Here's the problem: people are simultaneously lazy and unpredictable/irrational. The laziness creates patterns of thought and behavior; this may be where we begin to believe we can predict the future choices and actions. It certainly explains manipulation of actions and choices. We drive to work the...

Not sure human nature is a thing.
You mean the relationship between the hardwired lizard brain stuff and our shady culturally directed stuff?

So, the Mom of a friend of mine just passed in her sleep yesterday. She was ninety, or so, and in a facility that she and he apparently were happy with. Maybe six months ago, she had planned to enter said facility with her husband, but he died a day or so before they were scheduled to enter. They le...

Decide what you really need, and the make and model will be pretty obvious. How many passengers? Do you really need all wheel drive? Cargo space? Get one size up from the smallest one you like. Drive the car first, maybe rent one for a trip if you can. If you look at the niche you need, pretty much ...

Don't put burning material into your lungs. Some people should never have guns. Some of them wear badges. This is a training and judgment question. See caveat. Driving, can be as young as 14. Operation of complex machinery isn't the problem, it's unpredictable others. AND it needs to be separated fr...

Benedict Arnold is a great example of the impact of honor, or the lack of it. While ambitious, by every verified account he was a gifted leader, a courageous soldier, generous, and well composed (although he reportedly had a temper.) In general, he behaved honorably early in his career. Rivalries, h...

We have tons of sensors to tell us about our environment. That's great, and absolutely evolutionary. We have few sensors to tell us about our internal environment. Emotions are the closest we get. Arousal, discomfort, pleasure (not necessarily the same as excitement) are our primary colors, and our ...

It's troublingly close to infinite improbability.

"...not in our stars, but in ourselves..." There is good news and bad news: Society needs moral codes, systems of rules for language for commerce, for everything. Otherwise, no society. Ten Commandments, golden rules, laws of the sea allow us to agree to, generally, shared values. This all...

There's a big difference between half-full and spilling over the rim. We tend to overlook our many blessings, and see that 'Hey, there's nearly half a glass of unused capacity/potential that's going to waste here.' Overfull is also wasteful, as anybody who enjoys old port or old scotch will attest t...

At the risk of repeating something I asserted months ago, it's useless to do typical, logical analysis on the last election. Normal analysis would be able to dis-aggregate the numbers and figure out what ads reached whom, and how folks really felt. Were they voting economics, or race, or fear, whate...

I know it's not my game, but I just noticed that my avatar has four arms. It would sadden me deeply if there aren't more specific feats or traits for specific races. Sure, sure, everyone in the sandbox has to have access to all the toys, but it spoils it somehow. It's certainly not 'realistic' (by w...

I found it useful, when I had three teenagers, to treat them the same way I treated my mother-in-law who had dementia. The same way I would like to be treated when I have dementia, and not at all like I was treated as a teenager. Humanity, patience, a firm grasp of consequences, and a little also li...

That corporations cheat and politicians lie. It's news when they don't.

There are the ancient, constant miracles: We remain only gently poisoned by our environment. As squishy as we are, it takes a long time to die. That we haven't eaten our young. That accidents like bread and bourbon and electricity are discovered and remembered. That we survive the cold and the heat ...

Margaret Meade contended that the first sign of civilization was a healed human femur. Horses have this thing that makes them devilishly hard to save when they're injured (hence so many horses euthanized). Their version of shock causes their muscles to basically de-laminate. It's the no-choice versi...

So, tons of expensive choices. Looking for commentary/advice Had already made down payment on Celestial plate (25k retail) so 20 left, could trade in mithril plate +2 and afford it. (14500 retail) = give +1 armor overall plus fly other possible winged shield (17257 retail) trade in +2 (4159) =give +...

Star Frontiers did a passable job of a playable skill tree system, primitive, but playable. Any attempt to sketch out access for computers, even today, would require you know a language structure, code protocols, and more. Then add different races, star systems, it's untenable. I'd suggest that it b...

Every purpose that touches on communication. It has the advantage of the inherent proviso that interpretation is subjective. Since art is as old as humanity (older, perhaps if you look at bird nests and fish nests which they purposely construct to communicate) its impacts are deeper magic than anyth...

Modern science is rife with blowhards and pedants. The sacrifice of Curie or the peril of Galileo has been all but erased by the patent office and peer review. Don't get me wrong, but most of these guys aren't taking meaningful risks, like Salk, whatever else might be said, did. It robs the professi...