-
The Contradictory Metrics of Ignorance
I just came across a group on Facebook called Jewish Ritual Murder. It has 1057 likes. Its sole purpose is to perpetuate false stories that promote the myth of the Jewish blood libel. There’s an insane belief out there that Jews ritually murder Christians and use their blood for any number of nefarious purposes. This…
-
Magical Thinking
Does anyone besides me remember Omni Magazine? I loved that publication. I used to wait for each month’s issue with great anticipation. Even just seeing photos of the cover still gives me butterflies. Omni first came out in 1978, and it was all about science. It discussed the latest technological innovations, all of which I’m…
-
You Don’t Have to Believe in Global Warming
It must be awfully stressful to be a climate change denier. If you fall into that category, I have to admire your tenacity, your grit, your firmness of conviction. Especially in light of the fact that fewer and fewer people agree with you. According to a Gallup Poll in March, 2016, 64 percent of Americans…
-
The Marijuana Miracle Myth
First of all, let me say for the record that I genuinely believe that marijuana should be legalized. I live in a state where it happens to be legal, and lo and behold, the earth continues to revolve around the sun, and society as we know it has not come to a screeching halt. I…
-
“Are you incapable of complexity?”
I read a fascinating book recently, Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder. It’s about, among other things, Dr. Paul Farmer and his amazing work in Haiti to help stem the tide of Tuberculosis. As you can imagine, as a man of science it could sometimes be hard for him to be able to allow for…
-
Occam’s Razor
Anyone who has read the Sherlock Holmes series is familiar with the quote, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Spock even quotes him in one of the Star Trek movies. What they are both talking about is the layman’s version of Occam’s Razor. I say “layman’s version”…
-
Anti-Progress
It’s always a weird feeling when my long-held views about how the world works are set ever-so-slightly askew. It makes me wonder what else I’ve taken for granted that, well, shouldn’t be taken on faith. That strange sensation happened yet again today when I was watching a documentary about the dark ages. This was a…
-
On the Brink of Monumental Change
I have always been fascinated with that split second in time when one’s life becomes completely different. Everyone has experienced this. The death or birth of a loved one. A job offer that changes your career path and/or drastically improves your financial situation. A medical diagnosis. An epiphany. A marriage proposal, a divorce request, an…
-
It’s Not the Situation, but How You Cope With It.
A friend recently posted this on Facebook: I had never really thought of this! But it’s true. A potato definitely copes with boiling water differently than an egg does. This is the case with many things: The sun will melt ice but harden clay. If you drop a turtle into a pond it will swim…
-
You Do the Math
Was math invented or discovered? This question is by no means original with me. (Very few thoughts are.) But this is a topic I find endlessly fascinating. Think about it. Pythagoras came up with his theorem, Euclid proved that there were an infinite number of primes, and Einstein informed us that E=mc squared, but all…