Monthly Archives: December 2022

Alternate Reality

As I wake up this morning, the view out the window (above) doesn’t look auspicious for thoughtful meandering outdoors. So I decide to do my regular month-end “reflective walk” on the treadmill in the apartment’s gym. There are now lots … Continue reading

Posted in Creative Works, Month-End Reflections | 3 Comments

The 40 Missing Minutes

propofol molecular structure, per wikipedia, CC0 Last week I went to the hospital for a colonoscopy. I was given a general anaesthetic called Propofol, a relatively new (1990) drug that has received a lot of publicity, and is in wide-spread … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works, Illusion of the Separate Self and Free Will, Our Culture / Ourselves | 5 Comments

Dreaming of Another World

drawing by Michael Leunig Oh, to live in a world in which our instincts tell us that all wars and all acts of violence are unwise and deplorable, a world in which we immediately and relentlessly strive to end them, … Continue reading

Posted in Collapse Watch, Creative Works, How the World Really Works, Our Culture / Ourselves | 6 Comments

The YouTube Power Law, and My Favourite Subscriptions

When blogs were new and all the rage, Clay Shirky published something called the “Power Law” that said the popularity of blogs followed an exponential “power curve” that looked like a curved hockey stick — Y=mXb. That meant that 1% … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works, Using Weblogs and Technology | 2 Comments

Landscapes of Silence

image from the cover of Landscapes of Silence Over the years I’ve given away more than a dozen copies of English anthropologist Hugh Brody’s 2002 book The Other Side of Eden. The book articulates the vast difference between indigenous (etym. … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works, Our Culture / Ourselves | Comments Off on Landscapes of Silence

Is ‘Consciousness’ an Autoimmune Disease?

Dave’s craziest idea yet. More radical non-duality non-sense. Dilbert, by Scott Adams Especially in more affluent nations, there is an epidemic of autoimmune diseases sweeping the globe. These diseases, of which there are over 100, now affect 10% of the … Continue reading

Posted in Illusion of the Separate Self and Free Will | 7 Comments

Links of the Month: December 2022

New Yorker cartoon by Paul Noth I’ve had several people tell me they can no longer bear to read the politics and economics and ‘collapse watch’ sections of these links posts — they find them too infuriating and depressing. They’re … Continue reading

Posted in Collapse Watch, How the World Really Works, Our Culture / Ourselves | 3 Comments

Democracy Without Elections

“We can’t rely on anything anymore. Our economic and political systems seem hopelessly corrupt and broken, beyond repair. We can’t trust what the media are telling us anymore. And now AI is creating articles and pictures and videos that look … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works, Our Culture / Ourselves, Working Smarter | 1 Comment

An Unreasonable Species

Dilbert cartoon by Scott Adams We have the mistaken belief, I think, that we are in essence a rational species. While there is no question in my mind that we are a rationalizing species, they are not at all the … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works, Our Culture / Ourselves | 3 Comments

Exploiting Our Conditioning

image by Mike Licht on flickr, CC BY 2.0 Several people have been urging me of late to look at switching to alternatives to Facebook and Twitter that supposedly are less “evil” — less fertile ground for hate-mongering, racism and … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works, Illusion of the Separate Self and Free Will, Our Culture / Ourselves | 4 Comments