Category Archives: Miscellany
Wisdom
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd September 2022Wisdom 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 2022The 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 2021Elon 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 2021The 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 2021The 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 2021Rationality 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 2021The 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 2021If 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 2021The 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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California Bans High End Computers
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th July 2021California is not only our most populous state, it’s also our goofiest. As a consequence of an energy bill passed in 2017, the state has banned the sale of high end gaming computers. Not to be outdone Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have issued the same ukase. “The state had recently published a paper looking into…
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About Neil Kurtzman
Neil A Kurtzman MD is the Grover E Murray Professor Emeritus and University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Internal Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. He has combined careers in clinical medicine, education, basic research, and administration for more than 30 years.› Read the biography
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