I'm reading The Black Swan by Nicholas Nassim Taleb at present. I haven't gotten very far, but it's quite interesting. A Black Swan event is one that is an outlier with a heavy impact which was predictable in retrospect, but not in prospect (that is, you can see where it came from with hindsight, but … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Black Swan
Author: DBreitenbeck
On the Purpose of Fiction
Actions are largely driven by emotional responses, which in turn are created by thoughts. Now, a man may, of course, act a given way through cool reflection: because he sees it is the thing to do. But he will not do so reliably. The head rules the hands through the heart. A man becomes moral … Continue reading On the Purpose of Fiction
Kaiju Appreciations; Kamacuras
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiHqBcKPYmY One of my hobbies is making music videos out of songs and film clips (though between one thing or another it's been a long time since I've actually completed one). In particular, I've been working my way through a series of tribute or 'appreciation' videos for the various Toho Kaiju ever since my college … Continue reading Kaiju Appreciations; Kamacuras
Sunday Thoughts: Failed Systems
There is an episode of the original Star Trek called "Ultimate Computer". The premise is that the genius Dr. Daystrom has built a revolutionary supercomputer that, he claims, can run a starship more efficiently than any human captain and obviates the need for a human crew at all. They install in the Enterprise for a … Continue reading Sunday Thoughts: Failed Systems
Friday Flotsam: Good and Bad or Social Types
One of the key dividing lines in the world, as I see it, is between those who think in terms of good and bad and those who think in terms of this or that kind of person. Of course, there's a lot of overlap there, and the latter would say that they are thinking in … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Good and Bad or Social Types
Altering Thoughts
As I’ve shared before, I suffer from moderate depression. Lately, in my effort to combat it, I’ve been reading a book called Feeling Good by David Burns, MD. Though I’m very skeptical of most modern psychology, this one is actually based on pretty solid insights, ones that harmonize with what I read from older authors … Continue reading Altering Thoughts
Reaction to the News for the Past Month
It would be funny if it weren't getting people killed.
Friday Flotsam: The Best Animals
I love dogs. I miss having one, and I hope (once I have a life again) to be able to get one of my own. That's one of the many things I'm looking forward to. Most people like dogs, and I think it's fair to say that people in general like dogs (with a few … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: The Best Animals
Keystone Truths: The Transcendent Manifests in the Concrete
One of the keystones for understanding the world, as I see it, is this: men desire the transcendent, but only experience the concrete. I say we desire the transcendent. Freedom, love, justice, happiness, and so on. There are indeed people who seem to desire nothing but pleasure or material things, but in the first place … Continue reading Keystone Truths: The Transcendent Manifests in the Concrete
Sunday Thoughts – Corpus Christi
I think one of the great problems of the contemporary world is that we undervalue the material aspect of things. I’m sure that sounds shocking, given how materialistic we are, but actually our materialism is only what is to be expected from the undervaluing of matter. Because as with lust to sex, the evil of … Continue reading Sunday Thoughts – Corpus Christi
Serpent's Den 