If you stick to the convenient, you’ll never find the unexpected. – Ozan Varol
He writes well and is an incredibly interesting person and his book How to think like a rocket scientist is a good read.
Here is where he drops the hammer:
It’s only through the inconvenient and the unfashionable that you’ll find diverse inputs that will expand your thinking and spur your imagination.
I’ve heard it said that governments based on a republic have an average life span of about 200 years throughout history. That means America is in overtime.
Other nations have been unable to unseat the USA as the de-facto world leader by force, so they are using the 5th column instead. Here is the definition of the 5th column -> Link to 5th column.
I have chosen to not be political, rather than observe patterns and history on this one.
This is his, not mine. I have some other days that deal with eternity, but will be another day and another saying.
Enjoy what Twain says and I hope it helps you discover yourself. Hint: If you concentrate more on improving you instead of others, you’ll probably be ahead in life and others will be able to stand you easier.
The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next. – Mignon McLaughlin
People familiar with addiction will recognize this. Sometimes you just have to make it to the next goal in front of you because the whole view of what is going on in life can be overwhelming at times.
You can make this little accomplishment and then the next. You build on these small steps and you’ve made it through whatever you’re going through, even if it is the election
I seem to get 3 and 9 a lot lately. I got real tired of 2 and am glad that is fading away.
Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light. – Madelline L’Engel
Some have to reach their rock bottom to recover from disease, broken heart, addiction or whatever the poison is. Everyone has a story.
Going through it, recovering or learning how to live with the darkness is when you grow. Admitting what is bothering you is a good first step, but we move on and deal with things our own way.
You sure appreciate how much you have when you think how little time you have to enjoy it. Choose light and not darkness.
“In truth, the degree of anyone’s success depends on how often they can say the word yes and hear the word no.” – Chuck Palanuik
Some people stop at no. Not me. If you want to succeed, you have to just look at that as a stepping stone to overcome. Life is about overcoming. That gives us the greatest satisfaction. It’s not likes on social media. It’s when we dig deep, think clearly, seek help and pull ourselves up to victory from the jaws of defeat that gives us the greatest sense of accomplishment.
They’ll say yes sooner or later if you don’t take no for an answer.
“The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side.” – James Baldwin
Someone said find your passion and you’ll never work a day in your life. This is not true. Sooner or later we become victims of routine or more likely other people will make your job a pain.
This is the ugly side. At some point even Michael Jordan had to retire, but he still can’t go to a restaurant without people bothering him.
Enjoy what you have and be glad you get to do it.
“No man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself.” – Thomas Mann
Once you take your guard down and truly admit who you are, you get to see the person that is you. It’s doubtful that you’ll ever show this person to others except on a deathbed, but once you see yourself as you view and judge others.
We think we are invincible and nearly immortal when we are young, but the scars of life take it’s toll as do the decisions we make or avoid and we aren’t who we think we are.
As we age, inside we still see ourselves as the younger version until things start breaking down, but Zoom meetings will show you that age is taking it’s toll. Maybe that is why some hide their looks with makeup.
All right everyone, line up alphabetically according to your height. Casey Stengel
There’s not much I can say to this other than it’s genius, or a better Yogi Berra-ism than Yogi could have said.
The next time I want to stop the talking or confuse others, I’m using this one.
I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.
Many have heard this as if at first you don’t succeed try, try again. While this is true, it assumes that you can just force success.
As we know, Einstein could see things through his thinking that few could fathom. This was finesse rather than force. Nevertheless, this does show that he never gave up and continued despite setbacks.
That is the lesson, don’t give up just because you didn’t get it right the first time. Will you come up with the Theory of Relativity? It’s doubtful, but you just might find meaning in your life.
What does not kill me, makes me stronger.
For Nietzsche, psychological growth is one of the most important things there is. Experiences do not have to be pleasurable to be good for us. Often it is suffering which gives meaning to our lives. By gaining experiences, good or bad, we grow as people, so long as we survive them, of course.
This quote is usually said as a quip, rather than to understand it’s true meaning. Navy Seals fully understand this and what it takes to not give up even when you want to and it is the easy path to take.
File this under the school of hard knocks, of which I have a Ph.D.
You will never win if you never begin.
Helen Rowland
Wayne Gretzky said you miss 100% of the shots you never take.
Sometimes things hold us back from trying. It could be fear of failure, embarrassment, procrastination or just timidness.
Learn from the lessons in life. It’s OK to try and fail, because that is the start to the road to success.
Start now and don’t regret never having done whatever it is.
Act as if what you do makes a difference, it does – William James
No matter what you do, someone is watching. Your kids learn by imitating you. Your co-workers watch you to see if you carry your load.
The military in the trenches of warfare want someone next to them they can trust, with their lives. It could come down to that in an instant.
Whether you are spiritual or secular is noticed also. The way they treat you will be your judge of how they perceive your actions.
So, actions speak louder than words. Others notice. Some may not care, but with the internet, nothing you do is ever forgotten. The politicians in this years election are going to have to deal with it. Some have decades of experience, some have a few years. They will all be judged by what they have done and who they have done it for.
Also, don’t be a dick on social media. It will haunt you forever.
Act right, do the right thing because it makes a difference.
“The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.” – Joe Ancis
Some say there are skeleton’s in everyone’s closet. The way I say it is that everyone has a story.
When you meet someone, it’s like a job interview. They put on the best version of themselves. It’s kind of like a first date. They show you the best version of themselves and how good they are.
Once you know them, the warts begin to show. We let our guard down and you begin to see the real person.
Unless you go through this process and learn, you play a video in your head of who you think the other person is. It’s rarely right because you don’t know them or what they’ve been through, or what they are capable of doing (to you). That is why they seem normal. My rule is that most are not. Everyone has a story.
It’s why I usually don’t talk much about myself and just try to be the real me. The sooner you show who you really are, the quicker you can weed out the fakes you run into.
“The man who insists on seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides.”
A more common version of this is he who hesitates, hesitates.
No one knows the outcome of any decision. We only have a few scientific theorems that are somewhat certain, for now. They could be proven incorrect (Einstein’s Theory of Relativity) if we use scientific methods.
The same can be said for our everyday lives. We usually think we are right, but we don’t know how it will turn out. Many times our decisions help or harm others in ways we never intended them to.
Nevertheless, most of the time, making a decision is better than not making one, or procrastinating. I’m in favor of getting the best intel you can to make a good decision, but in the heat of the battle you have to make one.
This is why some are better leaders than others. They have the right instincts or have been through enough to have history and experience on their side to make a better decision.
There have been good young leaders, it’s just that most don’t have the wisdom of a life lived to not know when to shut up.
We’ll never have perfect clearness because we can’t see the future. If we did, life wouldn’t be worth living.
With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.
Yes, I know you have to plan for the future, but you don’t know what path it will take. Plan for multiple scenarios if you want.
I heard this saying in different words: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, I live for today (Kimi Raikonnen).
Life goes by fast. Stop suffering for things you did in the past. There is nothing you can do to change what happened.
Stop worrying yourself about what might or might not happen tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself. You have the past as a guide to know how to deal with it.
Nobody loves a woman because she is handsome or ugly, stupid or intelligent. We love because we love.
-Honore de Balzac
There is someone for everyone. I once read (so it might be somewhat true) that there are 15,000 Mr. or Mrs. Right’s for each person. The problem is that they are spread around the world so they might not be next door.
The other saying is that goes with this is that Love is blind. You love because we were created to love and to be together.
With all the nonsense going on in the world right now, it would be a whole lot better if we concentrated on loving someone instead of causing mayhem because they think they hate someone.
Love is a decision. The romance usually wears off in 12-18 months. After that, it is a cause, not an emotion. Looks wear off with age. The real beauty is inside a person.
Let that sink in.
I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man. – D.L. Moody
Yes, we are many times our biggest problem. The constant decisions of right vs. wrong and living with the consequences.
We all have a moral compass, it’s just that some choose to ignore it. Unfortunately, the more you do something, the more you become numb to it. There are few regrets for doing the right thing. There are always regrets for doing wrong, either now or down the road.
Even if you escape it in the temporal world (while you are living), there are consequences in the Eternal world (your soul).
Moody was a biblical scholar and he refers to all of the above. He is worth reading up on as he was a wise person, but still fought with himself and his struggle on Earth.
Real knowledge is to know the extent on one’s ignorance. – Confucius
The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it. – Jean Paul
How many have said I wish I knew then what I know now? Well, you would have lived life differently and not have learned what you know now.
The known unknowns and the unknown unknowns are the mysteries of life to learn. Don’t be blinded by arrogance to think that you know everything. Always try to learn something, anything no matter how little and you will never be disappointed.
Also, appreciate what you have for today. You don’t know what tomorrow brings, or how many tomorrow’s you have. It’s easy to be dissatisfied when you are selfish or self-centered. Try looking at things from anothers point of view, especially their view of you and see if your thinking is clear.
“Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes.” – Edgard Varese
A sucker is born every minute – P.T. Barnum
“Barnum was wrong – it’s more like every 30 seconds.” – unknown
“Human genius has its limits, but stupidity does not.” – Alexandre Dumas
We live in trying times. It is tough to know what is really true, especially if you listen to the MSM, celebrities, sports stars or trust social media. This means more as we are in an election cycle.
Inside, we all have a moral compass, it’s just that many refuse to look at it, study the facts and make the right decision. Most see the world through the view of someone else’s beliefs.
Be smart and don’t be afraid to go against what is popular while sacrificing what is true and the right thing to do. Sure, you may lose a few people in your life, but in the end you’ll be a heckuva lot better off not swimming against the current into the jaws of those who feast on the idiots.
“Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.” – Franklin
I think this was referring to materialism People always want more, even when they get what they want.
King Midas wanted everything he touched to be gold, but he couldn’t eat and lost his child who was turned to gold.
I read that 4 out of 5 NFL players go bankrupt after being multimillionaires. Most lottery winners declare bankruptcy. Steve Jobs, Rockefeller’s, the Rothschild’s, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes and all of the most wealthy died stinking rich but wanting more.
You can’t serve 2 masters. It’s a quote in the Bible. You will serve one or the other, God or money. It also says that where your treasure is, so shall your heart be.
For some, it is not wealth, rather they seek fame or some hobby or a person. None of that will make you rich.
I’ve already said above where to look for answers that will give you your only source of happiness. It isn’t in material things, rather spiritual. There is nothing wrong with having material wealth, just don’t worship it.
Good luck
“Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use.”
Wendell Johnson
When I went to a group for married couples early in my marriage, this was one of the significant topics.
Sure, it’s written in humor in the quote above, but it is very true. Nothing is always or never like you never put the toilet seat down or you always leave the lights on. It’s just not true and both parties know it.
The reason I say married couples is that people dating or living together can just leave with little damage other than feelings. While it’s not believed by a lot of people, the concept of marriage is until death do us part. Some still pull that off.
So never say always and always say never.
“Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine!” — The Count of Monte Cristo
This is one of my favorite books. I’ll be honest that I don’t remember this line, but when I came across it I found it to be the story of everyone’s life.
How you face adversity should be with the same intensity that you face success. The emotion will be different, but the effort should be equal.
Your hopes will be dashed on the rocks more than once. Learning how to handle that without being destroyed gets you through the next dashing.
Conversely, when you succeed, how you handle it should be as if you have done it before. There should be internal satisfaction with no need to put down the opponent, other than the hurdle you overcame.
“A man’s ledger does not tell what he is, or what he is worth. Count what is in man, not what is on him, if you would know what he is worth — whether rich or poor.” –Henry Ward Beecher
Steve Jobs died with 9 billion dollars. It does him no good now. He built a dynamic company that employees thousands and touches millions. He also refused to acknowledge his daughter when she was growing up. Which is more important?
Many of us want to show off what we have or what we look like on the outside. Look no further than the cesspools that are Facebook and Instagram. No matter how good the lives look there, what do they look like on the inside? Actually, most people reveal how terrible they really are on Twitter, but that is not a dress up platform like the others.
What is in you?
If you want to do the math, here is how:
The most precise method involves the empirical equation that the researchers discovered, which is 16 x ln(dog’s age) +31 = human age, (that is the natural logarithm of the dog’s real age, multiplied by 16, with 31 added to the total.)
You can compute this using any calculator which has the ln function. Simply type your dog’s age. Press ln. Press x and type in 16. Press + and type in 31. Hit the equals sign and there you have it.
Hat tip to Psychology Todayhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/canine-corner/202007/genetics-shows-how-convert-dogs-age-human-years
People only see what they are prepared to see. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
I’m not going to get political here because I think people should make up their own minds. Most already have. The problem with the MSM and Social Media is that you can confirm you bias, no matter what it is by going to what sources you feel comfortable to read. That is your filter.
What I do think is that the actual smart people will have an open mind to both sides of any situation and look at the facts and ask questions. We should challenge what is out there every time there is a “major issue” to see what the real answers are.
It takes time and you will have to have an open mind, but coming to the right conclusion instead of viewing a situation through the filter of what someone else says is the way to truth.
This is not easy. What is easy is to fall back to your usual sources and just believe and regurgitate what is being said.
Take off the filter and evaluate like a detective. Come to the right conclusion based on facts, not feelings or especially on what someone else said.
You can only win in the game of life if you play. Those who stand and watch others don’t get to play or live life.
Some sit on the sidelines and watch. Some want to play but are too afraid. Others jump in and never worry what happens and some can fall into a mud puddle and come up wearing a dry cleaned tuxedo.
Most of us do all of these things, but not trying is the worst sin of the above. There is no shame in trying and failing if you learn and try again. Use what you learn and apply it to the next situation.
For the timid, change is frightening; for the comfortable, change is threatening; but for the confident, change is opportunity. –
Nido Qubein
What goes with this saying is that change is the only thing that stays the same. It’s going to happen so how you deal with it is how it’s going to affect you.
Being frightened isn’t bad. It heightens your awareness (fight or flight) to notice it’s happening and allows you to deal with it. Those who embrace it and see the upside will be better off. Running away from it isn’t going to stop it. Life goes on and so must you.
As we get older, we get more used to it or get more used to running from it. It’s your choice.
Look around you right now. It’s happening with Covid 19, the riots and political back biting. Stay above it and don’t believe what is being written (actually don’t read the news or social media, neither of which are likely to tell the truth). Decide for yourself.
Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start. – Nido Quebein
You can’t change the past, regardless of how it treated you. You have to learn from it and move on. You also have to realize that it happened to make you the person you are. You will never be someone else so stop trying to be like them. Being yourself and accepting who you are is a gift. Many refuse that gift.
Social media is who people want you to think they are and want you to be. It’s becoming mind poisoning for many. Enjoy and be happy for others, but don’t let it define you.
This comes to today’s saying. Whatever happened happened. It’s time to take what you’ve learned and make the most of what’s ahead of you. You don’t know how long you may have to get done what you need to get done. Try to enjoy it along the way. You never know what lesson today brings to help you the rest of your life.
This is the only description I know of the amount of life you have ahead of you, but it is not for us to know. If we knew the ending, we might not live our life the way it should be lived.
Behind every success or overnight sensation is usually a long list of mistakes and failures, don’t give up.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve learned far more from my mistakes than successes. When I succeed, I usually expected to, whether or not I knew if I had a chance. It usually is a result of optimism and confidence, but we all have that if we want it.
The corollary to this is whether you learn from your mistakes. If we’re alive, we’re going to make a mistake sooner or later. Not doing it twice, especially on the important stuff is the key. Learn from it, but don’t dwell on failing. Dwell on succeeding by not repeating the past.
Knowing what is important is the next key. Start with people. If you’ve made a mistake, admit it and try not to let it be a hurdle for you. If they’ve made a mistake (and harmed you in some way) learn to forgive. Also, learn to move on. The faster you can do this, the less you will be bothered by whatever it was. Don’t let anyone live rent free in your head
What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
You take with you what you’ve been through as an education. Hopefully you learn and don’t repeat the mistakes and instead, use what you learned for good.
Nevertheless, you may not realize your capabilities unless you stretch your goals and keep striving for more.
The bad guys in the media and those who are trying to re-shape the world in their image want to take away your hope. Don’t ever give that up. It’s what keeps us going and not fall into trap of complacency.
When you do things because they are easy or the easy way, life will be hard in the future. When you do things that are hard, life will become easy.
I remember in my early working days when I was busting ass on a Saturday. A friend of mine was giving me a hard time about working while he was on his way to Hawaii because he only worked 2 weeks a month (he was a stewardess – his words). He was flying there for free because he worked for the airlines.
I knew that I was making a short term sacrifice for a long term gain. I couldn’t afford the trip both in terms of money or time off.
A few years later, he decided not to serve cokes in the air for a living, but had wasted 15 years of working experience. I had committed to getting ahead early in my career to enjoy my time later in life. That required me to work hard when I was younger and sacrifice some things.
Now, I go where I want, when I want. I’ve long since retired and my friend is still catching up and will be working for a long time. I can afford a ticket to wherever, usually on frequent flyer points. Life is a full circle.
I’m not a fortune teller, but life is short and there is a time for work and a time to reap the rewards of that work. I knew that early and instead of living for the moment I had to work hard and sacrifice to enjoy the fruits of that labor.
We all learn lessons in life, but the are eerily similar. Few are sports stars, win the lottery or inherit their wealth. You need to work tenaciously, suffer from some hard knocks and learn from your experiences. I knew way back then that goofing off early in life when you should be building the foundation for your life was the right decision.
I decided not to rub it in with my friend now that we are on the other side of the equation. He is suffering enough and it’s just not worth it to me. The results speak for themselves.
Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong, it is the difference between right and almost right.
Times are weird right now. What once was considered wrong is now right, just because. The reverse is also true.
Don’t let what is going on tear you from your principles or the ability to know what is right. It is difficult and it is also hard to know if you are correct in your discernment.
History is a good teacher. It is important to have principles and stick to them. It’s just hard to do when the world is upside down.
I found this and agree with most of it. It was written by an introvert if you couldn’t tell by the first bullet.
I used the last bullet when raising kids. It kept them (mostly) out of trouble that a lot of my friends had to go through.
A lot of it really refers to personal responsibility for your actions and outcomes. I wish more people were doing that right now instead of blaming others for their problems or as an excuse to act improperly
People breakup in relationships. They get laid off from work. Those close to us die. It happens to everyone sooner or later.
You will always keep that memory whether or not you want to, but moving on is part of life. Yes, it takes time, more for some than others. Some never move on as a loss is hurtful.
The best thing I can offer is that every experience can help you grow. Try to look for the positives. Try to remember those things or people that you lost for their positive influence on you. Sometimes if you can’t move on, at least move along until the pain is less.
The other situation I often see is that you don’t get the dream job you thought would change your life. There is always a next job if you keep seeking and no one thing is the panacea of life that will cause it to stop if it doesn’t go your way.
“You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.”
Eric Hoffer
Sun Zhu said something similar about noticing your opponents weakness and you will win the fight because they can no longer hurt you.Much of the strife we go through is fear based recently. It caused us to leave life and self-quarantine, until it was ok to go out and riot. It’s been going on for a week now an there will be plenty of data shortly as to whether we really need to social distance anymore, because they sure aren’t doing it in the riot cities.
Remember Greta Thunberg? She’s not even a blip on the map, nor is global warming. The scare mongers have moved on to the next issue. I haven’t been afraid of these things because the truth is that we live in the greatest times of mankind ever. Yes we have problems, but that is life.
There is no need to be afraid and have unnecessary fears. The glass is really half full. These can be the greatest years of our lives if we stop buying into the crap that the media and social media tries to feed us.
“Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia”
There you have it. If you place your tongue on the roof of your mouth, it will go away.
Don’t eat your ice cream as fast works also.
“The universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest.” – Kilgore Trout
I didn’t label this as great. It is however, a break from the anarchy going on right now.
About the only positive I can take from the rioting is that we’re going to see real quickly if social distancing is necessary anymore. It’s surely not happening in a lot of places at once.
It seems like history is repeating itself. There were protests in the 60’s at the same time we sent men to the moon. Space-X just had a successful launch on Saturday.
If the phone doesn’t ring, it’s me.
Good songwriters are clever with words. This song is really about how you can’t re-live the past, but it’s also about introverts.
First, if the past was so good, why did you break up? You can never go back because it won’t be the same. Just try to remember the good times. You’ll have others in the future, just different.
Next, there are many times I don’t call, text or start a conversation. It’s not because I don’t want to or don’t have something to say, I just don’t want to get stuck in a small talk situation that is meaningless. It doesn’t devalue my feelings on our relationship/friendship/acquaintanceship that we have, I just would rather talk if we really have something to say. It is the life of introverts.
People don’t realize it, but introverts tell better stories. There is way less going off the path and including unnecessary details and the timing of the punch line or the moral of the story is far more effective.
I doubt anyone thinks about me or other introverts not calling, but if the phone doesn’t ring, it’s me.
I always changed the saying at the bottom of my work email. Some of them are ones that I have posted recently. This was the last one I had when I retired from IBM.
What disturbs and depresses young people is the hunt for happiness on the firm assumption that it must be met with in life. From this arises constantly deluded hope and so also dissatisfaction. Deceptive images of a vague happiness hover before us in our dreams, and we search in vain for their original. Much would have been gained if, through timely advice and instruction, young people could have had eradicated from their minds the erroneous notion that the world has a great deal to offer them.
A high degree of intellect tends to make a man unsocial.
Invariably, other people will disappoint you and things are transitory. Most people don’t want to face their weaknesses, rather they mask them with whatever strength they currently or previously have had.
When you are comfortable with what you have, you can then look for happiness. Some never find it, but I hope that most of you at least get on the path to it. Here’s your hint of the day, stop caring about others approval of you. You will stop caring what others think about you when you realize how seldom they do.
1. Your shoes are the first things people subconsciously notice about you. Wear nice shoes.
2. If you sit for more than 11 hours a day, there’s a 50% chance you’ll die within the next 3 years.
3. There are at least 6 people in the world who look exactly like you. There’s a 9% chance that you’ll meet one of them in your lifetime.
4. Sleeping without a pillow reduces back pain and keeps your spine stronger.
5. A person’s height is determined by their father, and their mother determines their weight.
6. If a part of your body “falls asleep”, you can almost always “wake it up” by shaking your head.
7. There are three things the human brain cannot resist noticing – food, attractive people and danger.
8. Right-handed people tend to chew food on their right side.
9. Putting dry tea bags in gym bags or smelly shoes will absorb the unpleasant odor.
10. According to Albert Einstein, if honeybees were to disappear from earth, humans would be dead within 4 years.
11. There are so many kinds of apples, that if you ate a new one every day, it would take over 20 years to try them all.
12. You can survive without eating for weeks, but you will only live 11 days without sleeping.
13. People who laugh a lot are healthier than those who don’t.
14. Laziness and inactivity kill just as many people as smoking.
15. A human brain has a capacity to store 5 times as much information as Wikipedia.
16. Our brain uses the same amount of power as a 10-watt light bulb!!
17. Our body gives enough heat in 30 minutes to boil 1.5 liters of water!!
18. The Ovum egg is the largest cell and the sperm is the smallest cell!!
19. Stomach acid (conc. HCl) is strong enough to dissolve razor blades!!
20. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day & while you walk, SMILE. It is the ultimate antidepressant.
21. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
22. When you wake up in the morning, pray to ask God’s guidance for your purpose, today.
23. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
24. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, broccoli, and almonds.
25. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
26. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts and things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
27. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
28. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
29. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Forgive them for everything.
30. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
31. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
32. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
33. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
34. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
35. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: ‘In five years, will this matter?’
36. Help the needy, be generous! Be a ‘Giver’ not a ‘Taker’
37. What other people think of you is none of your business.
38. Time heals everything.
39. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
40. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. Each night before you go to bed, pray to God and be thankful for what you accomplished, today. What if you woke up this morning and only had what you thanked God for yesterday? DON’T FORGET TO THANK GOD FOR EVERYTHING.
43. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
Everyone has both. Some choose one over the other. Most mesh the two together.
The difficulty in this day of being barraged by social media and a 24/7/365 news hype cycle is that you can choose to go with your bias and only see one side of any story. This is dangerous regardless of which side you view it from.
Don’t believe the scare tactics of the money hustlers who rush people into a position like sheep herders trying to corral the flock into group think. The tactic is shame for not subjugating yourself to the PC position of the day.
It takes courage to step out and stand for what is right, especially in the start of a crisis or an event in time. This requires critical thinking as to discovery of the real facts and applying the necessary logic to come to the right conclusion. It also can take time. The media and politicians will try to rush us into judgement based on opinion.
As they said in Watergate, follow the money and you’ll usually see through those who are self-serving.
Most of all, don’t be a sheep. Think for yourselves and don’t take anything you read online as gospel, except for the Gospel.
Sooner or later, time exposes the truth. Whether you want to believe it or not is now up to you.
I’m thinking ahead here to what might happen on this next Black Friday sale.
As I type this, stores are just starting to open up from Covid-19. There already was a fight in a parking lot as well as and ice cream store having to close it’s doors one day after opening because the patrons harassed the workers.
Black Friday is only 2 weeks before the presidential election, so a lot of folks should be ready to fight at the drop of a (MAGA) hat. There is your political humor because it’s fair to make fun of both sides of politics.
There are plenty of documented cases of people fighting over sale items or the last widget in the electronics section in a normal year.
This is where this post goes to down the toilet. I have an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.
The angel side says hire extra security and let them in based on their arrival number and only let them in a few at a time. This allows for social distancing and proper etiquette. It doesn’t address cutting in line and fights outside, but my evil side is already thinking ahead.
The devil on the other shoulder says put a couple of jumbo TVs and other desirable stuff for $25 (and not available online) and let everyone in at once. Then, sell the video on pay-per-view and see who the champion is. The depravity of humans is bound to show it’s ugly face and it would be a sellout. Watching the PPV would be better than the actual bargain. You’ll get some Darwin award winners in this scenario.
I know that reality is somewhere in between these two, but it’s not lost on me that it will be different this year. As I write down my thoughts, I’m wondering what store executives are planning given that a lot of stores make their profit numbers for the year in the last 2 months. They already are so deep in the red that even holiday sales may not save them.
Times are changing and so will Black Friday this year. I rarely buy pay-per-view on a real fight, but would consider this one.
Come back the last week in November and see if I’ve purchased the video of the fight, or if some clever marketing person has figured this out.
“Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.” – H. L. Mencken
Let’s face it, a first date is like a job interview. You put on a persona of yourself that is the best version of you. It takes a long time to find out who the other person really is. While this is happening, both people are playing a video of what they think is going on and how good it is, until it isn’t or you get into a long term relationship. At that point, you find out that the other person farts and looks like hell in the morning. The other warts come out and then it becomes does the costs of this person outweigh the benefits.
Fortunately, there is someone for everyone and hopefully that someone has enough patience to put up with your bag of crap that you have (or you put up with theirs).
Either way, it is imagination that makes the heart grow fonder, not distance.
Vous avez le cerveau d’un sandwich au fromage –you have the brain of a cheese sandwich
Tu as would be more of an insult and I’m sure the French can do much worse, but try it on someone as needed and you might feel better.
Thomas Sowell – “Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good.”
Post Modernism has ruined the quality of life for us. I know there is no going back, but there are but a few of us willing to fight for what is right rather than what the crowd tells us to do. Just being socially accepted is not a reason for not doing what is right and good.
Sowell has said some of he most relevant and meaningful things that can be read. I encourage others to heed his words
“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” — Haruki Murakami
We will be different when the China/Wuhan/Covid-19/whatever virus has run its’ course. Some will act differently like washing their hands more or social distancing. Some may travel less. The smartest of these will stay off cruise ships. The wisest will decide who and what they believe in to as the rock to anchor their life on.
“Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances that we know to be desperate.” — G.K. Chesterton
Hope is what we have. It is the one thing oppressive regimes try to take away from the people so that they will rely on the rulers in power. This was the case in the USSR, currently the CCP and many other examples in history. If you have hope, you can make it through your trying times.
Who you put your hope in also can change the course of your life, your attitude and your day.
“Learning to endure times of disappointment, suffering, and sorrow is part of our on-the-job training. These experiences, while often difficult to bear at the time, are precisely the kinds of experiences that stretch our understanding, build our character, and increase our compassion for others.” — Joseph B. Wirthlin
I know that I learn more from mistakes than from success. It hurts more and I never want to repeat it. While we as humans are doomed to go through it, we learn from the suffering, just some more than others.
“The higher man is distinguished from the lower by his fearlessness and his readiness to challenge misfortune.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
This is not a rating system based on grief, rather how one acts in the face of things not going their way. Everyone has ups and downs despite what they post on social media. We all have the choice to give up, or pulling up our trousers and moving ahead. Note: it doesn’t say we won’t grieve or suffer, rather how we persevere.
“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow.” — Thomas Paine
When I studied Martial Arts, my Sensei told me that the ones who quit are the ones that it comes easy too. The ones who have to struggle or try harder persevere longer and achieve more.
Training for anything is necessary. Enjoying the journey is how to best enjoy the process of overcoming. That is the key to the above saying because life, happiness, freedom and other things we cherish are a journey, not an event.
I love Darth Vader meme’s. One of my favorites is in the Circle Game, but this one is just as good.
I love sports as much as any other red blooded American male. I love both playing them and watching the best compete against each other. I just wish they’d realize that with a very few exceptions, athletics is all they are qualified to pontificate on. I’m tired of being lectured about their position on anything other than their sport. I’m willing to bet that I’m not alone and in the majority.
I’ve already posted here that actors (celebtards) are the same.
Even though the meme points to their salary, I don’t have a problem that they make a lot of money. It doesn’t make them smart or qualified to tell the people with essential jobs how we should think though. I’m glad that they worked their way to the top based on their skill and God given talent that they worked hard to perfect. They should be grateful that they were born in a time and a place that allows them to succeed. When anyone succeeds, the tide rises for all boats so good for them.
They are getting a lesson that while we enjoy being distracted watching them, we don’t miss their soapbox spoutings and are managing to survive just fine without them.
I hope they don’t forget that it’s the fans who pay them. They work for the fans, not the other way around.
“Close scrutiny will show that most ‘crisis situations’ are opportunities to either advance, or stay where you are.” — Maxwell Maltz
And now we will see who are the real leaders around the world. As always, some will be better than the others. Some will be more decisive and others will reveal that they may not be leaders at all. History will be the judge perhaps years from now.
“A harmless man is not a good man. A good man is a very dangerous man who has that under voluntary control.” — Jordan Peterson
Self control is a good trait. The baddest man in the room never has to prove it, but should be able to defend himself and the weak when necessary. This is not just a bare knuckles statement. Being intellectually strong as well as spiritually sound are also strengths one needs.
None of these come for free. You must work on them, and work on them constantly. The world doesn’t stop and neither does evil. Now go out and be dangerous to evil.
“I don’t fear failure. I only fear the slowing up of the engine inside of me which is saying, ‘Keep going, someone must be on top, why not you?’” — George S. Patton Jr.
Love him or hate him, he got things done and was feared by the enemy, so much so that they had a respect for his command. In these times of the Covid-19 virus, we need to keep going and not give up. Stay on top and don’t give up.
“There can be no failure to a man who has not lost his courage, his character, his self-respect, or his self-confidence. He is still a King.” — Orison Swett Marden
A lot can be said for the person who is has not lost his courage, even if he is afraid. You can have both at the same time, just don’t let the one out do the other. As for character, that will be what others talk about when they speak of you either behind your back or at your funeral.
“If you want to be respected by others, the great thing is to respect yourself. Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you.” — Fyodor Dostoyevsk
“Life is too short to be little. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervor.” – Benjamin Disraeli
People who can’t distinguish between entomology and etymology bug me in ways I can’t put into words.
WordPress says this is my 600th post, but I know I lost the year 2007 when I switched from Blogger to WordPress because I avoid Google whenever possible. I likely passed it a while back, but they are gone forever now.
I post a lot about IQ, intelligence, Introverts, tech and a lot of subjects that would provide a platform to post something meaningful, deep in meaning , intelligent, well thought out and well written. As they say, the road to hell….
In that spirit, I give you a to do list that is sarcastic, funny to me and given the mood I’m in as I write this and very appropriate especially since my last name is Simonds (see number 8).
The Assault Nail Gun Rifle is one of the most clicked on posts on this blog. In that spirit, I thought I’d add to the arsenal.
And as a bonus, there are many famous Porsche’s listed here for those who are in the know.
Editors note: Since I published this, the comments have been coming in and are now far better than the blog post. I encourage you to read about the lives and struggles of those who have high IQ. Their stories are quite revealing.-> It’s in the comments, hint, hint, hint.
Authors disclosure: I won’t disclose where I am on the IQ chart, but I do have some in my family with very high IQ. My father had a gigantic IQ. Here are the stories of those with high IQ and their travails. See if you identify with any of them.
The blog post actually starts here. It is a compilation of individuals with their names mostly redacted who have written about the travails of a high IQ:
Update: 10/3/16 from Alison Craig
It sounds like you are in the beginning stages of an existentialist crisis. http://plato.stanford.edu/entrie… I know the word “crisis” looks alarming, but it shouldn’t. In this case it just means you are examining the point of your own existence. Will I always be alone? Why am I here? Eventually you may even question all existence and come to the seemingly frightening conclusion that we’re all born alone and die alone and nothing in life has purpose.
“Well, that’s horrible! You’re depressing, why would you say such things?”
Again, I repeat- it is nothing to be alarmed about. Those things are true – to a degree. We are born alone and die alone, but we work to make connections with people who can support us, and that we can support in return. Intelligent or not, there will always be like minded people in the world somewhere and they are never easy to find for anyone. To me, making those connections is why I am here and is a large part of my purpose.
No matter how intelligent, wealthy or attractive a person is – it can always be difficult to find true connections so that all of the sharing and giving is not a one way street. Intelligent people may have stricter standards for making friends (in fashion or other), but so might a wealthy person, or a very attractive one. All people fear being used and some are just more cautious than others. An intelligent person can read books on understanding human nature ( Ten Keys to Handling Unreasonable & Difficult People), body language Psychology Today and other psychology tools to assist them in making life long connections with other people.
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From Shah Rukh Qasim on hiding your intelligence:
If you could generalize, the most common would be:
Other signs will include:
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It sucked when I was younger, but these days it’s just awesome.
There is a very common pattern among highly gifted people, namely:
Honestly, at this point in my life I feel like there are literally no downsides to having a high IQ. It’s like being born good looking or with great physical health: it’s not a silver bullet to a happy life, but it makes a lot of things much easier.
I only found out I had a high IQ (161) because my professional life was such a mess I had to see a psychologist.
If I had to sum it up in a few sentences, I would say that the most aggravating thing about being very intelligent is that you quickly see and understand things at a level of depth that most people don’t (or can’t), and it is very frustrating. You want to move on, you want to be pushed, you don’t want to spend time explaining the details of things you have already grasped, but no one else is caught up yet, so you have to pause. It is particularly painful when dealing with complex topics where the mental models involve feedback loops and non-linearities.
But that said, I’ve learned there is much more to life than intelligence, and being successful is more about hard work and good communication skills than anything else.
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“One of the indictments of civilizations is that happiness and intelligence are so rarely found in the same person.”
Working successfully in society and business is limited by some really important social choke points. One of them is that other people, even if they are intellectually slower, must be treated with respect. Another is that even if you are correct you will have difficulty getting people to act on your insights until they understand why you are correct. A third thing is that most important activities are done as a team and so taking action requires breaking down your insights into something that your slower peers and employees can understand. If you try to blow past these choke points you will destroy relationships and even if you are right, your career will languish. I try to remind myself that being successful is not well correlated to being right.
My career is going pretty well now that I’ve understood these constraints. It is possible to turn intelligence to practical life-advantage but our educational system doesn’t really give a blueprint for this. I left school thinking that it mattered that I understood things 5 minutes or 5 years before my classmates did. It doesn’t. Most people’s functioning adult lives are not spent solving tough problems. They are spent going through well established rituals and patterns of relating to each other punctuated by an occasional tough problem. In most cases, people can even skip the tough problems and still do okay in life. So how do you convert a parlor trick (like knowing the ending of a movie after 5 minutes) into something that will make you happier? Mostly, you don’t. Use it when it’s valuable and relax a little when it’s not.
There’s a great Dilbert where someone invites him to join the company’s Mensa chapter and Dilbert asks why people who are so smart continue to work at the company. The president of the Mensa chapter answers, “Intelligence has much less practical application than you’d think.”
In a word, I find it alienating.
Extremely so, in fact.
And I think this is not only because of what makes me “smart”, but also because of what my brain has to sacrifice to be “smart” in that way. (More on that in a sec.)
For the record, my IQ was measured (years ago) at 178. [ETA: Just looked up the percentile, and that’s about 1 in 2 million, for some perspective.] I have 3 advanced degrees and a solid career. But I’m still single and spend very little time around other people.
It took me some time as a young kid to figure out that the people around me weren’t interested in the same things I was. And that, often, to talk about the things I found interesting turned people away.
So I hid that.
When they announced that I was valedictorian of my high school, I was in 1st period art class, and one of my classmates refused to believe that they’d said my name.
But I never felt like I belonged anywhere, and I still don’t.
I don’t have kids, TV doesn’t interest me, I don’t follow celebrities or watch sports. My time is spent with my work, and researching the things that are important to me — astrophysics, particle physics, consciousness research, and although this might seem strange to some people, Biblical scholarship (tho I’m not a believer).
As a result, chit-chat is impossible for me, or else it’s so boring that it becomes impossible.
But like I said, the problem isn’t only that my brain is interested in things that most other brains aren’t. It’s also what my brain can’t do.
There’s only a certain amount of space in the brain, and if one area is eating up the real estate with more neural power, some other part of the brain is likely losing out.
For me, it’s some of the automatic social functioning which tells you, for example, what emotion another person is feeling based on their facial expression, or whether someone’s being sarcastic or not. (Sarcasm is a minefield for me, and meeting another person in a hallway is a nightmare — I cannot interpret when to look, or not, what to say, or not, etc.)
That said, I have an enormously rich life, and I’ve adjusted to it. When I stopped trying to fit in, things got better.
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HOWEVER…..STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES
The smart can do stupid things such as:
Not really a joke … just a tiny bit of math fun.
142857 is a cyclic number – its digits always appear in the same order but will rotate around when multiplied by any number from 1 to 6:
142857 x 1 = 142857
142857 x 2 = 285714
142857 x 3 = 428571
142857 x 4 = 571428
142857 x 5 = 714285
142857 x 6 = 857142Pretty cool, huh? Now multiply 142857 by 7. (Spoiler below.)
142857 x 7 = 999999
Hat tip to What’s Up With That
I’ll bet if you ask most people of a certain age, they are going to realize that this is true. I remember asking my father for life advice on his 75th birthday. He answered, “where did it all go so fast?” You’ll find that one below also.
Read and learn if you are young, commiserate if you agree.
#1 – I talk to myself because there are times I need expert advice.
#2 – I consider “In Style” to be the clothes that still fit.
#3 – I don’t need anger management. I need people to stop pissing me off.
#4 – My people skills are just fine. It’s my tolerance for idiots that needs work.
#5 – The biggest lie I tell myself is, “I don’t need to write that down. I’ll remember it.”
#6 – I have days when my life is just a tent away from a circus.
#7 – These days, “on time” is when I get there.
#8 – Even duct tape can’t fix stupid – but it sure does muffle the sound.
#9 – Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could put ourselves in the dryer for ten minutes, then come out wrinkle-free and three sizes smaller?
#10 – Lately, I’ve noticed people my age are so much older than me.
#11 – “Getting lucky” means walking into a room and remembering why I’m there.
#12 – When I was a child, I thought nap time was punishment. Now it feels like a mini-vacation.
#13 – Some days I have no idea what I’m doing out of bed.
#14 – I thought growing old would take longer.
#15 – Aging sure has slowed me down, but it hasn’t shut me up.
#16 – I still haven’t learned to act my age and doubt I’ll live that long.
Unfortunately, these are all sadly true!
I saw this on the Interweb. Those either quirky enough, with a certain strain of humor; or perhaps Chemistry, Geology or similar majors will get it.
Schaeffer’s First Law of the Digital Age:
The Global Digital Infrastructure (GDI) connects all human life on the planet into a single, giant, metastasizing organism throbbing with incredible potential for advancing human good, expanding knowledge exponentially, invading our lives with unimaginable malice and evil, and transforming unsuspecting users into helpless and obedient cyborgs.
Schaeffer’s Second Law of the Digital Age:
Each breakthrough in utility deriving from advances in the Global Digital Domain is accompanied by equal or greater vulnerabilities and potential detriments to quality of life. Anything that can do amazingly great things for you can almost always do terribly awful things to you as well.
Schaeffer’s Third Law of the Digital Age:
I’m not a conspiracy person, rather an observer of trends and patterns. Haven’t we been down this path before in history where there are classes of people? This time, they start as digital helpers like Alexa, Echo, Google assistant or Siri, but at what point are they re-directing our lives? Aren’t there always people who try to control your lives thus enriching their lives both in money and power.
Since there are hackers constantly attacking the cloud, where your data is stored and accessible, when you lose control over your life? The digital hacks can be found at Krebsonsecurity.com.
It has already begun with your digital footprint being tracked, monitored and being sold off to advertisers, but where does it stop, the Jetson’s?
I advise that you carefully monitor who is monitoring you, even the government.
Now for fun, why is that in the movies that the robots always try to take over the world and kill humans?
The 2008 and 2012 election showed that a coalition of minorities was the winning formula. As for 2016, not so much.
With all the minority identity groups out there vying for political power, social media control, fund raising and media presence; how do they stack up when they compete for hierarchy? At some point, when the power and money is being doled out, the queue is determined by some order. Who are these groups and how do they vie for power?
Author disclaimer: I have no dog in this hunt. I am a pattern watcher and try to learn from them. Human nature is hard to understand and explain due to it’s ever changing allies and favored group status depending on circumstances. I was watching the groups at the last election and wondered how you coalesce a group of disparate people with conflicting causes as a voter block.
Who are they?
While this isn’t a comprehensive list and I am not discriminating as I just Googled it, the last election revealed the groups of Black Lives Matter (BLM), LGBTQ (apologies if I omitted a letter), Islam (including ISIS), socialists, Antifa, environmentalists and feminists. They each compete for their cause and have usually selected an enemy with whom they are opposed to, but are now conflicting with each other in the power grab. They for the most part have an ideological position (some more than others) and garner the lion’s share of media attention.
Before the haters come out, I write this post because of my position that one of the characteristics of a higher IQ is the ability to argue from multiple positions on a subject. I will proceed with this post from that premise.
I also am merely an observer of trends. The consolidating power of the above listed groups is becoming a relevant discussion regardless of where you source your information. I’ve excluded the typical mainstream media as sources of information on both sides as their coverage is either too conservative or liberal. Their inherent bias excludes them from this conversation. I also excluded Hollywood and celebrities since they have a limited integration with the real world and often spout declarations for others which they do not adhere to. When you get to the heart of their talent, they pretend to be others and to take their opinions seriously is difficult at best.
Here are non-comprehensive, yet representative examples of identity group disagreements.
BLM vs. LGBTQ
I first noticed this when BLM shut down a gay pride parade.
These are two significant voter populations when added together.
What surprised me that it was during the last election cycle and both groups made up a voting block for the same candidate. From said article:
BLM held Toronto Pride hostage, unless their demands, which included excluding police from the parade, were immediately met.
(Pride parades typically have contingents of LGBT cops and firefighters, and booths set up by the local LGBT officers’ group at the accompanying street festival.)
Judging by their success in forcing Toronto Pride to capitulate, I suspect we’ll see Black Lives Matter groups protesting more Pride parades in the future. And as a longtime national and international LGBT rights activist, I have a problem with that.
In my internet search for protests, it seems that BLM also protested and shut down Bernie Sanders and Hillary whom they supported. It goes without saying that they all protested Trump, but that is not the point of my curiosity as I assumed this was a given. This alone is surprising since both are a part of the coalition of voters candidates need to be elected per the aforementioned 2008/2012/2016 campaigns.
ISLAM vs. Feminists and LGBTQ
I later observed the Muslim and ISIS positions that women are treated poorly and that homosexuals were declared wrong and being executed. On a side point, they also considered most pets as unclean and black dogs should be killed (animal cruelty), which brings in the animal rights group, but they don’t be as significant as the other groups currently. Apparently, women don’t have the same rights as men and must be subservient.
Then there is the recent Linda Sansour dust up revealing this dichotomy:
It further goes on to say:
Sarsour apparently identifies as a feminist. Sarsour’s kind of feminism, however, embraces the most oppressive legal system, especially for women: Islamic religious law, Sharia. Sarsour’s feminism is supposedly for empowering women, but it twists logic in a way similar to how Muslim preachers do when they claim that beating one’s wife is a husband’s way of honoring her.
Here is the dichotomy:
Pro-Sharia feminism is a perverted kind of feminism that could not care less about the well-being of oppressed Muslim women. Sarsour’s logic concerning women does not differ much from that of Suad Saleh, an Egyptian female Islamic cleric, who recently justified on Egyptian TV the doctrine of intentional humiliation and rape of captured women in Islam. Saleh said, “One of the purposes of raping captured enemy women and young girls was to humiliate and disgrace them and that is permissible under Islamic law.” There was not even a peep in Egypt’s civil society about such a statement.
On 7/25/17 a direct conflict happened when this occurred: An Oakland Muslim plotted to attack a gay club in San Francisco and talked about killing thousands of innocents on behalf of ISIS.
Finally, there is this non-sequitur that I can’t fathom:
“Feminist” Muslim women calling beatings by their husbands a “blessing from Allah”!
Who wants a beating?
ISLAM (ISIS) vs. Antifa
I don’t fully understand this one. It has the trappings of a sibling quarrel at best. ISIS is claiming that Antifa has culturally appropriated their uniforms, that being their black flag and terrorist tactics.
Here are some details:
Based on this proof, we hereby request that the UNHRC’s CESCR begin an immediate investigation into this matter, and, if you concur that ANTIFA is culturally appropriating ISIS, that you use all means at your disposal to put a stop to it. You could start by visiting this ANTIFA website, which contains links to many of its affiliates throughout the world.
Sincerely,
ISIS High Command
PS: You might mention to the ANTIFA punks that in quite a few aspects, we are at war with the very same people, organizations and ideas, and, in fact, Western civilization itself. So, if you could arrange a sit-down over tea with us, and them, it might serve all of our interests, and provide a holistic, inclusive resolution to our complaint.
Islam appears to have support from the media and the left side of the political sphere as does the other listed minorities claiming status. One can see the obvious conflicts.
Socialists
It appeared that quite a bit of traction was gained by the Bernie Sanders crowd. It seemed to have enough momentum to be a winning group within its’ primary. Somehow, it was defeated by a political machine by what is being revealed as suspicious activities.
Nevertheless, a discussion of the socialism movement by Ross Wolf summarizes some of my points:
Ross Wolfe argues in The Charnel House, the identity politics that arose in the 1960s, ‘70s and ’80s developed in reaction to the identity politics of actually-existing socialism itself:
The various forms of identity politics associated with the “new social movements” coming out of the New Left during the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s (feminism, black nationalism, gay pride) were themselves a reaction, perhaps understandable, to the miserable failure of working-class identity politics associated with Stalinism coming out of the Old Left during the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s (socialist and mainstream labor movements). Working-class identity politics — admittedly avant la lettre — was based on a crude, reductionist understanding of politics that urged socialists and union organizers to stay vigilant and keep on the lookout for “alien class elements.” Any and every form of ideological deviation was thought to be traceable to a bourgeois or petit-bourgeois upbringing. One’s political position was thought to flow automatically and mechanically from one’s social position, i.e. from one’s background as a member of a given class within capitalist society.
Questions I Have
If you are courting one group, how do you avoid alienating another group if there is acrimony? At some point you step on the wrong toes.
If there is limited money, how does the donor decide who gets it without upsetting other groups?
How do you herd this group of cats to vote together when trying to win an election? It worked twice, but failed recently and there is finger pointing as to why.
What is Racist?
In Seattle, they can’t clean the sidewalks with pressure washers because it could be racist.
Council member Larry Gossett said he didn’t like the idea of power-washing the sidewalks because it brought back images of the use of hoses against civil-rights activists.
It seems that non-black people using gifs are being racist also. I don’t understand this one though.
Finally, who wins this victim’s game?
So I guess you have out victim everyone else. By doing so, it disrupts the coalition of identities required by one of the political parties to win elections. I suppose it is a popularity contest to win the money and the status.
My final observation is that human nature is the constant here. People are selfish enough to grab power and money when possible. Most do not have the ability to argue from multiple positions on the same subject and are ideologues for their cause.
This alone is going to make a coalition such as the one that voted in the president in 2008 difficult. Being a female wasn’t enough of a victim status in the 2016 election.
These are things I ponder as we wind our way down the path of being a country.
This post was supposed to fall in the intellectual category for people to decide if Harvard has the qualities that high IQ people still desire (such as being able to see/argue multiple sides of an issue). They have managed to ruin any hope of defending both sides of an issue given the updates as you read them below. I’ll leave it for those who may be on the fence, and wish them the best in their decision.
Original Post Begins Here
If you look at the previous post, you will see some of the traits you might have indicating a high intellect.
One of them is the ability to see and argue from multiple perspectives. To have this trait, you have to shut out ideological thinking or persuasiveness of others before developing a hypothesis. Many have preconceived thoughts on a subject, political stance or values influenced by others rather than examining all aspects of a subject. In other words, they read one side of a subject on the Internet and believe what they want to. Everyone has a bias, but one needs to come to problems with an open mind and use facts and history to evaluate the solution otherwise you run at least a 50% chance of being wrong.
Harvard has released their list of Fake News sites. This is a popular subject given the 2016 Presidential election. If you look at the coverage and predictions of the various news sites, you can come to a conclusion which ones were actually wrong (based on forecasts, coverage and predictions) and if their coverage was biased or indeed “Fake News”. You have to make up your own mind where you stand on this. I am not saying their position is necessarily wrong, rather questioning their intelligence.
The list is decidedly one-sided, showing a bias. This is unfortunate. Again, readers have to decide if this is correct or not. No one or news institution is right or wrong 100% of the time.
In fair disclosure, one trait may indicate nothing, or it may be the bread crumb down the trail of truth if they are the institution they claim to be. Once more, each must reach his or her own conclusion. I show later in the post how I came to my decision about the title based more on empirical evidence.
Given the perceived prestige that comes with a Harvard degree (note: I did not say education), one would hope that the inflated price for such would be well spent money. It would appear that their logic in such a one-sided position on what is “Fake News” doesn’t indicate that they show this intellectual trait. You take a chance where to get an education or where you send your kids. One just hopes that it is the right decision. Since almost every decision is a cost/benefit analysis in your mind, one now must question if it is worth it. Maybe your kid isn’t really an intellectual so the point might be moot.
I realize that you can develop relationships with power people at college that can advance a successful career. It is not the point of this discussion. I am merely observing a perceived status and whether it is justified or not.
Update: Harvard now supports segregation. MLK would not have wanted this.
Update: Harvard Grad students have organized themselves to start a resistance school.
Update: Students don’t understand the danger of ISIS.
Update: You can now submit a rap album as a senior thesis instead of actual academic work.
Update: Harvard discriminates, avoids meritocracy and endorses legacy of the privileged
The grad students, who consider themselves a progressive version of “Dumbledore’s Army,” have enlisted former Obama staffers to teach the class sessions. The syllabus includes readings on “Black-Palestinian Queer Reciprocal Solidarity.”
They have decidedly taken a position of only viewing issues from one side. One should greatly question the concept of critical thinking ability being taught there. For those of us who can balance multiple views of the same subject, it is clear that these snowflakes will be under-educated and might be damaged goods in the marketplace of talent.
I formed my own opinion having worked for decades with Ivy League educated employees, albeit somewhat weighted towards Harvard and Columbia. It was made exceedingly clear by a PR flak who after having worked with a number of Harvard MBA’s stated that they had obviously wasted their money on their education. We were working for a prestigious company that attracts genius level talent. She showed remarkable intuition that caused me to further observe the Ivy’s. The majority didn’t last as they had a piece of paper saying that they should be smart, but lacked an education in people or the understanding that life is a series of challenges and hurdles.
Some of the most successful executives and workers I’ve encountered didn’t rely on their degree in school, rather what they learned in life and how they applied it to the next problem.
While history reveals that many leaders and intelligent people came from Harvard, the direction they are heading and the principles that they now uphold should add some cost to the side of the cost/benefit decision making process. I hope it’s worth it if you choose it as your place for an education. You will apparently get an institution that has a bias.
Most people think the are smarter than they are but usually are wrong. This has nothing to do with whether they have a high IQ or have trained extensively in an area (discussed throughout). These are indicators of whether you possess intelligence, but does not discuss whether you use it.
You can go anywhere on the Internet and find any research you want, but here are 5 indicators that show that you have potential for intelligence.
I saw this at My Domaine which show 3 of them you can’t fake.
You Learn From Your Mistakes
Intelligent people are able to accept their own failures and re-purpose them into lessons for future success. In fact, a study on decision-making skills reports that critical feedback from a mistake results in better performance the second time around. So while errors and setbacks can be frustrating, highly intelligent people are able to perceive them as growth opportunities.
It could of course be argued that humans are not that intelligent to begin with as we’ve continued to make the same mistakes throughout history.
I would argue that you learn more from a mistake than success. In giving one of my prodigy advice for life, I told him I didn’t remember every success because I expected it. I remembered every failure as it hurt and I vowed never to do it again. Some however never learn. They reveal narcissistic behavior which prevents them from admitting they were wrong.
You’re an Avid Reader
If someone doesn’t cite their sources but insists upon an opinion regardless of evidence, they’re likely exaggerating expertise. A simple way to check is by asking them what they do for fun. Beyond being a good way to gain knowledge about history or experiences that are different from your own, research shows that reading increases memory function, communication skills, and focus.
I am intrigued to talk with people with good vocabularies. To a person, they are readers of books, not social media.
One of the most intelligent fellows I’ve met was an avid reader, but couldn’t put life together due to lack of common sense. That is another subject altogether. He was obviously intelligent, but he couldn’t make good life decisions.
I see people in the gym taking selfies (or at the party, or anywhere) to garner likes on their Instagram or Fake Book (ok Facebook, but it is edited and acts a lot like a high school reunion). Those who are contemplating intelligent thoughts aren’t as concerned about likes or emoji’s. They are enjoying a book.
You See Both Sides of an Issue
When someone can articulately and convincingly argue every angle of an argument, they’re genuinely smart. Travis Bradberry, author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, reveals the issues with assumptions; if someone is thoughtful and well-informed, they’re probably not faking their intelligence to get ahead. So while they’re really passionate and well-versed on a topic from their own perspective, if they haven’t evaluated all sides of an issue, they don’t understand it (or how to respond to it effectively).
This to me is one of the biggest indicators. The less intelligent can become so fixated on being right that they fail to observe the whole issue. You can intrinsically know what is correct by understanding which part of the subject being discussed is not correct or what part is flawed. The logic presents itself when you view it in its entirety.
I exempt lawyers here. Some of them may actually be intelligent, but they are trained to argue any side of an issue. Training is not an indicator that you are intelligent other than that you can learn.
You think before you speak
Truly intelligent people have a brain that is quicker than their mouth.
If you take your time to answer people’s questions and think them through to provide a genuine answer that you’ve thought about, you’re one step ahead.
It is also related with being overly concerned with what others think of you and the idea that you must be right. Many times, it is best to hear everything that is to be said before you respond. This point helps clarify celebrity behavior. They more often than not speak before they think or hear what is being said and then not thinking out the entirety of a subject. Combined with living in a bubble, the few that are intelligent are overshadowed by the celebtards who have to be heard. They expose themselves by opening their mouths, most often without their brain in gear.
You don’t care what others think
Seriously intelligent people don’t consider other people when making decisions.
They don’t think about how others will feel as a result of their own actions and do things regardless of other people’s judgement.
The net of it is look at yourself or your behavior. If you have these traits, you are likely more intelligent.
There are lists that say more intelligent people are messy and swear more, but I’d rather look for good qualities in people.
I have always been warned of the great wealth transfer from the middle and lower class to the wealthiest. I first thought it would be through the devaluation, then revaluation of gold, but I didn’t realize that it was engineered through Washington programs, financial crisis, stock compensation and accounting tricks.
I have been reading and found this. Attribution is below and comments should consider this if you get upset, especially if you lose your shirt. Here are some excerpts:
“Corporate earnings reports for the fourth quarter are pretty much in the books. The deception, falsification, accounting manipulation, and propaganda utilized by mega-corporations and their compliant corporate media mouthpieces has been outrageously blatant. It reeks of desperation as the Wall Street shysters attempt to extract the last dollar from their muppet clients before this house of cards collapses.”
“The previous all-time high in stock buybacks occurred in 2008 at the previous peak. That brilliant strategy led to 50% shareholder losses in a matter of months. No Board of Directors fired any CEO for these disastrous strategic blunders. These cowardly ego maniacs didn’t buy back any stock in 2009 and 2010 when they could have made a killing with valuations at decade lows. After the stock market recovered by 100%, these stooges then began borrowing and buying. It has now reached another all-time high crescendo.
Dividends and stock buybacks in 2015 topped $1 trillion for the first time according to S&P Capital IQ Global Markets Intelligence. As CEOs have borrowed billions to buyback their inflated overvalued stock, they have put the long-term sustainability of their firms at extreme risk.”
“The 2008 Wall Street created financial crisis will look like a walk in the park compared to what’s coming down the pike now. We now have a bond bubble, stock bubble, housing bubble, commercial real estate bubble and central banker confidence bubble all poised to pop simultaneously. The negative interest rate and banning of cash schemes will be dead on arrival, driving a stake into the heart of the Fed vampire.”
“
Even the billionaire oligarch crony capitalist Warren Buffett addressed this despicably flagrant flaunting of basic accounting principles to mislead shareholders in his annual letter last week:
It has become common for managers to tell their owners to ignore certain expense items that are all too real. “Stock-based compensation” is the most egregious example. The very name says it all: “compensation.” If compensation isn’t an expense, what is it? And, if real and recurring expenses don’t belong in the calculation of earnings, where in the world do they belong?
Wall Street analysts often play their part in this charade, too, parroting the phony, compensation-ignoring “earnings” figures fed them by managements. Maybe the offending analysts don’t know any better. Or maybe they fear losing “access” to management. Or maybe they are cynical, telling themselves that since everyone else is playing the game, why shouldn’t they go along with it. Whatever their reasoning, these analysts are guilty of propagating misleading numbers that can deceive investors…. When CEOs or investment bankers tout pre-depreciation figures such as EBITDA as a valuation guide, watch their noses lengthen while they speak.
Buffett’s words are borne out in the chart below. Based on fake reported earnings per share, the profits of the S&P 500 mega-corporations were essentially flat between 2014 and 2015. Using real GAAP results, earnings per share plunged by 12.7%, the largest decline since the memorable year of 2008. Despite persistent inquiry it is virtually impossible for a Wall Street outsider to gain access to the actual GAAP net income numbers for all S&P 500 companies. With almost $500 billion of shares bought back in 2015, the true decline in earnings is closer to 15%.”
I do not support any politician in my blog. I’m generally not happy with any of the current crop. One is called out in the following paragraph that causes problems with Wall Street….
“The establishment is aghast that Donald Trump is storming towards the presidency. They are blind to the fact their unconcealed felonious actions rise to the level of treason in the eyes of average hard working Americans. The fabric of this country is being torn asunder by a contemptible class of corporate fascists, ego maniacal bankers, shadowy billionaires, and media titans. They have reaped billions of profits since 2009 as the Fed and politicians in D.C. rolled out “solutions” designed to enrich them. They are confident their failures will be shifted to the American people again. The American people may have a different opinion this time. Pitchforks and torches are being readied.”
I found this article from The Burning Platform which was entitled the Great Corporate Earnings Fraud.
I read this article and could hardly believe it. It was me. I’ll editorialize between the lines based on past and current experiences, but people should realize that people are different and here is one group that is virtually unnoticed but should be understood.
The link is now broken, but here is the annotated article:
Introverts catch a lot of shit for being introverted. The whole world seems
so enamored by extroverts – the people we know who just want
to be around people all the time. While we introverts might
not want that, it doesn’t mean we’re depressed or
suicidal or anything wacky like that. There are
some things you should know about us.
1. Small talk sucks.
We’re just not very good at it. We’re typically the big-thinking types.
We like big ideas and theories. Small talk is uncomfortable.
We don’t care about the weather or how
your cat has been doing.
It is very annoying because it mostly is useless to us.
If you need to share so badly,
check with an extrovert who can’t wait to share back.
You just won’t get good
feedback from us.
2. Being alone is fine.
Seriously, we’re doing okay, even if we hole up in our houses for a while.
We don’t need other people for stimulation. We find that ourselves.
We’d almost always rather be alone. We don’t want to be hermits,
but we are good at keeping ourselves busy and this is
our comfort zone for life.
We don’t have to be with a crowd to do something,
although we might come
along once in a while.
3. We aren’t rude or uptight.
We might seem like that at first, but get to know us. We’re still a fun bunch
of friends, we just don’t always acclimate to unfamiliar settings and people
so quickly.
Mostly because you are loud and want to be the center of attention,
something we can’t relate to. When we find out who you really are
behind the facade, it’s easy to get to know us, unless you are phony.
4. Sometimes, we swing both ways.
We might be introverts, but sometimes we are just so the life of the
party. We do this willingly when we’re up to it, but we can’t always
keep that kind of energy going. If we throw a party, great! But give
us some time to recover.
Recover is the key word. We can be with or in a crowd, but afterwords,
we need time alone.
5. We have friends. And they like us! Probably.
People hear the word ‘introvert’ and think of the goth kid sitting alone
at the food court. That’s a whole different thing entirely. We love having
friends, and our friends love having us! We put in a conscious effort for
people we think are worth it.
We see through those who are not worth it and move on as those who
have a constant self centered need for attention aren’t real people,
and likely are far more insecure than we are.
6. When with the right people, we feel safe.
Having the right people in our lives is amazing. we really give our
best selves to the best people. We shine in the right company.
But sometimes it takes a while to find those people.
7. We like to write things out.
Writing is easier than talking for us sometimes. Email is the best
because it helps us get the thoughts out of our heads without
being interrupted. Thinking about giving us a call? Try a text or email instead.
8. We’re super productive.
Sometimes at least. Usually in our alone time, we’re able to really
rock and roll on projects that we need to finish. The solitude helps us,
as we tend to be a bit more distractible than most.
Especially when you constantly talk about nothing just to talk. At work,
the people who have to comment on everything are the worst as
it usually isn’t productive. See small talk.
9. If we don’t like you, you won’t know it.
It’s the truth of the matter. We hate conflict. So even if we don’t like you,
we’ll still be nice. It’s a lot easier than being real with you. Especially if
your feelings are inconsequential enough that confronting you on your
bullshit isn’t even worth the time. Sorry. Well, not sorry.
And we move along without you as you just aren’t worth it.
10. Networking events suck.
Seriously. Is there a mailing list we need to opt out of? There are few
things more uncomfortable than a networking party. Except maybe a
dentist’s networking party that we’ve just been accidentally invited to.
Yes, so why do extroverts keep trying to drag us into this nightmare?
11. We don’t like crowds.
Though I find that after a few beers, I can tolerate it. Introverts tend to
get overstimulated easily, so big crowds are tough to deal with.
It’s just not worth it. Those who have MOP (miss out phobia)
have to be with the crowd, not us. See number 2.
12. Sorry, we probably weren’t listening to your story.
We care deeply about our friends, but people outside of that
circle will have a tough time maintaining our attention. It’s not
that we have ADD or anything like that, we just don’t really
care about you. On the plus side, we won’t judge you, so feel
free to tell us all the fucked up things you said to your ex.
People will tell me anything and everything because
I won’t repeat it. But usually won’t remember it either.
13. Don’t make a fuss out of our birthdays.
For the longest time, I had a great deal of difficulty
understanding why I hated my birthday so much.
Everyone I ever knew would come out and party
with me! But then I realized: that’s the problem!
We don’t need to make a fuss out of our birthdays,
so please don’t do it to us.
Or any holiday for that matter. It’s just another day.
14. We don’t want to make a fuss out of your birthday.
We can quietly honor the annual birthday, right?
It’s your day. You have everyone else making a big deal about it.
Let them.
15. If we’ve chosen to be friends with you, appreciate it.
We value our alone time. If we see you often, it means that we
really love you. Just don’t get too bummed out when we
don’t hang for a week at a time sometimes.
We’ll likely be the most reliable friend you have, the one
you can call on when your loud friends let you down.
But visitors are like fish, they smell after 3 days.
Hat tip to Higher Perspective.
What they might not tell you but you need to know is that they are good for your business.
Delusions of Adequacy 