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‘Moral of the story, MICROCHIP YOUR PETS’: Ex keeps woman’s cat for 2 years after messy breakup, but she rescues him with the help of a vet and savors the irony as his family grieves for a cat happily living with her - Some exes erase you from their life, others mount elaborate power plays involving household pets and a sustained grudge that refuses to age gracefully. ...
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Many fat happy babies! - The Steatoda borealis spiderlings have finally emerged from their egg sac! They are slow, plump, and numerous. I spent a good chunk of the morning plucking...10 hours ago
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Why the Brain is the Most Interesting Organ - I mean it's not even close. The post Why the Brain is the Most Interesting Organ first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.20 hours ago
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It’s Just A Correlation - Did you know that the number of Google searches for cat memes correlates tightly (P-value < 0.01) with England’s performance in cricket World Cups? What’...3 days ago
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Multiplication of unlawful disjunctions - Charles B. writes: Apparently, birds are not considered wild animals by law. Reference here, where apparently feeding them in parks in permitted except if ...2 weeks ago
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HWJPI? (Or: How Would Jesus Pitch It?) - "AND SO IT WAS written, as the ancients foretold, that the evolution of religion and self-help towards some common ground would continue, rendering unto Go...
4 weeks ago -
Thanks for stopping by…. - I grew up in a wilderness area in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in a town proudly proclaiming almost 300 citizens on its road sign. Life there focused on surv...6 years ago
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Premiul mult Visat - Buna fetelor, m-am bucurat tare mult cand Dana m-a anuntat ca am primit si eu un premiu, mai ales ca mi se pare foarte interesant pentru ca ma ajuta sa va...9 years ago
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Guy in cheesy old Scientology promo looks kinda like Josh Timonen - Fast forward to about 3:00. I never met Josh so I can't say if it's him or not. Would be a few years younger in the promo.
13 years ago -
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Couldn't all religions be classified as (more or less) dangerous cults? Surely the choice of one or the other is something of a false dichotomy? :-)
ReplyDeleteI hope your wrist is healing well :-)
Cult status is always relative to all the other religious sects competing for members in some community. Large, dominant sects can't be cults.
ReplyDeleteIn our environment of evolutionary adaptiveness, being right wasn't enough. Our ancestors also had to be quick. And so our brains come wired with a few shortcuts or rules of thumb that impose a feeling of the right answer before we've even got the slide rule out. "The majority are correct" is one such shortcut. "The alpha male is correct" is another.
We expect humans to accept the assertions of their enveloping culture without criticism. Few have the time or capacity to examine the basis of what passes for conventional wisdom. But as a corollary anyone who embraces a minority view --particularly if that viewpoint imposes significant cost or risk-- is expected to double and triple check the basis of their belief.
Lucky thing the majority and the alpha male are daft often enough else we'd never have evolved the capacity for science.