Transparency when it comes to relationships indicates the desire and practice of being open and honest.
It is a commitment to honesty, even when doing so is uncomfortable or unprofitable.
it is the refusal to pretend in our encounters with our fellow human beings.
The concept of trust leans heavily upon transparency.
I have written here before about 'affective polarization' and the dehumanization to which it generally leads. Here I'm taking up a related but distinct topic, that of 'devaluation'.
My attention was brought to the topic by an article I read in which an explanation was offered for why most of the mass shooters have been white males, and the majority also quite young.
The author cited the trend to devalue young white men. I have noticed that trend for some time myself.
This is not the only...
One of the marks of our time is the effort to depict heroes, and producers as abusers and predators and victims (another category witnessing a massive amount of descriptive creep) as the new champions, and the ones to be honored.
Let me make it clear right here that I believe that persons who have been clearly and objectively victimized deserve our sympathy and help as needed.
It is not this group that I have in mind here. Instead, I am referring to the increasing number of people, many of whom...
There is probably no topic more on people's mind in the west than that of censorship.
There are good reasons for this. Today we are seeing a resurgence and proliferation of efforts to throttle free speech and open dialogue in the marketplace of ideas.
Whether it is the effort to interfere with communication between people in Brazil and people in the US, or the EU's push to coerce Social Media platforms to do their bidding and remove any speech which does not adhere to the leftist policies of...
There is hypothesis referred to as the 'Contagion Effect' which suggests that media's in depth coverage of violent events may in fact encourage copycats to emulate the perpetrators of the violence.
I think there is a way in which news outlets can cover such events but refrain from sharing such details as might encourage such copycatting.
Those who lack facts or a convincing argument are the ones who attempt to justify their resort to violence.
It is no coincidence that these people, almost exclusively occupy one side of the political spectrum.
This is a result of allowing emotions to trump reason.
Focus is all about clarity. When we say that something is coming into focus, we are essentially saying that it is becoming clearer.
Focus and clarity are important elements of any human endeavor. Without them things appear unclear and uncertain thus making decision-making difficult and the results often hazardous.
It has been said that he who aims at nothing usually hits it.
Also, it is difficult if not impossible to hit a target we cannot see clearly. That is the purpose of visualization and...
Apathy is a lack of interest, enthusiasm or concern for some object. The object may be a person, an activity, an event or any number of other things. A listlessness and sense of satisfaction, referred to as ennui often is the result'
I was recently reminded of an observation I came across some time back. 'Many who long for immortality don't know what to do with a rainy afternoon.'
I think it is of the utmost importance that we overcome apathy by discovering something meaningful and worthwhile...
Probably no attitude is more essential to mental and emotional well-being than that of gratitude. A practice of focusing on the man reasons we have to be grateful rather than on the things we don't have or can't achieve is a soothing balm.
If one makes it a practice, as I have, albeit somewhat irregularly, to begin and end the day by mentally listing those people, circumstances and things for which one is grateful, they will be well on their way to contentment and the happiness it affords.
How...
It has been claimed that nothing is more important for achieving success than perseverance. Talent without perseverance is no guarantee of success. There are millions of talented failures around the world. Not even genius will succeed without perseverance.
A former fiancé once gave me a notebook which had a picture attached to the cover. It was a depiction of a large bird swallowing a frog while the frog was choking the bird by the throat. The caption read, 'Never, Ever, Ever Give Up'. That...
Almost every division observable in society is in the end the result of differing appraisals of human nature. Thomas Sowell eloquently and insightfully called attention to this fact is his excellent book entitled 'A Conflict of Visions'.
Early in the book he explains that people fall into one of two very different visions of human nature.
On the one side are those who believe that man is perfectible through education and social programs. These are the Utopian folks who are convinced that we can...
I wrote in another post about 'concept creep' where terms outgrow their original meaning.
There is another type of creep which is both observable and important to understand. That is the concept of 'control creep'.
What I mean by this is the inevitable expansion of governmental control over the population under its charge.
When this nation was in its infancy the government interfered very little in the day to day affairs of men. Today the government has spread like a creeping vine into every...
What did the founders mean when they declared that all men are created equal? I ask because it is clearly evident that men are anything but equal.
They differ immensely with regard to their physical features, intelligence and abilities.
They must certainly have meant that before the law, none of these differences should be taken into consideration. This is why 'Lady Liberty' is blindfolded.
Compare this view of equality to that which is referred to as equity.
In this view it is necessary to...
It has been claimed that there are lies, damned lies and then statistics.
And so, while statistics can be useful when properly employed, they can can also mislead us, either accidently or by design.
It has also been said that statistics are often used like a lamp post for a drunken man; more for leaning on than for illumination.
Thus statistics, like the bible can be used to support any point of view or opinion.
As Eric Clapton sang, 'It's in the way you use it.'
Another feature of human societies like language and money, which arises spontaneously and without a design or designer is the market.
Instead it comes about as the result of individuals acting in their own self-interest and pursuing their own happiness.
It becomes readily apparent that their interests are inextricably intertwined with those of others across the globe.
Whether conscious of it or not, men benefit their fellows best when pursuing their own interests.
I find this a fascinating...
“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages” Adam Smith
Self-interest is the motive force which impels humanity forward.
Self-interest is all too often given a bad rap and not appreciated for the essential role it plays in our well-being.
People often...
While many of us are familiar with Adam Smith's 'Wealth of Nations' , far fewer of us are familiar with his previous and equally important book entitled 'A Theory of Moral Sentiments'. If you have not read it I cannot recommend it too highly.
A person can learn more about human psychology and behavior by reading Adam Smith's 'Wealth of Nations' than by reading a handful of contemporary social psychology manuals.
I believe it was Donald Rumsfeld who pointed out the fact that there are known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns.
The known knowns are the things we know that we know.
The known unknowns are the the things we know that we don't know.
The unknown unknowns are the things we don't know that we don't know.
It is the latter unknowns that cause most of our problems.
Reason, while underrated by those who suggest that revelation and emotions are reliable means of knowing, may also be overrated.
By this I mean that we often overestimate our reasoning abilities and thus fall into error when we reason logically to a wrong conclusion.
This hubristic view of reason is what convinces the collectivists that we can create a perfect system for human existence.
This is arrogant and nonsensical.