Category: Culture
-
If Books Scare You, Actual Ideas Must Be Nightmares
Ever notice how it’s never progressives banning books? True fact: being progressive means book banning is anathema to you. Instead, progressives ban hate speech because hate speech undermines a diverse, democratic society. It is a literal assault upon others. Conservatives by contrast ban books because they hate what’s inside them – ideas and ways of…
-
Why ChatGPT Can’t Ever Really Be Funny
There’s a reason comedy is hard. It’s pretty easy to make people laugh. Even a robot can do that. AI can indeed produce hilarious “comedy” that seems to do everything a human stand-up does. That’s an illusion however. Worse, it’s more an abuse of comedy than comedy itself. You kinda feel that while watching it.…
-
“Good” Tribal v “Bad”
Here’s a stone cold fact: all humans are tribal. Tribalism’s a survival instinct for social creatures like us. We need to feel connected to others in order to be happy within ourselves. Even a raging egomaniac like Donald Trump needs everyone else’s approval (or disapproval) in order to be. Take the rest of us away…
-
Institutional Racism’s “Own Goal”
In soccer (football to the rest of the world), the worst thing to happen is an “own goal” where you score on yourself. That, perversely, is what institutional racism just did – is still doing – to Tyre Nichols. Nothing will bring that unfortunate young man back to life or to his family. But, in…
-
The Emperor Is Naked And So’s His Gun
California experienced at least two mass shootings yesterday. One in Monterey Park (near LA), the other in Half Moon Bay, not far from San Francisco. Both, it appears, were angry men using firearms (instead of therapy) to resolve their emotional issues. That’s a pretty regular part of many (if not most) mass shooting incidents –…
-
Skepticism v Cynicism – They’re NOT The Same Thing!
Not a revelation: our news media sucks. It’s broken. And “both sides do it” (BSDI) brand journalism broke it. Not all journalists practice BSDI but enough do that their journalism prevents We The People from ever getting the truth in real time. Healthy journalism depends on skepticism. Doubt. But, hey – bring receipts? Doubt can…
-
Know Who Loves The Unvaxxed? Pathogens!
Listening to an anti-vaxxer insist they can’t trust science because they know better can make your head explode. More often than not, these aren’t dumb people; many are highly educated and, really, very well meaning. But anti-vaxxism has gotten under their skin like a religion. Or a cult. They embrace this mania with every fiber…