Finally, somebody was able to explain why certain beliefs or theories manage to propagate through society with amazing success. Here’s an excellent short essay called “Crony Beliefs”:
Using a clever analogy that compares beliefs in the brain with employees at a company, the author explains how utter falsehoods are able to infiltrate the collective intellect, devouring minds with viral voracity. The essay goes through several solutions that seem reasonable, explaining why they are not sufficient. But worry not, a solid – although difficult – solution is proposed as well. Read the essay and get ready for the intellectual struggle of elevating our society’s resistance to lies and toxic reasoning.
[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/01489-AboutThemCrazyConspiracyTheories-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’About Them Crazy Conspiracy Theories’ desc=’Finally, somebody was able to explain why certain beliefs or theories manage to propagate with amazing success.’]
This has been a very good read. The subject of Big Data is treated quite exhaustively. What is currently a popular buzz-word is carefully disassembled and explained in proper-sized bits. There is some historical information about the field of statistics in there too, both interesting and, at times, amusing.
Big Data is here to stay, that much is certain. But while the rewards this paradigm can offer are great, we should also be aware of the risks to our privacy and the threat it carries regarding how it can and will affect our society.
[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/01348-BigDataIsPeople-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Big Data Is People!’ desc=’What is currently a popular buzz-word is carefully disassembled and explained in proper-sized bits. There is some historical information about the field of statistics in there too, both interesting and, at times, amusing.’]
In India, many families are taking their gender preferences a bit too far. Because of the perceived material benefit of having boys, women tend to terminate girl pregnancies more often. This has resulted in the country having one of the worst gender balances in the world.
Various Indian governments have tried to tackle the problem in different ways. The latest such maneuver is asking Google, Microsoft and Yahoo to censor advertisements for services that determine the sex of unborn children:
It’s good that at least they’re trying to do something about the problem. However, throwing the dead cat in the search engine’s yard is a cheap and cowardly solution. And like all such solutions, it won’t do much. The adverts only help certain companies get customers from other companies who don’t advertise. Without the commercials, people will simply turn to whatever word of mouth is available. And in the third millennium, word travels fast, censorship or not.
If India really wants change when it comes to gender equality, then the only option is, of course, education. Children, along with their families, have to carefully and respectfully be given the teachings that will make them realize the importance of gender balance. Pragmatically speaking, the digital age has annihilated pretty much any economic advantage men had over women. In a healthy society women can now contribute as the equals they always should have been. It’s jolly time to get healthy, India.
[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/01165-IndiaGenderEquality-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’India Makes Efforts towards Gender Equality… Through Censorship’ desc=’In India, many families are taking their gender preferences a bit too far. Because of the perceived material benefit of having boys, women tend to terminate girl pregnancies more often.’]
The fact that the educational system is flawed is not news. However, one would think that at least we’re working on improving the situation. Well, not quite. Apparently, in some countries they keep cutting into creative classes and replacing them with reading class:
Perhaps what’s desired of children by the many countries following this sort of educational paradigm is to be able to read instructions and be nice little drones? Is this some sort of revenge of the support technicians that waste too much time due to users that don’t read the manuals that came with their products? Regardless of the source of this misguided change, it’s probably not going to help, unless the goal is to ruin our children’s creativity and thus, happiness.
Still, let’s be thankful that at least we have such a thing as an educational system. It certainly has its merits. At least it got us thinking about the system itself. Now let’s continue thinking about it while in the same time act for improving it, because let’s get one thing straight: we didn’t get here as a species by reading instructions, but by being creative.
[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/01020-DisturbingKindergartenTransformation-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’The Disturbing Transformation of Kindergarten’ desc=’The fact that the educational system is flawed is not news. Apparently, in some countries they keep cutting into creative classes and replacing them with reading class.’]
Among the strangest things I’ve read lately is how a group of (Christian) parents prevented yoga exercises from being taught at a Swedish school. Among others, the motivation was that the exercises might tamper with their children’s religious beliefs:
Fairness champion Sweden interdicts religious interference in schools. However, yoga is tied to Buddhism the same way fasting is tied to Christianity or Islam (not at all). Yoga and fasting are disciplines that test the body and mind. Both practices have been proven time and again to be beneficial. And while fasting requires a careful understanding of one’s biorhythms, yoga is a readily available for improving one’s body, balance, physical and mental discipline.
One parent is quoted as saying: “Yoga is used by Buddhists as a form of meditation. We don’t know what it might lead to.” Maybe the person could be informed that it could lead to less violence^. How can anybody have a problem with meditation? Meditation is inherently non-religious and Buddhism itself is not a religion. It could perhaps be considered a religion of no religion. It’s scientific spirituality and encourages experimentation and a personal understanding of spiritual matters.
It’s sad that people aren’t well educated at all when it comes to other cultures. Maybe it’s natural to fear what you don’t know, but these things are actually quite easy to get to know and understand. But then again, the educational system that is used in constructing the foundations of our society has serious issues.
How can we expect to live in a healthy society when most children are put through a schooling system that encourages obedience, conformity and competition? There are no lessons in school about empathy and compassion.
Children are discouraged from challenging the authority of their parents and their leaders. They’re treated as second the class citizens of an adult family so it’s no surprise one of the first things they do in life is to discriminate between themselves and others. In the same time, they’re conditioned to think that being a leader is something reserved to an entirely different class of people.
Nature vs Culture
[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/00892-IsYogaEntryDrug-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Is Yoga Really an Entry Drug to Buddhism?’ desc=’Among the strangest things I've read lately is how a group of (Christian) parents prevented yoga exercises from being taught at a Swedish school.’]
Welcome to mid-2016. Science and technology have progressed immensely. We’re continuously maximizing our agricultural output and we’re getting better at renewable energy^. We’ll soon have self-driving vehicles^ and our computers are getting better at understand our speech. We can escape to virtual worlds^ and we’re more connected than ever. At least in the developed world, even the poor have the luxury of running water and electricity. Are we on the brink of a new golden age, or is it all just clever brain-washing^?
Welcome to mid-2016. A scary politician and a clever manipulator are tied^ for ruling one of the world’s superpowers (and owner of the largest nuclear arsenal). In Turkey, a failed coup^ provided an excuse for strongman Erdogan to purge his adversaries and head the country towards Islamic dictatorship^. We’re talking here about the country with the 2nd largest standing army in NATO. This is probably the single scariest event in 2016, at least until the elections in the USA. Topping things off, the UK decided to leave the EU. It also decided to prolong and upgrade its nuclear weapons-bearing submarine program^. And then there’s China^ and Australia^. Are we on the brink of war, or is it just the same old game of measuring who has the bigger gun?
Erdogan – the Lucky Caliph
Welcome to mid-2016. The idealistic peace-loving project called the European Union seems to slowly unfold under the pressure of fear and terror. The USA and Russia are slowly squeezing the life out of Syria and Iraq, but it’s the EU that has to deal with most of the resulting fallout (sheltering refugees and dealing with a spate of terrorist^attacks^). Are we going to vote in the next Hitler and give up our privacy, praying for protection from Big Brother? Or are we going to sit down at the same table with our worst enemies and enact sweeping social and political changes?
Disclaimer: yes, both the USA and Russia are to blame for the crisis in Syria. Even though historically the USA has attacked the region most heavily, the superpowers never agreed on how to tackle the social disaster there. This is probably because they both stand to profit (enormously) from the economic and social failure of the EU. Divide et impera is the name of the game.
Disclaimer: if it’s unclear who’s the “scary politician” and who’s the “clever manipulator” I’m referring to in the second paragraph, that’s as it should be. Welcome to 2016 ;).
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As one of the most, if not the most powerful force for change, the Internet’s future is a cause for concern. In the past decade, governments and corporations have increasingly encroached upon our freedom and privacy. These entities will use every possible excuse to rein-in the transformative power of the Internet.
As more people get connected, the Internet is becoming a mirror of our society. The good, the bad, the beautiful, the horrible, we can all find it online. Our society isn’t perfect. With such an educational system, who can even expect it to be? But regulatory bodies can now motivate various restrictions as being “for our own good”, this being one of the age-old excuses that our masters have used when trying to deprive us of something:
But here’s the good news. The Internet is still at its very beginning. The fifty or so years^ that have passed since the first research into packet switching might seem like a lot. But really, compared to other technologies that have been around for hundreds or thousands of years, it’s not. Here’s a good article driving this point home:
We’re still in danger of governments depriving us^ of what is becoming our voice as a species (more than 40% of the world population is now online). Keep this in mind next time you read about efforts to protect the freedom and independence of the Internet.
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Europe’s allergic reaction to Islam reaches new heights of the absurd. Other than being known as a haven where dubious characters stash their money in secret bank accounts, Switzerland has become increasingly racist and intolerant. In one region, the Swiss are forcing (via fines) Muslim students to shake the hand of their female teachers:
Besides the fact that I think the measure is exaggerated, it is also incredibly short-sighed. I don’t know what the Swiss people imagine they will achieve with this aggressive measure, but I’m pretty sure it won’t help them score any points towards successfully integrating their Muslim community.
It’s one thing to disallow the construction of minarets or wearing the burqa in public, and a completely different thing to force somebody to touch skins with another person. It’s at least one order of magnitude more serious. There is such a thing as consent. Remember those anti-rape campaigns that say “no means no”? I think it’s just mean to force Muslims to do something they don’t like in the name of some Western cultural norm.
I agree that our teachers should be respected (if they are good people). But respect can be shown through many other means than a hand shake. If the Muslim students do not respect their teacher, that is another story. The causes should be investigated separately. However, forcing them to act like they respect the person is childish and doomed to further alienate this demographic. The result could be disastrous, because we’ve all seen what can happen when we stop being compassionate and understanding with each other.
In the clash of cultures, there is always a middle path. Many countries have found these compromises and, as a result, have benefited from the diversity brought by immigration. We are brothers and sisters. I know we can treat each other with respect, regardless of physical manifestations. What is with this obsession with touching anyway?
Respect is earned, not asked for or forced.
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How did right-wing Polish magazine “The Network” manage to jump onto the international stage last week? By slapping an ominous warning, on top of an image featuring a white woman groped by brown hands. It’s a clever composition, combining the terrifying specter of rape with the prototype of the blonde angel attacked by the dark forces.
The image insidiously connects to the collective consciousness of the European Christianity, to which it gives dire warnings about our “values” being under imminent threat. It’s also an obvious reference to the New Year’s Eve sexual assaults in Germany^. Well played editors, well played!
The Washington Post has a good story about this (let’s ignore the fact that the USA is the last country in the world that should lecture Europe when it comes to racism):
To say that the immigration problem in Europe is complex is an understatement. It goes beyond “not black and white”. It’s “multicolored”. The Poles, like any other European, do have some legitimate reasons to be worried. Not all of these refugees have good intentions, but this can be said of any social group.
Diversity means that there is at least one person for every possible opinion. But more often than not, extreme opinions – left or right – lead to “quick and dirty” solutions. These solutions appear when some people are faced with challenges that are apparently beyond their capabilities.
2016 vs 1943 – Far Right Propaganda
Indeed, Europe has been a victim of its own insecurity for a long time now. Why are we not able to break the historical pattern yet? This continent has been a melting pot of cultures for millennia. We’ve gotten far when it comes to human rights, but apparently not far enough regarding those values that are supposed to give us the strength of will and discipline required to weather this crisis.
Refugees – European Union vs Lebanon.
This image is as perfect as they come. I’d like to add that the per capita income in the European Union is 35 thousand dollars. Lebanon’s is half of that, at 18 thousands. GDP for the EU is 18 trillion, Lebanon’s is 81 billion. That’s 222 times lower than the EU. I’m painfully aware that this is a complicated matter and there’s more to it than these statistics. For example, there are fewer cultural differences between Lebanon and Syria.
Even so, I think that given our economy, we Europeans can do much more for our brothers and sisters in need. I will not say that we should open our doors and hearts to people with bad intentions. But we should also not succumb to fear and the sort of psychological manipulation that “The Network” is guilty of.
Describe this in one word.
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The Recommendations section begins on a sour note with this highly disturbing report coming from Denmark. The Danes will now confiscate the valuable belongings of immigrants, so that they can cover the costs required to accommodate and feed them.
In their infinite and noble clemency, the Danes will allow the immigrants to keep items of “sentimental value”. Initially, I wanted to say that this is similar with what the Nazis were doing with the Jews. But then I realized that it’s not similar at all. It’s actually identical, except for the fact that it takes place seven decades later. This means that there’s a bit less barbarism, which is probably the least that we could demand from the human race at this point in time.
From such a country, which has been a stalwart of free speech and liberalism, I expected more than sinking to the lowest ethical standards of contemporary civilization. Even though I am able to understand the economical reasoning behind the decision, I’m painfully aware that there were so many other decent ways to solve this.
It looks like Denmark went with a resolution that should appease the far-right, a political cult which is not exactly renowned for its reliable long-term thinking. I wonder how much respect the current immigrants will have towards their adoptive country some years from now. At a time when Europe tries to contain extremist tendencies, the actions of Denmark appear to me like a sort of social suicide.
I find it sad that this is the best answer a European country can come up with. Apparently they will confiscate things like laptops too. To me, this sounds like they’re denying opportunity and reducing the chances for these people to start a new life using the belongings they undoubtedly struggled and risked to bring with them. To me, this sounds like slavery. In the past we went and kidnapped slaves, now we just destabilize their countries and make them cover the expenses and risks to get here; neat huh? The fact that the Danish citizens are sitting rather quietly while this happens raises uncomfortable questions.
Ultimately, it’s any country’s right to manage this sort of crisis as it sees fit. I agree that refugees should do their best to cover their costs. But this should only come later, when they’ve been integrated and trained in the ways through which they can contribute to the society they’re part of.
One last thing I’d like to add. I can’t easily understand how the Danish government wants to monetize laptops and other valuable technology taken off the refugees. Will they use pawn shops? Who would like to buy these devices? I think Danes can afford pretty much whatever hardware they wish for. This draconian maneuver reeks of ulterior motives.
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Because being informed is just not enough anymore…
