Something grounded on nothing can occupy a useful space within society for a time. But what lends that something its legitimacy, is the collective buy-in and trust from the public. As soon as that trust is eroded, useful fictions lose their usefulness and plummet in … Continue readingCollective Buy-In
The world is the best that it has ever been, but the average person wouldn’t know it. This is partly due to us all getting fed a steady diet of fear and negativity from almost all media outlets. Regardless of political affiliation, your personalized echo … Continue readingPathological Scarcity of Gratitude
Elon Musk, at the peak of his wealth, was worth approximately $360 Billion ($360,000,000,000). Most people don’t really understand how much money that is. So to put it in perspective, let’s equate dollars to days. If $1 million ($1,000,000) equaled 1 day, $360 Billion ($360,000,000,000) … Continue readingCompounding Unequal Distribution
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” – Albert Einstein Truth is a tricky term to define but it’s important to present a working definition in order to make an argument for its usefulness and importance. … Continue readingThe Importance of Truth
Competition is an essential component of life and the main driving force behind evolution. Because resources are limited, organisms (including you) must compete for those resources in order to pass along copies of their genetic information. Passing along one’s genes is the primary function of … Continue readingYou Are Just A Copy of A Copy of A Copy
No one ever complains about having too much money. There is an asymmetry there. But why does that asymmetry exist? It is because money represents resources that one has extracted, and to extract anything requires energy. Energy is expensive from a metabolic standpoint. This is … Continue readingCapitalism and Cancer
“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” – Voltaire The ethics required to function within modern society are artificial. By artificial, I mean they are constructed by people in … Continue readingThe Relativity and Fluidity of Ethics
What are words? Words are the smallest structural and functional units of communication. Words are an abstraction, devoid of any specific and inherent meaning. This is easy to see as different languages represent the same objects using different words. When you use a word to … Continue readingMusings About Words, Language and Communication
“In general, we are least aware of what our minds do best.” – Marvin Minsky The self is a hard concept to grasp when thought about in a deep and meaningful way. What is it about us that makes us uniquely us? There is … Continue readingThe Concept of the Self