Author Archives: Thor

235. Burning Brightly on Serotonin

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Thor

“Hun­dreds of inter­views with peo­ple who took part in the dis­tur­bances that spread across Eng­land in August revealed deep-seated and some­times vis­ceral antipa­thy towards police.… Just under half of those inter­viewed in the study were stu­dents. Of those who were … Con­tinue read­ing →

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234. The Corruptible Career and its Friends

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Thor

The bot­tom line in most orga­ni­za­tions is that if you don’t at least appear to be cor­rupt­ible, they don’t want to have you there. Hmm, that sounds extreme, doesn’t it? The HR euphemism is that you should “fit the com­pany … Con­tinue read­ing →

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233. History, False History and Innocence

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Thor

  “Not to know what hap­pened before you were born is to remain forever a child”. (Nescire autem quid ante quam natus sis acciderit, id est sem­per esse puerum) [Cicero 46 B.C.]. Hmm. Yet know­ing his­tory falsely, whether falsely given … Con­tinue read­ing →

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232. Fool’s Way

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Thor

  Advice to a fool is a fool’s errand. I’m a teacher, so giv­ing advice is both a habit and an occu­pa­tional haz­ard. It’s a haz­ard not only because the wrong advice ric­o­chets. It is remark­able in ret­ro­spect how often … Con­tinue read­ing →

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231. The Paradox of Surplus

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Thor

Ani­mals take what’s there is to be had, gorge in years of plenty, die off in famine. Humans, some of them, strive to pro­duce a sur­plus. Curi­ously though the evo­lu­tion­ary devel­op­ment of humans has not pro­gressed well to any con­sen­sus … Con­tinue read­ing →

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230. Innocence Compromised – On Being an Adult (?)

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Thor

The short­est path to power for a scoundrel is to com­pro­mise either good peo­ple (hard to find) or almost good peo­ple (most of us). The wicket gate is left open a crack, one small short cut is taken, an inno­cent … Con­tinue read­ing →

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2. Doubt well

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Thor

Doubt well, do what you can, then let it be. Pres­i­dents, priests, wage slaves, hus­tlers, men and women, kids, we all live by the grace of those we love to despise…

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