Politics and Science

  Lessons from My 20s             I’m now 31. I As the New Year approaches, I’m motivated to reflect on my twenties, which were a largely unhappy time for me. 1)      Don’t binge drink, or better yet, don’t drink at all. 2)      If you feel like you aren’t content where you are, don’t stay there. Move on. 3)      If you are lonely, isolated, unhappy, and depressed, you should do what it takes within reason to find healthy friends, become content, and develop optimism. 4)      Setting boundaries is okay and healthy, and avoid people who won’t respect boundaries. Be polite but firm when maintaining boundaries. 5)      When I felt slighted in my twenties, I would show how hurt and frustrated it made me. Now, if I feel slighted, or someone pokes at me, I laugh it off. First, because it’s likely that the person didn’t intend to slight me, and laughing disarms the situation. Second, because showing hurt and frustration is an escalation, and the goal should be to de-escalate the s

In the new year, I am writing about my dreams for America. I wish politics were more about morality and creating the world we all want to live in, rather than being angry at each other. The human right to money is acknowledged, in addition to the supports and human rights that already exist. This is what the wealthy do with their children, and what the government does with the wealthy. The wealthy set up trusts for their kids, so they have in effect decided that their children have a dollar value. The government looks at the investment bankers and hedge fund managers, and says, they are worth money, and bails them out when they make bad bets. The government should just look at ordinary people and decide that the have a dollar value. Whether that’s called UBI or a negative income tax, shouldn't matter.             Slavery is abolished, even for people with convictions. Slavery is wrong, whether if it’s by corporations or governments. The 13 th Amendment abolished slavery, excep

1.       The paradox of egocentrism. There is an inherent paradox in telling someone they are being egocentric. You’re thinking about yourself too much, you should be thinking about me more. There are people who are truly egocentric, but there are probably better ways to let them know than telling the person that they’re being egocentric. 2.       To what degree are people responsible for the emotions and feelings that their words create? If I tell you, “You are such a great person!” presumably you will feel good, or at least better than if I tell you, “You are a bad person!” I used to think that people weren’t responsible for other people’s feelings, but now I tend to think that different words create different feelings, and we should be mindful of the effect of our words on others. 3.        Is any disagreement on reality a form of emotional abuse?  Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse involving denying reality. The classic example is when a man hits a woman, the woman asks,

Please note, these are not books that came out in 2022, but these are the best books I read in 2022. Rising Above by Sean Rogers. Rogers talks about his childhood trauma, and how he overcame that to join the US Special Forces. A great story of post-traumatic growth and overcoming adversity. At one point in the book, he says that he doesn't want to see himself as a victim, and I think that's common that people don't want to view themselves as helpless, but at the same time, sometimes people have been wronged and they are victims. It's a fine line and grey area. Never Split the Difference by Voss. Voss spent his career in law enforcement as a crisis negotiator. Since my Bachelor's is in psychology, I am particularly fascinated by the psychology of crisis negotiating, and negotiation in general. Rogue Heroes by Macintyre. The story of the Special Air Service in World War II. The Way Forward by O'Neill and Meyer. Democracy in One Book or Less by David Litt. Litt was

I aspire to be humble, curious, and kind. Humility, because how many answers to questions are unknown, and how little a person can know from humanity’s body of knowledge, even if they spent their entire life learning. I've heard that no modern mathematician knows the entire field, at least not since the late 1800s or early 1900s. And that’s just the field of mathematics. Consider all the other fields of knowledge- philosophy, economics, history, physics, engineering, sociology, and so on. We are truly living in the information age. Once you realize how much information is out there, the only true response is humility.             Curiosity, because in the face of the unknown, and how little anyone can every truly know. For example, when there is a conflict between people, or people disagree, do you try to figure out what the source of conflict is, and try to solve it? Getting to the crux of any problem requires curiosity. Whether it is a problem of the heart or mind, problem so