…and there’s sorrow and consternation in the land. Seriously, there is. And in order to feel sad about it, it’s not even necessary to be a Democrat, or to like Tipper and Al Gore. It’s almost always upsetting and even … Continue reading →
You think babies are just selfish slugs? Think again. According to researcher Paul Bloom (the article is long, but worth reading in its entirety), they have a capacity for empathy, however rudimentary: Human babies, notably, cry more to the cries … Continue reading →
A few days ago I was visiting New York for my brother’s birthday—a big one, but I’ll not reveal the exact number. The official celebration was at a wonderful restaurant in a private room, featuring one of those tasting menus … Continue reading →
It’s all tré¨s Frané§ais. The marriage of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and First Lady Carla Bruni appears to have succumbed to simultaneous affairs, he with Junior Minister for Ecology Chantal Jouanno and she with singer Benjamin Biolay. I say, if … Continue reading →
It’s nighttime and the power’s still out, although right now I’m in another part of town where the lights are as bright as usual. I’m sitting in a coffee shop loaded with people, many of them—like me—busy keyboarding away at … Continue reading →
…but the question is, why? I don’t completely understand this need of the wronged spouse to publicly unburden herself (and it’s usually a “her”), either through writing a book or granting interviews, or often both—the latter to promote the former. … Continue reading →
I found this You Tube video at Ann Althouse’s, featuring the bride who couldn’t stop laughing: I have been known to fall prey to the same phenomenon, especially when pregnant—which was not at my own wedding, fortunately, but as a … Continue reading →
Well, I broke my first New Year’s resolution of 2010 before I even got out of bed today. The idea was to keep more reasonable hours. How about you? Any resolves, broken or un? As far as kissing the decade … Continue reading →
It is interesting to me that people who doubt AGW are often referred to as skeptics—and that’s one of the nicer things they’re called. What is the definition of a skeptic? Let’s see: 1. One who instinctively or habitually doubts, … Continue reading →
I’m currently reading Francine Prose’s Anne Frank: the book, the life, the afterlife. It’s about the process by which Anne Frank wrote and then rewrote her diary, with an eye to its ultimate publication, and how her father edited her … Continue reading →
As Obama goes from weakness to weakness instead of strength to strength, the question keeps popping up: is he fool or knave? In other words: is he merely ignorant and incompetent, or is his course of action cleverly and intentionally … Continue reading →
Take a look: The Dunning”“Kruger effect is an example of cognitive bias in which “people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it”. The unskilled therefore suffer from illusory … Continue reading →