Category Archives: Miscellany

Follow the Leader

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th October 2022

It (progressivism) is rather as if a nurse had tried a rather bitter food for some years on a baby, and on discovering that it was not suitable, should not throw away the food and ask for a new food, but throw the baby out of window, and ask for a new baby. GK Chesterton…


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Wisdom

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd September 2022

Wisdom in an individual is hard to define. One almost has to resort to the Potter Stewart approach: I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it. Here’s a dictionary definition: “The soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment.” Neither Stewart or…


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Predicting Violent Behavior II

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 16th May 2022

The latest shooting in Buffalo has prompted cries for the government to do something to prevent further events like the one now in everyone’s mind. The problem is that there is no ready solution. Predicting violent behavior is almost impossible. There was a study, now more than 30 years old, that presented case histories of…


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Elon Musk’s Babylon Bee Interview

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 26th December 2021

Elon Musk gave a long interview with The Babylon Bee that has received a lot of attention. If you missed it, it’s linked below. The Babylon Bee describes itself as a Christian, conservative, satire online magazine. They were as amazed as was everyone else that the busy industrialist and the world’s richest man (if not,…


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Three Army Recruitment Ads

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th December 2021

The video below displays three recruitment ads. One for the Chinese Army, the Russian Army, and finally one for the US Army. We seem to be willing to bring a cookie cutter to an artillery fight. We are in big trouble if our ad accurately reflects the warrior ethos of the US Army. One viewer…


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Smaller Brains

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 31st October 2021

The human brain is the most complex structure known. As human-like species evolved over several million years into homo sapiens, hominid brain size tripled. Today the average human brain weighs about three pounds. Our nearest primate relative, the chimpanzee, has a brain that weighs less than a pound. Our brains constitute about 2% of body…


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Rationality – Review

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th October 2021

Rationality is Steven Pinker’s latest book. It’s also one that will leave the reader nonplussed or just thinking “is this all there is”? It contains a relatively brief but accurate introduction to elementary logic and statistics. Bayesian analysis is explained successfully; but I suspect that explanation will be fully grasped only by those who already…


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On Good and Bad Service

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 23rd September 2021

The complexity of 21st century life has made bad service the rule and good the exception. In general, the larger the enterprise the worse the service. There is one screaming exception to this rule – Amazon. I’ll come back to them below. Good service is always the same. It is prompt, courteous, exceeds expectations, and…


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Dog Dreams

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th September 2021

If a lion could talk you couldn’t understand him. Ludwig Wittgenstein Do dogs dream? When observing a sleeping dog you’ve let lie you’ll likely notice that it makes involuntary movements and emits sounds. While all this activity may simply be reflex, I’ll allow that it is the expression of a canine dream. I’m aware that…


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Virtual Tour of the Sistine Chapel

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 31st August 2021

The Vatican Museum has a virtual tour of the interior of the Sistine Chapel. With your mouse you can see everything Michelangelo painted. Not as good as being there, but you’ll never visit the place without anyone else there. The pinnacle of western art. Sistine Chapel Virtual Tour


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