Category Archives: Mind-blowing Miscellania and other Neat Stuff

Fake Funeral! Monday November 5th! Tell Your Friends!

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Ampersand

(This is sort of a sequel to a fake wedding done in 2008). The date of the fake funeral has been set! It’s November 5th (by curious coincidence, just a week after my 50th birthday). You’re invited, so please come! … Continue reading →

Posted in Mind-blowing Miscellania and other Neat Stuff, Whatever | Comments Off  

Some Photos From My Israel Trip

Posted on March 23, 2018 by Ampersand

Hey folks! More photos from my trip to Israel. Some of these have already been posted on Twitter, but most of them I’m posting for the first time. Jerusalem. I don’t understand why I find the sight of mountainside cityscapes … Continue reading →

Posted in Mind-blowing Miscellania and other Neat Stuff | Comments Off  

Giant Faces On Storefronts In Jerusalem

Posted on March 22, 2018 by Ampersand

Yesterday was a great day in Jersusalem. I visited the Wall, but in an unexpected place; visited an archeological dig that’s not open to the public (!); and got very lost in the old city. I’ll be posting more details … Continue reading →

Posted in Mind-blowing Miscellania and other Neat Stuff | Comments Off  

Intellectual Turing Test Results: Silver Medal

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Ampersand

So in Ozy’s Intellectual Turing Test, in which anti-social justice folk tried to pass themselves off as social justice folk, and vice-versa, I’m pleased to report I came in second, with 75% of readers believing I was anti-SJ. (In the … Continue reading →

Posted in Mind-blowing Miscellania and other Neat Stuff | Comments Off  

Participation Trophies Defeated The Great Depression and Won World War Two

Posted on August 18, 2016 by Ampersand

Hat tip to Ben Lehman!

Posted in Mind-blowing Miscellania and other Neat Stuff | Comments Off  

Should We Regret The American Revolution?

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Ampersand

Happy 4th of July! Dylan Matthews brings us 3 reasons the American Revolution was a mistake. In a nutshell (although click through for the longer arguments): 1) The Southern States would have had much less power as part of the … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues, Mind-blowing Miscellania and other Neat Stuff | Comments Off  

Aphantasia: A life without mental images

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Ampersand

Aphantasia: A life without mental images – BBC News Close your eyes and imagine walking along a sandy beach and then gazing over the horizon as the Sun rises. How clear is the image that springs to mind? Most people … Continue reading →

Posted in Mind-blowing Miscellania and other Neat Stuff | Comments Off  

Some Brain Teasers From Scientific American

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Ampersand

This article in Scientific American, by Keith Stanovich, makes some solid points about the limits of IQ. No doubt you know several folks with perfectly respectable IQs who repeatedly make poor decisions. The behavior of such people tells us that … Continue reading →

Posted in Mind-blowing Miscellania and other Neat Stuff | Comments Off  

The Sleepwalker Statue and Freedom of Speech

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Ampersand

On the Wellesley campus, the Davis Museum is showing an exhibit of sculptor Tony Matelli’s work, including the above statue set up outside the museum. A student objected to this, on the grounds that the statue could potentially be “triggering,” … Continue reading →

Posted in Feminism, sexism, etc, Free speech, censorship, copyright law, etc., In the news, Mind-blowing Miscellania and other Neat Stuff | Comments Off  

You Can Create A Language, But You Can’t Control It

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Ampersand

From Wikipedia: Ithkuil is a constructed language created by John Quijada, designed to express deeper levels of human cognition briefly yet overtly and clearly, particularly with regard to human categorization. The language is notable for its grammatical complexity and extensive … Continue reading →

Posted in Mind-blowing Miscellania and other Neat Stuff | Comments Off