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Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Schrodinger's List
A heartwarming film about the numerous felines saved by the invention of the thought experiment.
Written by Matthew Dominic Hunter @ 03:48 PM
Reproduction is a more faithful servant than truth
Creationists are not only, ironically, the result of biological natural selection, they are also the result of memetic natural selection. Their brains are especially receptive to the various Creationist meme complexes, and these Creationist meme complexes help their hosts to reproduce at both the biological and the memetic levels. Reproduction is a more faithful servant than truth.
Written by Matthew Dominic Hunter @ 03:44 PM
Propaganda is Coercion
Given that the majority of crimes are never punished, to some extent "coercion" is actually propaganda. By that I mean that high profile and arbitrary prosecutions are a form of propaganda meant to convince people to change their behaviors without physically coercing them. We don't have room in our jails for everybody who uses illegal drugs. We don't have enough cops to give everybody a speeding ticket. We don't have enough attorneys to sue everybody who downloads music ;-) A few people are chosen to serve as examples. ----- Given that most of what you'd consider "coercion" is actually propaganda, much of what you'd consider "propaganda" is actually coercion. By that I mean, to the extent a person believes that [behavior x] will lead to pain, illness, (imprisonment), death, or everlasting hell, because of a propaganda campaign, then she is coerced. Regardless of whether the proposed punishment ever materializes. Most coercion is psychological, not physical. We "agree" because we don't want to be punished.
Written by Matthew Dominic Hunter @ 03:37 PM
Who sets your mental agenda?
It is important to realize that the media over-hype and hyper-focus on a small number of stories. If you let them, the media set your mental agenda, crowding out topics and events that you might personally care about more than what is portrayed in the "top" news stories.
Written by Matthew Dominic Hunter @ 03:18 PM
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