The possibility of alien (extraterrestrial) life elsewhere in our milky way galaxy, and in the billions or perhaps trillions of other galaxies in the Universe, is something that has occupied my thinking and imagination for most of my life. This is a major topic this blog will look at. This includes most major aspects of it such as the origin of life, galactic habitable zones, SETI, exoplanets, UFOs, etc. As will be the usual case, I will have blog posts, YouTube videos, book reviews, articles, etc. by myself and others that I think are interesting or important on the subject.…
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I Can Tolerate Anything Except the Outgroup https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/GLMFmFvXGyAcG25ni/i-can-tolerate-anything-except-the-outgroup As promised, here’s a link to Scott Alexander’s long essay on political in/out-groups hosted on LessWrong. For me, it bogs down a little in sections III and IV, but after that is very well written and important. All sections should be read as the sections build on previous ones.
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Here’s Scott Adams’ take on the NYT doxxing Scott Alexander and his deleting of his blog as a result. Has profanity (F-bomb).Starts at 22:55.Ends at 27:40.
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I created this blog in part because I decided I’ve had enough.Of several different, but connected things. There was one incident recently that kind of pushed me over the edge in terms of my complacency.I was trying to decide what I should do about it (my inaction and silence) since. I was having some trouble doing my artwork at times as a result of the internal turmoil. The “last straw” incident for me was hearing “Scott Alexander” was going to be doxxed by the NYT and he deleted his valuable, and at times, brilliant blog as a result. Which of…
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My second blog post recommended using the Principle of Charity when dealing with people and avoiding the Fundamental attribution error (subject of third post). Here’s a very basic look at the Principle of Charity applied to people’s statements and actions in everyday life. An article for a more complete look at the principle as applied to arguments by others:
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The Dunning-Kruger Effect is a somewhat well known cognitive bias. It is the tendency of most people to overestimate their knowledge of a subject and their competency in the field and in their skills. The less a person knows about a topic the more they tend to think they know about it or are good at it. To some extent, the reverse is true (to a point). The more you know, the more you know you don’t know about a subject and the less you think of your competency. After a while, though, your confidence in your knowledge picks up…
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Continuing with looking at some basic cognitive biases. A couple well known cognitive biases and how they are the basis at times of forming in-groups and out-groups (us and them thinking).
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This video is something everyone should see. It is a very good first introduction to the Fundamental Attribution Error and related cognitive biases. He gives a good personal story at the end illustrating how this works (labeling people) and the implications (self-fulfilling prophecy, confirmation bias, and people suffering because of it). By a professor at East Tennessee State U (Dr. Dula) but is not technical or too intellectual (as much as I like that sort of thing) but is down-to-earth and something everyone can understand. Very well done. A good article on this: The Fundamental Attribution Error: When People Underestimate…
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Below is a short, incomplete list of common cognitive biases, faulty thinking, etc. everyone suffers from at times. This causes numerous problems for ourselves and others we interact with. They can impede our ability to understand others and their arguments fairly. They keep us at times from admitting our mistakes and false beliefs, or even recognizing them, thus keeping us from learning from our mistakes and improving. They can cause us to misunderstand and to even hate others as a result. This is not good or a pretty sight. (See Scott Alexander’s long essay, “I Can Tolerate Anything Except The…
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My biggest pet peeve the past few years has been the prevalence of cognitive biases and the general lack of critical thinking skills in most (myself included). [1] This is one reason for the creation of this blog. Yes, I’m an autistic nerd, but hear me out. Cognitive Biases and Critical Thinking In the past few years I have been studying several serious or intellectual subjects and disciplines (Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Religion, Aristotelean/Scholastic metaphysics, etc.) and I have found that critical thinking skills are essential in understanding and assessing information objectively and without bias, at least, as much as…
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