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Ollinson

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I think people are more disgusted by how self serving the "plant" is. Rosa Parks sat in the front of the bus to support a movement. Ahmed Mohammed brought a dismantled clock in a suitcase to school to further the political ends of his father's career.

It's unfortunate that the "hoax" label on this clock story is being considered by some a conspiracy theory.

All it takes is 15 minute to look into the political history of the kids father and the nature of the clock that he "built" to realize something is amiss.

Psychologists are not taught statistics in their curriculum.

That's just outright untrue. Maybe you have good points somewhere else in your comment but saying such nonsense makes me less inclined to hear you out.

I'd rather have a corporate bookstore than an independent one. My personal experience with independent bookstores is that they're usually biased about their stock and can be even more vindictive against authors they don't like.

It doesn't help that most bookstore owners I have met (maybe half a dozen) are aggressively opinionated about what books are "worthy."

Because the drivers are paid a lower wage under the assumption that they will get tips.

If you want to be righteous call the manager at the place you're ordering food from and complain, don't stiff the guy delivering pizza for a living.

I would say that you are in the minority of Simpsons fans if you dislike "22 Short Films About Springfield" and especially "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer" which is frequently on top 10 episodes lists.

If you often find yourself in conversations about "best simpsons vs downfall" you owe it to yourself to check out The Dead Homer's Society manifesto[0]. One of the author's greatest articles is on what he calls "zombie simpsons"[1].

Ultimately the discussion comes down to taste but Dead Homer's produces a very convincing argument behind his opinion.

[0] http://deadhomersociety.com/manifesto/

[1] http://deadhomersociety.com/zombiesimpsons/

I was under the impression that this is what psychology/psychiatry is supposed to do by charter.

Most professionals I know in the field take the attitude that a patient's psychological state should only be corrected if that patient feels they are an impediment to their own goals. This also goes along with the popular alcoholics anonymous mantra "we can't help you till you want to help yourself" (I'm not advocating AA just that it's a popular approach).

Of course this doesn't apply to people who have behavior disorders or are violent and end up committed.

I think you're being a bit overly pedantic about the use of the word rational. Yes, everything you're saying is true, rationality is framed by the individual's goals. That said, I think it's fair to assume that values, goals and preferences such as "not being poor" and "staying alive" are parameters that are on average not that free. By your definition this is "rationality" and I don't think it's controversial to say your average human is "rational" in this sense.

I've heard this quote before in various forms but I don't like it.

The luck applies to those who are already doing everything right. The other people are "failures" because you can pinpoint where they were deficient. When I think about luck and success I picture a pool of highly educated, ambitious, type A people. Why does one of them become an industry tycoon billionaire while the others become merely wealthy? You can manufacture luck for the latter but not the former.

You don't have to understand a model for it to bear fruit.

I'm sure you could find plenty of traders on Wall Street with models of the market who would say "we don't understand and it doesn't matter" as the money flows into their account.

Why we travel 11 years ago

I had a similar realization as you. Sort of a cultural "wherever you go, there you are."

I do hate the elitist aspect of travel though. In a way it's sort of like experimenting with drugs, you really can't have a say on the experience unless you've actually done it.

I've had to be very careful about who I talk to about my travels because I've noticed that even the kindest people can become apprehensive. They act like I'm questioning their knowledge/experience/worth if they are less well-traveled than me. If anyone has any tips for dealing with this please let me know. Note that I'm already very sensitive to the subject and never bring it up unless asked and even then keep the details to a minimum.

Why we travel 11 years ago

One of the things I hate about travelling as "growth" is that you can't refute it unless you've done it.

So as someone who has traveled around the world for many years let me give you permission to never leave home. The truth is wherever you go, there you are. As someone above mentioned, there is a very common cross section of interests regarding humans.

In my own subjective experience I now see travel as the physical equivalent of channel flipping. It's the replacing of any kind of real introspection or work with novelty. Novelty can be very useful but it can also be acquired for a fraction of the thousands of dollars necessary to travel.

I got a brand new TR1200-DT3 on ebay for $350. The only catch was that it was local pickup 2 states away. So I spent a Saturday picking it up in Ohio and after gas/tolls saved about $550 (not including any savings on tax buying from LifeSpan).

These cheap open box TR1200-DT3s regularly pop up on ebay, check out the completed listings.