Tag: defensible cases
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Another stepback
Another example of stepping back to the higher-level question. One of the Things I Learned From Others was this clarifier by Dick Morris in the ’90s. Political messages are NOT aimed at voters. They’re aimed at donors or other politicians. When we see absurd crap floating around the media and ask Do they really think…
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Gaian grammar
Religion Unplugged, the successor to GetReligion, constantly beats the drum for “climate emergency”. It’s a good reminder that “global warming” was a Christian scam before it was coopted by CIA and turned into a secular religion. One aspect remains constant. Apocalyptic Christians always miss the meaning of prophecy. A prophet is telling us what WILL…
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Continuing on grammar…
Continuing from grammar and utility. Before the holocaust I was exploring this subject in detail, noticing that languages without noun cases correlated strongly with Sorosian destruction. The holocaust derailed me; maybe I can get back on track. In yesterday’s piece I mentioned but didn’t emphasize the TWO-WAY OBLIGATIONS, which are the key to real civilization.…
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Reprint on utility and grammar
Reprint from 2021, just because I want to bring it back to the foreground. = = = = = START REPRINT: MindMatters tries to separate out human language from animal communication: Believers in human non-exclusivity do not appear to be especially picky about what counts as evidence for their views. For example, here’s a research…
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Reprint on grammar and skill
Reprint from 2021, relevant to the Altman AI monstrosity. = = = = = START REPRINT: MindMatters tries to separate out human language from animal communication: Believers in human non-exclusivity do not appear to be especially picky about what counts as evidence for their views. For example, here’s a research finding that is supposed to…
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Phats?
Reading an 1891 Inland Printer, noticed an odd modern word in a report of conditions in KC: = = = = = START INLAND PRINTER: The past few months have witnessed the lowest depression in all branches of the printing business ever known in this city. Retrenchment has been the universal cry and practice among…
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Today is & day!
Time to reprint the genuine history of the symbol, which doesn’t match the standard etymology. = = = = = START REPRINT: I’ve always been bothered by the bizarre-sounding etymology of Ampersand. The symbol itself is no mystery: just a stylized version of et. But the usual etymology for the name doesn’t make a lick…
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What happened? China.
As I’m expanding my daily walks to include some blocks I haven’t seen in several years, and some I never walked before, I’m noticing one systematic change. 10 years ago many houses in the neighborhood had wall-mounted air conditioners. This was a bit of a fad in the ’50s, and it was necessary on the…
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Language update
Before 2010, I was listening to radio and TV, which provided plenty of material for new words and grammar forms. Since I threw away the TV in 2011 and the radio in 2020, I haven’t done many Language Updates. Finally we have two items worthy of mention. Both are verb forms. One has deregularized and…
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Headline better than article
An interesting headline: Oral tradition is not corrupted over time. I tried reading the article, but it’s written like a catechism and seems to be splitting fine logical points. The headline itself is worth expanding. We’re accustomed to outsourcing our memory to written words. We don’t have the experience of maintaining a text through speech…
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Ancient offices
BBC is discussing the ancient offices that still exist, with real people ready to perform the duties when required. The King’s Champion, around since 1066, comes into play at every crowning. He is required to don armor and challenge any pretenders who dare to question the authority of the King. The current King’s Champion is…
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No Okies there
The distinctly NYC/SF “independent” opinion page called The Free Press ran a Thurberish column countering our standard sentimentality about dogs. Famous Author Sherman Alexie joined in the comments and made a joke which none of the NYC/SF people caught. Secrecy is the purpose of language.
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God believes in ether
Until 1920 most discussion of electricity and radio was based on the assumption of an ether. Michelson-Morley DIDN’T wipe out the ether. It was wiped much later when quantum quackery took over the doctrines and creeds of “science”. Here’s a nice clear example from a 1904 book by Frederick Vreeland, the inventor of the weirdly…
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The AI telegraph
Well, not exactly… but Highton’s telegraph did use the selective lens idea. Henry Highton was an engineer working for British Railways in the 1840s. (Of course.) He developed several improvements in magnets, wires, insulators and telegraphs. One of his telegraphs was a needle sensor generally similar to Wheatstone. Another was a dial similar to Breguet.…
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Three ancient words yet again
These folks are strongly pro-bitcoin, but even they can’t figure out why anyone would want to “own” a reference to a part interest in a Warhol painting. If we understood those three ancient words, we’d be harder to fool. = = = = = START REHASH: Thinking of NFT in terms of the three ancient…
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