Category: Society
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Election Day Musings
I am grateful that I live in a country where people have the right to vote. I am concerned that I live in a country where huge sums of money are spent to influence the results of our elections. Wealthy individuals and large companies have a bigger say in the political arena than most citizens.…
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Skin in the Game
Yesterday’s post about Pigs and Chickens is related to the idea of having “skin in the game”. This phrase refers to not being a bystander. When people take risks in their work, they often care more about the outcome than those just watching. To be clear, both Pigs and Chickens can have skin in the…
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Discovering Artists
Recently, I stumbled upon the following video about Jon Batiste. I had never heard of him before this. I immediately wanted to know more about this artist! His joy and enthusiasm are infectious. I love how he provides feedback and music in response to this song he’s never heard before. So, I looked up some…
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Wisdom at 55
I’m going to be 55 years old on November 5, 2024. For my birthday, I would like to see Kamala Harris elected as the next president of the United States of America. Is that too much to ask? I don’t feel like I’m particularly wise at this age. Still, I have learned a few things…
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Many Traits
Today, I learned more about the DiSC system of preferred behaviors. My “type” is “iD” (for those in the know), which is unusual for the people in the research and development organization where I work. The most interesting thing about my assessment is that my “dot” is very close to the center. This means that…
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Free Play (v2)
For years, I’ve talked to people about the value of playing make-believe as a kid. Growing up, I invited friends from the neighborhood to my tree house. It became a yacht navigating the world’s oceans, a spaceship taking us to distant stars, the headquarters of a vast network of spies, and a temporary home in…
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What Matters Most?
Everyone is going to have a different answer to this question. Love, contribution, learning, connection, action, reflection… There are so many possible answers. Many things matter. Sometimes, I can pick out a single movie or song as my favorite. But I would never want to only be able to watch that one movie or listen…
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Galaxy Zoo Now
Like many people, I’ve learned more about Artificial Intelligence (AI), from ChatGPT to Llama. Large Language Models (LLM’s) have become much better at a certain kind of pattern matching. It made me think about a project I participated in several years ago. Galaxy Zoo began as a way for thousands of volunteers to help astronomers…
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Strong-Links and Weak-Links
After being introduced to the Experimental History blog, I found the article Science is a strong-link problem. I find this framework both interesting and useful. Here, I want to come up with more examples of “weak-link” and “strong-link” problems. I’m well aware that not all problems fit nicely into one category or the other. First,…
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Your Place
Based on a recommendation from Adam Grant, I ran across this article, There’s a Place for Everyone. I mostly agree with the message. I especially agree that finding people who might embrace your specific weirdness can be tough, for the reasons mentioned. Here’s my objection. There is not just ONE PLACE for everyone. There are…