For those who are congenitally stupid, I have much sympathy. For those who are stupid yet think they are the smartest person in the room, I have only disdain. And it is the latter that this post seeks to address. Although I have written on this topic before, stupidity’s
Continue readingTag: critical thinking
Politics and its Discontents: Stupidity Is The Real Threat
There is an article in today’s Star about the threat to Canadian democracy posed by artificial intelligence. But I can’t help but wonder if the real threat is human stupidity. Raisa Patel writes: Whether it’s manipulated video, voices or text, Canada is at risk of seriously endangering its democratic institutions if
Continue readingScripturient: Musings on Atheism, Belief, and Statues
The website godchecker.com lists roughly 4,000 “weird and wonderful Gods, Supreme Beings, Demons, Spirits and Fabulous Beasts” which have been worshipped since the beginning of recorded history. Many are still being worshipped. It’s quite an amusing and exhaustive collection of deities, demons, and demigods like saints. All gods and demons
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Getting Things Done
Those who prize quick decisions and action will no doubt applaud the likes of the Doug Ford government. As pointed out in my previous post, the premier and his coterie are not very often burdened
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: It’s All Connected
It isn’t hard to come to the realization that one of the common denominators in almost all of the existential threats currently facing humanity is our flawed natures; human folly, shortsightedness and credulity have much to answer for. Climate change, resource depletion and pandemics readily come to mind as examples
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Activist Left Cannot Argue – Name Calling and Social Shaming Though…
This is a critical thinking exercise. It exists to help people understand why they say and support the things they say and support. It fails utterly for the activist students who take up the camp on the ‘strongly agree’ side. What is most telling is when Dr. Boghossian asks them
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Mr. Musk Unmasked
Once more, Unlearn16 reveals something important, and her observations I could not disagree with. Yesterday, she pierced the facade perpetrated by the Ford government about the soon-to-be striking school support staff in Ontario. This time, she turns her laser-focus on Elong Musk and his purchase of Twitter. Well-worth the three-minute listen.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Cool And Rational
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and I suggested to him that people like us (we who strive to be rational, critical thinkers) are an endangered species and becoming largely irrelevant in the world today. It is good to know, however, that there are passionate
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The American Dream – A Trenchant Interpretation
I have likely posted this in the past, but a repeat viewing in these troubled times is surely warranted: George Carlin parsing the truth about the ‘American Dream’. As always with Mr. Carlin, be aware that the following contains language that may be offensive to some. Recommend this Post
Continue readingScripturient: Those Wacky 5G Conspiracy Believers
Although it surfs the tidal wave of anti-intellectualism and anti-science in our society, the whole “5G-is-evil” conspiracy has been amusing, I must admit. From burning down cell towers, to accusing Bill Gates of spreading COVID through 5G waves, it’s been a delightful cavalcade of the funniest, stupidest notions to flitter
Continue readingScripturient: Flat Earth Beliefs on the Downslope?
It’s been a while since I wrote about Flat Earthers and their inane —but laugh-aloud funny — ideas about science, religion, and politics. Their worldview is wrapped up in wacky conspiracies, then layered with a topping of pseudo-biblical claptrap, crypto-mythology, scary demons, and your basic rightwing paranoia about the “deep
Continue readingScripturient: This Says It All
The clearest, most concise statement about the alt-right protests and demonstrations comes from Mark Carney, former governor of both the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada. This protest was never about freedom: it was always about pushing a virulently rightwing agenda, endorsed by the treasonous Donald Trump, to
Continue readingScripturient: Freedom or Just Free-Dumb?
It’s a sad statement on modern affairs that the word “freedom” has been reduced to a generally meaningless term, thanks to the constant gaslighting by the right. Every rule, regulation, protocol that the right doesn’t like, doesn’t agree with their ideology or that hurts their feelings is trumped up as
Continue readingScripturient: Blame Everything on Satan
Three people have so far died of COVID-19 after attending a “multi-day gathering of faith groups” in Nova Scotia. Public health officials said that, “in violation of public health orders,” none of the more than 100 attendees were asked to show proof of vaccination. And, the attendees went unmasked while
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Chesterson’s Fence – Why Second Order Thinking is Important
Sometimes a concept is so good one must ruthlessly crib from another source – So here ya be, the notion of Chesterson’s Fence and how important it is to understand the reasons why something was done in the first place. “Second-order thinking will get you extraordinary results, and so will
Continue readingScripturient: Jail the Unvaccinated
In a recent opinion piece in Macleans Magazine, Scott Gilmore wrote what I expect many vaccinated Canadians felt about those who still refuse to get vaccinated and help end this pandemic: We need to begin treating the vaccine holdouts as the fools they are. It is not fair that reasonable
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: About That Critical Thinking Thing
Now that the internet has made everybody experts on everything, just a small, sobering reminder: expertise and critical thinking are not things you readily acquire. Recommend this Post
Continue readingScripturient: Are Creationists Gaining More Sway?
A recent survey by Research Co. and Glacier Media shows a deeply disturbing trend in Canadians: we seem to be getting increasingly stupid. While this survey didn’t get the media coverage that other current events received (and hasn’t even been hinted at in local media, but no surprises there), I
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: When You Think About It
… this makes perfect sense for the times we find ourselves in: You’re watching Sportsmax. The network for REAL Jets fans. pic.twitter.com/Y5rGuZMLez — Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) December 13, 2020 Recommend this Post
Continue readingScripturient: On growing old
“We truly can’t praise the love and pursuit of wisdom enough,” wrote Marcus Tullius Cicero in one of his last works, How to Grow Old (De Senectute; aka On Aging or On Old Age), “since it allows a person to enjoy every stage of life free from worry.” “Ancient wisdom
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