Politics and Science

I was recently told about a film that discussed gender that included anti-trans comments. I explained that people might struggle to define what a woman is, just as people struggle to define justice, or family, or being. For example, most families have a mother and father and biological children, but some families have only one parent, due to death or divorce, while other families have adopted, foster, or step children. Sometimes defining nouns is difficult. I added that just because some people are unable to define what a woman is, that does not mean that this man's definition of a woman is correct. If people can’t answer a math question correctly, that doesn’t mean that the person who asked the question is correct. Socrates struggled with defining what a chair is. Socrates described the form of ideals, where reality is a physical manifestation of ideal forms. A circle is a line that is equidistant from a point, but there has never been a perfect circle represented in the world. ...

I support unconditionally raising the debt limit. I trust President Biden and the rest of the Democrats in office to negotiate as best they can to reduce harm from the negotiations. Some Republicans try to use any leverage they have to make government smaller, but I appreciate the Democrats efforts to preserve liberal democracy and progressive capitalism. With communism on the left and fascism on the right, or with communism on the left and anarcho-capitalism on the right, progressive liberalism in the style of FDR and LBJ is moderate.

Please note: the following post is satire, and not to be taken seriously. Attack on Trans People in the Bathroom               The laws preventing people from using the bathroom corresponding to their gender is an attack perpetrated by Big Bathroom. If trans women and trans men can use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender, then maybe someday unisex bathrooms will be prevalent. And Big Bathroom couldn’t have that! They need to sell more toilets, because if there were unisex bathrooms then maybe demand for toilets would drop. Resist Big Bathroom!

  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 (edit, 2/22/2026: Don't binge drink beer, wine, or other ethanol containing products.), or better yet, don’t drink (edit, 2/22/2026. Don't drink beer, wine, or other ethanol containing products) 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...

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 universal basic income or a negative income tax, shouldn't matter.             Slavery is abolished, even for people with convictions. Slavery is wrong, whether if it’s by corpo...

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 denyin...

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...