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Category Archives: Political Science
Thinking Sideways
There are three kinds of people I like most in the world. First, the ones who tell me how incredibly good-looking I am. Even though I worked on Capitol Hill, I still haven’t met anyone who’s able to lie that … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Creativity, Dimensions of morality, Incomensurable, Incommensurability, Jonathan Haidt, Modes of thinking, Moral dimensions, Moral foundations, Moral intuitions, Moral Psychology, Multiple intelligences, Mysticism, Pragmatism, The Righteous Mind, Thinking, Tolerance, Viewpoints
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Is Our Technology Sustainable?
According to aspiring Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, automation will soon eliminate countless millions of jobs. It will leave few opportunities for workers who are displaced. There’s no doubt that automation is eliminating jobs. At the grocery store, you can … Continue reading
Rise of the Machines
“We’re not trying to schedule our workers more efficiently. We’re trying to replace them altogether.” — An executive of a fast-food company Andrew Yang, a 2020 presidential candidate, reports that quote about automation in his book The War on Normal … Continue reading
Lucky You
You’re lucky. So am I. I’ve written in previous blogs that believing we’re lucky is a helpful attitude: It makes us happier because we look for the good in situations. It helps us achieve because we see problems as opportunities … Continue reading
Don’t Mistake Hate for Logic
We’ve probably all made the error of mistaking hate for logic. Of course, we didn’t realize it at the time. But that’s what we were doing. Yesterday’s blog post got me thinking about the problem. On my “Top 10” list … Continue reading
Posted in Epistemology, Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology
Tagged Affirming the consequent, Belisarius, Bias, Byzantine Empire, Empress Theodora, Hate, Hatred, History, Justinian, Logic, Logical fallacies, Loyalty, Modus Ponens, Ostrogorsky, Rationality, Reason, Social Conflict, Syllogism
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Don’t Pass Over History
Who are you? What are you? The answers define your identity and give you a sense of place in the universe. The “who” question has a simple answer: your name. But the “what” question has many answers. You are a … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Judaism, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Community, Easter, Exodus, Group identity, Historiography, History, Legitimacy, Morality, Moses, Passover, Personal Identity, Social order
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Two Views of Life — and Government
Your parents lied to you. So did mine. They told us: “You can do anything if you make up your mind to do it.” Nope. Not true. Don’t be too hard on parents. It’s a well-meaning lie. It’s arguably even … Continue reading
Cher Channels Ambrose Bierce
Cher, a pop singer who I loved for her 1990s music video featuring the animated characters Beavis and Butt-Head, has a new talent. Her April 14th statement channels the spirit of the 19th-century American writer Ambrose Bierce. His book The … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Judaism, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Beavis and Butt-Head, Cher, Hypocrisy, Illegal migrants, Immigration, Immigration policy, NIMBY, Open borders
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How To Be Crazy — Constructively
A while back, I wrote about “How Not To Be Crazy.” And if you must choose between being totally crazy and being totally sane, it’s better to be sane. But let’s face it: total sanity is kind of a barren … Continue reading
Democracy for Dinner
“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried.” — Winston Churchill It’s dinner time. You and your spouse decide to vote on dinner. Happily, you both love pizza with anchovies. The vote … Continue reading
The Thousand-Year View 