More discussion today of what I got done in 2024, and about my ongoing project that will extend into 2025. This is to start consolidating all my writing ideas from the past decade into some overall framework. I’ve been doing that in one way or another in various files for a decade now. More seriously, I began that in a couple ways in 2024.
First, the essay I wrote for Gary Westfahl in 2023, Continue reading
I don’t do this every year, but today I’m inclined to write about what’s gone on this past year, what if anything I’ve “accomplished,” and what if any “progress” I’ve made toward long-term goals.
About books read, settling Larry’s estate, current health and projects in work, music listened to, Y’s trip to China, and our two new cats.
First, a metric I’ve tracked for decades: how many books did I read this year? Continue reading
Let’s look at this piece directly.
Dan Williams, 28 Jul 2024: Why do people believe true things?, subtitled “Ignorance and misperceptions are not puzzling. The challenge is to explain why some people see reality accurately.”
NY Times, Opinion by David Brooks, 26 Dec 2024: The Sidney Awards
These are “awards” that Brooks personally announces for his favorite essays of the past year, from “small and medium-size publications,” i.e. avoiding the big papers and magazines. I’m noting this to note a couple of his selections that appeal to me and my big themes. First this:
Another quick trip from the Bay Area to LA over the past few days of the Christmas Holiday, constrained as usual by work schedules.
It’s a 370 mile trip, from our place in Oakland to the West LA area where we stayed. We had good fortune in that our drives there and back slipped between the series of rainstorms that have hit Northern California over the past couple weeks. Continue reading
Since today is Christmas Eve, yesterday must have been Christmas Adam, right? (First I’ve heard about this.)
NY Times, 22 Dec 2024: Behold! ‘Christmas Adam’ Is Born., subtitled “First there was Christmas Eve … and then a new celebration was created.”
This is how religion works. Similar to the way everyone knows that Jesus was born on December 25th.
Of course I’m sure they would deny this. Passing the truth along to other people, even imposing it on them, isn’t cruel, it’s kind, to their way of thinking. This is what all the missionaries thought, and still think.
NY Times, Opinion by David French, 22 Dec 2024: Why Are So Many Christians So Cruel?
NY Times, Frank Bruni, 19 Dec 2024: What if Trump Doesn’t Need to Keep Any of His Promises?
Short answer: all Trump has to do is tell his fans that he *has* kept his promises, and they’ll believe him. Continue reading
So not only is our incipient administration authoritarian, it’s authoritarian and being run by an oligarch!
NY Times, 19 Dec 2024: Elon Musk Flexes His Political Strength as Government Shutdown Looms, subtitled “The world’s richest man led the charge to kill a bipartisan spending deal, in part by promoting false and misleading claims about it.”
Continue reading
Once again, the drone panic is not about drones.
NY Times, Zeynep Tufekci, 19 Dec 2024: How to Make the Drone Panic So Very Much Worse
The writer begins by recalling a similar panic from decades ago that I only recently heard about.
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