For the philosopher Thomas Kuhn, scientific hypotheses are shaped and limited by the worldview, or paradigm, within which scientists operate. Most scientists are as blind to the paradigm as fish to water, and quite unable to see through it, let alone beyond it.
Hat tip to Neel Burton
It is unnecessary to attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by negligence, incompetence or stupidity.
‘There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.’ Albert Einstein
I suggest adopting the later point of view.
Did you know that your sense of smell brings back the most vivid memories?
This is because The olfactory bulb has direct connections to the amygdala and hippocampus, which are heavily involved in memory and emotion. These three structures—the olfactory bulb, the amygdala, and the hippocampus—form part of the limbic system, a ring of phylogenetically primitive cortex that is the seat of memory, emotion, and motivation.
The Fascists were perhaps the first to recognize the fact that the state needn't own the means of production to control them.
This could be accomplished just as easily and with less cost through taxation and regulation.
The US has been moving in this direction for some time now.
Another way to think of it is 'Corporatism'. This is when the State and big business become bed mates.
Almost all legislation affecting major corporations, and especially regulations is written by lobbyists working for...
I wrote a book entitled 'Man's Search for Certainty' available on Amazon.
In the book I attempted to explain why a sense of certainty is so important to so many and often leads them to believe the factually unsupportable in an attempt to alleviate the anxiety uncertainty causes them.
This is one of the reasons religion has been so devoutly embraced in spite of its bloody history, inconsistencies and lack of evidence.
I understand this urge to remove all ambiguity, but consider it both a mistake...
It seems to me that many people do not really understand the idea of love. I wrote a book with that as the title, 'Understanding the Idea of Love'. You can find it here theotherdavidallen.com
Many people think that the emotions associated with love are love itself.
Essentially, love means to value something very highly.
I value the people I love very highly.
Those I do not value highly, I do not love. It really is that simple.
Also, in order to love someone, I must respect them since respect is...
It was called to my attention earlier today that the English language has a word for children without parents (orphans) and people who lose their spouse (widows or widowers) but no word for parents who lose a child.
I can conceive of no good reason why this should be the case.
I'm puzzled.
What does it mean to be an educated person?
I suppose if you asked twenty people the question you would in all likelihood receive twenty different answers.
I think one thing we can say with certainty is that it is not the memorization of facts. An encyclopedia is not a treatise.
People who have memorized many facts make great trivial pursuit contestants, but not critical thinkers or problem solvers.
"Education is what survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten."
B. F. Skinner
Deception is almost always something to be avoided.
There is no worse deception a person can engage in than that of self-deception.
To do so almost certainly ensures that one's life will be full of trouble and disappointment.
" This above all- to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."
Polonius (From Hamlet)
"The condition of alienation, of being asleep, of being unconscious, of being out of one’s mind, is the condition of the normal man. Society highly values its normal man. It educates children to lose themselves and to become absurd, and thus to be normal."
R. D. Laing
As I have maintained for some time, nothing troubles me less than being out of step with the herd.
"Never associate with idiots on their own level, because, being an intelligent man, you’ll try to deal with them on their level – and on their level they’ll beat you every time." ~ Jean Cocteau
I don't suppose I'm the first person to have frustrated himself by attempting to reason with idiotic or stupid people.
It's like they say about attempting to teach a pig to dance; it never works and only irritates the pig.
I wrote a book entitled 'Why We Fail'.
You can find it here: theotherdavidallen.com
I have maintained for a very long time that people fail to achieve their goals for one of four reasons, leaving out elements beyond their control.
1. They really didn’t want it that bad after all.
2. They didn’t think they deserved it.
3. They weren’t willing to do what was required to attain it.
4. Or, they didn’t break the thing down into small bite-sized pieces.
I used a word in my previous post which I consider both important, and frequently misunderstood.
The word is disinterested; People often confuse it with uninterested.
Actually, uninterested is the opposite of its root, interested.
Disinterested instead means dispassionate, unbiased, or neutral.
This is precisely why I used it when discussing objectivity.
One of the most difficult thing for us mortals to do is to maintain objectivity regarding issues we consider important, and especially if they are likely to affect us significantly.
It would be impossible to offer anything approaching an accurate estimate of the number of people capable of maintaining their objectivity in such situations.
This poses one of the greatest challenges we face in communicating and cooperating with other people, and especially those holding differing opinions than our...
The simplest, and most productive way to view problems, is as obstacles interfering with our pursuit of something we value.
They are roadblocks along life's accomplishment highway.
I go into this at great length in my soon to be released book entitled 'How to Solve All Your Problems' subtitled 'Or at Least Come to Terms with Them'.
In the book I explain what constitutes a problem, how problems promote our growth, what all problems have in common, and then I offer a blueprint with general...
"The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there."
Eric Hoffer
Picture this. A new CEO is now at the helm of a major company and sends an email to all company employees requesting that they describe precisely their function at the company, what they are most proud of having accomplished there, and any suggestions they have for improving the company. And then, the employees not only refuse to comply, but instead, backed by their union, attempt to portray the request as some sort of...
It has been said that all success is based upon experience and that experience is based upon failure.
I believe we only learn from our mistakes when we understand why they were mistakes.
It is important for individuals as well as societies to comprehend the limitations of their capabilities if they are to avoid engaging in behavior which results in unintentional but completely predictable negative outcomes.
The Socialist FDR in a famous speech claimed that we Americans have four freedoms.