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Category Archives: RANTS
The Ahol Factor
By the early 21st Century it became obvious to many people that Homo sapiens had phase separated into two subspecies: Homo individualis and Homo collectivus. The former was the end result of classical Darwinian competition for resources and progeny; the latter came about following the handoff of evolution from genes to memes. H. ind. was […]
Missing the Point of Politics
The trouble with "political correctness" is that it puts the cart before the horse. There is nothing wrong with trying to be sensitive to the feelings of others, cognizant of your own complicity in evil (even if only by inaction), appreciative of your unearned good fortune, responsible in your interactions with people - gasp - […]
Original Sin
Look, that was a long time ago. I wasn't even there. I've never rebelled against God. What does all that have to do with me? Have you not benefitted from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge? Well, yeah, of course. But it would be stupid to just throw away knowledge, once it's learned. Besides, […]
Premature Deaths
Ever notice how some phrases that have always seemed innocuous suddenly get really offensive when you stop to think about what they actually mean? (Look up "rule of thumb" sometime if you want to spoil that figure of speech for yourself.) The one that's started bothering me since I got old enough to be sensitive […]
Yes You Can!
You may not like this. We live in an era of excuses, and everyone has lots of them. I'm here to tell you that they are mostly illusory and are holding you back from a better life. You will probably think I'm just lacking compassion. I don't mind if you come to that conclusion after you've […]
Costs and Benefits
Warning: coarse language! I just finished struggling with a triply-sealed container for the umpteenth time. This time I was wise enough to get out my needle-nosed pliers before I broke a fingernail. It made me wonder how many person-years of frustrating effort are wasted on this nonsense every minute. (See below for my estimate.) "Wasted? […]
Insulting Ads and Offensive Tabloids
Every unsolicited advertisment you see conveys an unsubtle message about what the advertiser thinks of you. This is especially true of the ads you get on the Web, since (unless you go to a lot of trouble to subvert it) there is software analyzing every keystroke and/or click of your mouse to determine what appeals […]
Your Risk vs. Everyone's Risk
This is so obvious it's embarrassing to be writing about it, but it's also obvious that a large fraction of my fellow citizens just don't get it; so I have no choice: There is a difference between personal choice and epidemiology. Wikipedia says, "Epidemiology is the study of the patterns, causes, and effects of health […]
Nonmaleficence Conundrum
If you watch television, you can't avoid hearing about how this pill or or that salve will miraculously cure your headache or skin rash or allergy, as long as you don't mind a small risk of coughing up your lungs while convulsing and popping blood vessels in your brain. The warnings required by law in […]
Quantitacy
Many neologisms have inherited the connotations of literacy, some of which are formed by the addition of a prefix, like “science literacy”; others are shameless perversions of English, like “numeracy”. The latter is generally interpreted as competence in basic mathematical skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. I have come to believe that there […]
The Nocebo Effect
We all know about placebos, right? From the Latin placēbō, "I shall please"? When you take a placebo, you feel better because you think you're going to feel better. Of course, it's just your imagination, right? You don't really feel better; it's all a fake, right? Not so much. A double-blind experiment on Parkinson's patients with […]