Author: polistra
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One big data point
Ryan Burge, a pastor who sidegigs as a data-based writer, has a new piece trying to track down exactly who is losing religion. He runs through various age groups and finds nothing surprising. In general men are less churchy than women, but this gap is closing and even crossing over lately. Young women are now…
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Cults then and now
An extremely vague old memory popped up. We have lots of high-IQ cult leaders running around now, from Balaji to Jordan to Tate. High-IQ “scientific” cults were rampant in the 70s, with varying purposes and flavors. Synanon, EST, Rolfing, Ecumenical Institute, Fritz Perls, etc. (Scientology was the biggest player, but it operated behind the curtains.…
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Interesting point
Mollie Hemingway at TheFederalist offers an interesting point at 27:00 in this podcast. She’s discussing the low threshold for Repoof candidates, versus the absolute refusal of all debates and primaries by D. She thinks this gives an advantage to R, since people who want to see a functional “democracy” are seeing it on the R…
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More pointless thoughts
Continuing thoughts on the universal dividers. Rulers generate divides to keep the people weak and distracted so every bad event can be symmetrically scapegoated. R blames D, D blames R, nobody blames the permanent Deepstate. A few of the side-makers are controlled by Deepstate, especially the rioters and protesters. A proper riot needs government support…
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AI as seen by execs
The Ankler interviews an anonymous exec at Apple’s streaming service. He gives the industry’s view on AI and outsourcing, which we don’t hear much. We hear from AI boosters, and we hear from the writers and artists who are losing their property. The actual USERS have a hardass attitude, tempered by knowing what works. Hardass…
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Bad design
Why are we designed to make life so damn easy for the dividers and conquerors? It takes hard mental work and long experience to avoid both teams. Ockham and Machiavelli warned us in specific ways. Jesus and his disciples warned their flock. Out of curiosity I checked the book of Proverbs, which I hadn’t read…
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De Vast Atery
DailyMail tries to transcribe Fetterman’s question to a bureaucrat about the recent major problem on I95 in Philly. (It wasn’t a failure of the bridge itself; it was a tanker truck that burned up a bridge. So it wasn’t a Federal policy concern, and didn’t need to be discussed in Congress.) “I, uh, would just,…
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9 of 10 leading readers agree
In general I was a smarter and better writer before I switched from Blogspot to WordPress in late 2021. Maybe I’m used up from fighting the “virus” monsters, maybe I’m just getting older and losing sharpness. The readers seen by Statcounter seem to share the same judgment. A wide variety of readers are STILL looking…
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Logical Islam
GetReligion pointed to this page with an Islamic response to the woke mess. = = = = = START QUOTE: Islam distinguishes between feelings, actions, and identity. God holds individuals accountable for their words and actions, not for their involuntary thoughts and feelings. As our Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “God has pardoned Muslims…
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Gompers missed a bet
The Strippers Union is joining in the Hollywood writers strike. Picket signs include ‘Sex workers are storytellers too” and “Seize the means of seduction!” If unions in earlier decades had included this type of picket, the membership drives might have been more successful.
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Unnecessary “advantage”
Enid Buzz asked what’s the best part of getting older, and most answered Medicare. I’d agree, at least for external or economic aspects. Just before turning 65 I was facing unaffordable medical “insurance” which was required by Obamacare. I paid it for a year but couldn’t have managed it for long. After 65, the “insurance”…
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Changed perspective
I’ve always resisted the notion that Trump is a weak leader, pulled and pushed by advisors. He looked more like a psychopath determined to cause maximum harm. A couple of recent articles, if they can be believed, are turning my diagnosis from psychopath to professional criminal, from Mad to Bad. This article says he misses…
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The anti-lab organ?
Evolution News highlights a recently discovered organelle inside cells. A vault is found in nearly all cells, free-living and part of complex animals. Its function is unclear at the moment. Like most recent discoveries, it didn’t require an electron microscope or MRI; it’s visible with a good optical microscope but nobody noticed it before. The…
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Rules are not “souls”
Denyse at MindMatters properly takes down a new project to give AI a “soul”. From the description of the project: With AI increasingly taking up more decision-making roles in our daily lives, along with rising concerns about bias and discrimination in AI, Dr. Poole argues the answer might be in the stuff we tried to…
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Jet activity
Just a note for future reference. For a week I’ve been hearing near-sonic jets flying overhead once or twice a day. I’m under one of the flight paths for the main airport, so I’m accustomed to the sound of ordinary airliners. They emit a steady faint roar, audible for about a minute, fading in and…
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