My words that are idiot contracts written to the music of escape.
Month: augustus 2018
Partij van de Leuke Oplossingen
Festina lente! staat bij de PLO hoog in het vaandel. Voordat ik mezelf officieel kandidaat stel als lijsttrekker van Neerlands frisse nieuwe partij, de Partij van de Leuke Oplossingen, heb ik er eerst een nachtje over geslapen. Wanneer je in het Nederland van 2018 enig succes wilt boeken met een politieke partij, dan moet de ...
Review: Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz
Being Wrong is a well-written account of our understanding of error. The author points out how central error is for all aspects of cultural proress. It is not an academic treatise, but still gives the history of thinking about scientific and religious truth a fair treatment, by mentioning for example St. Augustine's fallor ergo sum, ...
Experiment
It is not because I have conclusive evidence of it, but because I enjoy teaching new things to my daughter Miru, that I believe we should introduce the most basic concepts of science to our children as early as possible. When Miru and I were wondering if the sea could freeze over, I suggested that ...
Reading: Carson McCullers by Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) was a legendary American poet, and writer of novels and short stories. I read a summer poem presented to me on a poetry website: Carson McCullers she died of alcoholism wrapped in a blanket on a deck chair on an ocean steamer. all her books of terrified loneliness all her books about the ...
Meditation on Hope
We sit and pretend we are terminally ill. We breathe calmly. What is hope? What do we make of the bonmot that 'hope dies last' if we are lost in a desert without the prospect of water? And isn't the human condition hopeless 'in the end', if we presuppose a rough understanding of hope as ...
Reminder: Orwell’s Advice
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. Never use the passive where you can use the active. Never use a ...
Op de valreep
Wat is dat toch lieve mensen, ons energieniveau? De ene dag slaap je door je ochtenderectie heen en lig je tot het middaguur in je nest, de volgende morgen spring je klaarwakker je bed uit onder de koude douche om de ambitieuze plannen voor de nieuwe dag door te lopen. Ik breng dit vaag en ...
Laughing with Miru
There is nothing like humor to discover the signature of a human mind. Tell me what you find funny, and I will tell you who you are. Okay, I may not be able to fathom the trenches of your soul, but I'm pretty sure I'll have some sense of your political leaning, your raw intelligence ...