maybe a 2 or 3 other medical staff. They close every Wednesday afternoon. I once asked what she did for those afternoons. “About 5 o…[Read more]

TheEncogitationer wrote:
Israel, like all of us, could use more medicine, more professionals, and more quality in both, provided by a free market in healthcare.

Which countries are successful at this kind of free market?

I’m currently in skimming mode for most long posts, but this paragraph popped out, as I’m feeling again how much I hate ads for products that will never interest me.

jakelafort wrote:
The answer/solution is so simple. It lies in what i keep saying here how humans can be led like dogs can be conditioned. We will as a species believe and behave any…

[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
@popebeanie So, if it takes slaying every last Palestinian man, woman, and child to make Israelis feel safe, that’s a valid justification?

PopeBeanie wrote:
But I’m open to hearing humanistic solutions that would actually work.

(In those Trolley Switch scenario studies, it seems I’d be one of the few people who’d be willing to wor…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
If Netanyahu isn’t a war criminal, how high has the bar been set?

So here’s the irony/unfairness/cognitive dissonance in my current but potentially changing belief: Sometimes war crimes are necessary to thwart other war crimes.

Sorry, I really can’t land on a conclusion that honors a more humanistic perspective. Wait, except p…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
The U.S. should declare “A plague on both your houses” and stay out of it.

I’d be really happy if Iranians can defeat their theocracy, which would (imo) likely defeat major support for hamas, hezbollah, and houthis in the long run. And it would keep nuclear bombs out of the hands of terrorist, apocalyptic servants of their pur…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
Some serious FAFO going on in Trump’s base.

Gawd I hated forcing myself to listen to that very long list of anecdotes copy/pasted from social media as if they’re meaningful, statistically. I generally skim youtube comments to get a feel for the room, where the idiocy in comments can be horribly tribal and angsty, but I won’t ever d…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
@Pope Beanie Don’t be naive. Trump has a pathology. Psychopathology? Sociopathology? or a toxic blend of both? I think that’s for sure.

Pathology or whatever, he’s a wannabe authoritarian, with enough minions to support that dream/fantasy. I said some time ago that his erratic behavior could come in handy one day, and maybe the cea…[Read more]

Late edit: Oops, I swear I wasn’t trolling here. I didn’t watch the whole video before posting it. It’s obviously not just “reporting”, but also editorial. 🙂

Mullah-land has to be feeling pretty defeated right now, and more cautious about their next move(s), while still responding somehow, even if mostly symbolically. They don’t care about the Iranian people as much as they care about how they look in the eyes of Allah. And their perception of what Allah probably wants from them is myopic, indeed.…[Read more]