• Midstream Musings – we scale ourselves and return Sisyphus …
- If something appears to be free … … the old Earth saying, “if you are not paying for the product, you are the product.” • Wiki: “No such thing as a free lunch” (alternatively, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”, “There is no such thing as a […]
- The universe is expanding. For billions of years. How fast is the expansion? Measuring this rate is a big deal in physics. Why? • Big Think > “JWST’s first triple-image supernova could save the Universe” by Ethan Siegel (Sept 20, 2023) – A gravitationally lensed star named “Supernova H0pe” might […]
- Is there a relationship between longevity and happiness? Blue Zones? Five places around the world where people live the longest, healthiest lives. • Today.com > “5 tips for living to 100 from a top longevity researcher” by Stephanie Thurrott (Sept 8, 2023) – Dan Buettner, who has been studying people […]
- Gerontology and Geriatrics If we build them, will they be accepted? The Simpsons S31:E12 does not satirize issues about privacy and personal information – just butt wiping. [1] Might co-design and co-production of care robots improve acceptance? [2] The crew A team of international researchers, a model of robot acceptance, […]
- Contention arises easily from personality conflict. Sometimes such conflict is framed as that between different values. Yet, what strikes me more & more is that the problem is not unalike values, but that those values are applied only to one’s tribe. As noted in this article, “small tent” value systems […]
- Another article from CNBC's Make It's Tools for Happiness series. • CNBC > "Harvard happiness expert: There are 3 types of friendships – here's why you need them all" by Renée Onque (Sep 4, 2023) The renowned Greek philosopher Aristotle narrowed down three types of friendships … And Arthur Brooks, a […]
- Here's an interesting discussion about social connection and daily conversations. A research project on what makes people happy. • NPR > Goats and Soda > "Why a stranger's hello can do more than just brighten your day" – podcast with Ari Shapiro (Host), Rhitu Chatterjee (Byline), and Gillian Sandstrom (psychologist), […]
- Anger is easier than faith, easier than facts.
- Here's a useful recap of theories of consciousness (part 1 of a series). Setting aside "mystical woo." And after "identifying the 'neural correlates of consciousness.'" I'm interested in which theories (or which aspects of some theories) are grounded in evolution. • Psychology Today > "An Overview of the Leading Theories […]
- Debate need not be about "winning" or fooling anyone; but creating room for doubt. Pseudoscientific arguments are designed not so much to win the argument as to force an intellectual stalemate: to create a controversy that regular people feel incompetent to adjudicate. For years, the tobacco industry deployed pseudoscience to […]