"It is a failing of human nature to detest anything that young people do just because older people are not used to it or have trouble learning it. So I am wary of the 'young people suck' school of social criticism" - Stephen Pinker
Month: March 2016
Things to know when taking up powerlifting
It's hard physically. Lifting heavy things off the ground is really hard. Especially when you get up to multiples of your bodyweight. Especially when you have to train first thing in the morning. It grinds you down and wears you out and makes you ache most of the time. Powerlifting will find every physical weakness… Continue reading Things to know when taking up powerlifting
Schadenfreude
"German anti-vaccination campaigner and HIV/AIDS denialist[88] Stefan Lanka posed a challenge on his website in 2011, offering a sum of €100,000 for anyone who could scientifically prove that measles is caused by a virus and determine the diameter of the virus.[89] He posits that the illness is psychosomatic and that the measles virus does not… Continue reading Schadenfreude
Subjective immortality
The morsel: Doing anything new provides the subjective experience of slowing down time. The source: David Eagleman, neuroscientist. He has many things to commend him: Excellent name Researcher in all things brain, especially my pet topic of synaesthesia. Fiction writer as well as a science educator. TED speaker Did I mention he has a great… Continue reading Subjective immortality
12 Monkeys
I rewatched the Terry Gilliam-directed “12 Monkeys” the other day, which I remember seeing in the cinema when it first came out in 1996 or thereabouts. Then, as now, I was a sci-fi nerd and I remember watching it chiefly for the fantastical elements - time travel, alternative futures, biological disaster, etc. Now, with the… Continue reading 12 Monkeys
Stick figure families
I've been trying to work out why those stick figure families that people plaster on their car's rear window shit me so much. It's not that I don't care about their family - I mean, I don’t, but that's not what's annoying me. I think it's that they're all so one dimensional and limited. There… Continue reading Stick figure families