First Blog

A big term these days is “Uncertainty.” This means people are not sure of what’s happening. Another big word is “Manipulation.” This means some quantity is altered on command. Adding one and one, we have “Manipulated Uncertainty.” And this means some agency is manipulating the uncertainty.   It applies to trade, to stock prices, to war, to politics, to materialism, and even to climate. Massive gains are available, as are massive losses. Causes: Too much money, too much polarization, too much hate, too much emotion, too much greed, too much profit, too much power, and too darn easy. Think it new?  Nope. Ancient.

You may not have ESP, but you do have some equally important extra senses . All of us have special senses unavailable to machines or other living things. Not reading the future, or moving objects by pure thought, these senses are more important to you in almost every way. They are not called senses in normal parlay but without them, you’d have an empty existence. Far beyond taste, smell, touch, sight, and hearing, they carry you through the most difficult times and propel you to excellence and achievements amazing even yourself. They lift you from despair. They heal your broken heart. They enlighten your life's journey. The Paranormal Suppose you’ve just heard that a computer can “perceive” the cards of the standard paranormal deck.   You know squares, wavy lines, circles, stars, and the like.   You would say nonsense and say it quickly. Because if it could, you could.   And this is because the computer functions on algorithms and algorithms are written by peop

If hate is a disease, it is virile, vile, contagious, and lethal.   It has sanctioned all varieties of murderous activity, including war and the destruction of entire groups, ethnically, religiously, and politically.   This emotion of destruction compels those infected with a single-mindedness overwhelming any sense of propriety.   It defeats normal logic and decency. Associated,   there is a logic, and it’s simple.   Call it the first order propositional logic of hate .  "If A hates B and B loves C, then A hates C." This is also a type of converse transitivity.   Aristotle, of course, would be dismayed. You may say the logic of hate is ridiculous.   Yet, the philosophers have constructed quite an interesting and complete logic of belief .   It even has a name , Doxastic logic. Just Google it. Applications: a. Let A = Catholics, B = Protestants, and C = Martin Luther.   (maybe a little dated) b. Let A= Muslims, B = Infidels, and C = Baptists or any reli

Rational ignorance .  A state of mind where your analytical powers seem not to work and you know it.  This leads to an uncertainty of how to proceed.  It is an awareness of a state where you are powerless. It can affect your investment strategies, your job seeking strategies,  your relationships with others, or even your foundational beliefs.   Coming to grips with rational ignorance is but one step towards wisdom.  Know it. Understand it. Live with it.  Do all of these with the black flag of caution flying high.  Resist giving in to emotional responses, the alternative response. You have to just plain love this state.  This is certain uncertainty.   Delicious!

Seven Ways You Figure Things Out and Solve Problems The human brain is a marvelous organ.   It is designed for but one thing: survival of the body.   And survival means solving a non ending stream of problems. Ever thought about how you figure things out? Your marvelous brain has it covered. Indeed, you use six separate systems to make conclusions, resolve questions, problem solve, and just about everything else. Using the acronym BRAIPIE, we describe them in this order. The order and priority a person uses one or another of these systems varies from person to person, from religion to religion, from fine arts to science. Beliefs/Faith - You have a set of beliefs and a state of faith, both of which which function as guideposts on how to view problems and resolve difficulties. These are your strongest system, and can override all other considerations. The two overlap so much, it isn't really possible to distinguish them. The first is the second, and the second is the first. Ra

The new dark age of man is upon us.  Is technology at its base? Though I'm kind of a techie geek, I don't know, but...  Are we taking mental shortcuts to opinion?  Are we taking quickie paths to comprehension. Are we taking easy steps to problem solving? Technology has reached far beyond the ordinary person's ability to understand it, its basis and its implications.  This engenders a basic insecurity in the mental systems of humanity, politics, religion, and science.  It goes much deeper, way beyond technology.  When there is no firmament of comprehension, other tools are in play. Perhaps this is driving the religious right,  cult-type movements, the slavish adherents of left, and in general all fundamentalist type movements.  Each has the common quality of wanting, desiring, and needing something simply framed to follow.  The suspension of understanding has been achieved.  Folks can now barrel headlong into anything, such as literal biblical teachings, lite

Ever thought about how you figure things out? Your marvelous brain has it covered. Indeed, you use six separate systems to make conclusions, see describe them in this order though it varies from person to person. Beliefs/Faith - You have a set of beliefs and a state of faith, both of which which function as guideposts on how to view problems and resolve difficulties.  These are your strongest system, and can override all other considerations.  The two overlap so much, it isn't really possible to distinguish them.  The first is the second, and the second is the first. Random - When all else fails, and all considerations are equal, what do you do? Throw the dice. This means just take a guess.  We all do this from time to time, usually when there is little time to use your more considered systems to respond.   Analytic - This is the logical part of your brain. It channels you through issues using the strengths of logical deduction and induction. You try hard to use accepte