You Can Buy Skepticism
Here's some mental floss for ya: How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life, by Thomas Gilovich, a Cornell psych professor.
And here's a brain sharpener: Inevitable Illusions: How Mistakes of Reason Rule Our Minds, by Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, director of the Cognitive Science Institute in Milan.
As I wander around the "blogosphere" I am always amazed with the degree of certainty that people have. Is waterboarding torture and does torture work? There is almost no one out there that says, "I dunno, what do I know about torture?" Most people either know it works and cite their favorite bloggers citing their favorite pundits citing their inside information or they know it doesn't work and cite their favorite blo.... well you get the idea.
What's nice about so much certainty in their positions is that it makes it so much easier to detect those horrible internet trolls and concern trolls and creeps and assholes and fucktards. And if you are not sure of what research and experience says, well, you're one of them!
So yeah, if I could buy the world some skepticism, I would.
jerry at December 20, 2007 5:08 AM
Here's a sobering indication of just how little you or I know.
The International System of Units definition of the second is "the duration of 9192631770 perionds of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the Cesium-133 atom".
Now, think about this a little bit. Go find Cesium (Gee. Stuck already?). Then, identify its isotope, Cs-133. Then, invent something to discover that it has a "ground state", and then two "hyperfine" levels of that state. Detect it oscillating. Build a counter stable enough to count to nine-plus billion during that "second" - and then devise a way to determine its stability. Oh - don't forget to look around and investigate other isotopes for their suitability.
No wonder people invest in lies and superstition. Thinking is just too much work!
Radwaste at December 20, 2007 7:03 PM
Thanks, Rad. I feel really effing stupid. Mostly because I didn't understand any of that. Well, guess there's a reason I'm a secretary and not a rocket scientist even though I pride myself on being a woman without superstition.
But I don't mind being reminded I'm really not all that every now and then. I think we all do need humbling every so often to keep our damned egos from getting too damned big.
Donna at December 21, 2007 6:34 AM
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