In today’s spotlight I wish to remind you about the herding that goes on that is intentionally designed to manipulate your actions, choices, and beliefs. I recently reviewed an article titled, Regulating Behavior in Online Communities. As you might fairly assume by the title, this article is all about the research that reveals exactly how and why folks behave and how to utilize this knowledge to orchestrate the results you may be seeking. Normative Behavior Now I should say upfront that this article is primarily concerned with organizing acceptable behavior ... Read More
In today’s spotlight I wish to focus some attention on the idea of science and its paradigms. In Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions we come to understand that science can be very slow, indeed rigid and resistive, to paradigm shifts. Quoting for a moment, “Kuhn challenged the then prevailing view of progress in ‘normal science.’ Normal scientific progress was viewed as ‘development-by-accumulation’ of accepted facts and theories. Kuhn argued for an episodic model in which periods of such conceptual continuity in normal science were interrupted by periods of ... Read More
In today’s spotlight I wish to once again take up the issue of truth. It seems today that for more and more people, the idea of truth is one in the midst of a metamorphism. That is, everyone seems to have their own personal truth and very many people today insist on holding on to ideas that have been proven false. Webster defines truth this way, “The quality or state of being true; that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality; or a fact or belief that ... Read More
In this week’s spotlight I wish to shine some light on the notion of self-responsibility. For me, self-responsibility means taking responsibility for everything in your life, even those events or people that do not in any way seem to be your problem or responsibility. Mirrors on Ourselves Often the people who most antagonize us are the ones we need most to teach us what we want to learn. My mother used to say, “Birds of a feather flock together. ” Call it that, or call it simple attraction, anger attracts ... Read More
In today’s spotlight I wish to discuss the idea of fantasyland. I recently read a book by that title that is without a doubt the best book that I have ever read, and the one that I most disliked. The author is absolutely an unmitigated atheistic know-it-all who finds anything but hard science non-sense, rubbish, and pure idolatrous fantasy! That said, his scholarship, writing ability, and arguments are very compelling. 500 Year History When his 500-year history of the Americas is boiled down to a bottom line, we live in ... Read More
