Wisdom Builder

Three Tidbit Stories

Topic:

1. General Math

Numbers, arithmetic, algebra: the human on-ramp.

MODE:

Speed: 1.00

1. General Math.

3 random tidbit stories in about 3 minutes.

Idea 1.

A 1. General Math FAQ.

What is the difference between Stalinesque and Orwellian propaganda?.

While discussing memory in Daniel Dennett’s book Consciousness Explained, he used two types of propaganda that have stuck with me: Stalinesque and Orwellian. Both stem from the acts of men: Joseph Stalin’s show trials and George Orwell’s writing.

Stalinesque propaganda tries to create your first impression. Orwellian propaganda tries to replace it.

We see both around the world as various groups try to seize or keep power. Too often, they succeed in replacing reality with a false narrative.

Stalinesque propaganda was born out of Stalin’s infamous show trials. They used false testimony and evidence to prove predetermined conclusions. You see it today in American politics. When the Republican Party tried to overturn the 2020 election using alternate electors and certificates, that was Stalinesque. It was a fake show. They submitted their own people and papers. Another example occurred in August 2024 during the Republican impeachment of Joe Biden. Before the election, the FBI informant Alexander Smirnov literally made up evidence. After, he pleaded guilty to fabricating the whole thing.

As Orwell imagined in 1984, Orwellian propaganda rewrites existing history. The events happened, but are rewritten to match a narrative. And the Republican Party also engages in this. They literally rewrite history. January 6 provides a clear Orwellian example. We have videos, court records, and convictions. Yet party leaders continue to describe the convicted and pardoned as patriots and hostages. Another example is when the Trump administration ordered agencies to remove established DEI, climate change, and other information.

When the CDC rewrote their own autism-and-vaccine information, they were questioning long-established conclusions that vaccines do not cause autism. They did this even while another CDC page continued to state that studies show no association. That is about as literal as Orwellian rewriting gets!

Stalin created false stories; Orwell rewrote real ones.

I wrote that 1. General Math FAQ,

and posted it to TST 1 day ago.

Idea 2.

A 1. General Math FAQ.

Are there more Christians or Muslims in the world today?.

There are slightly more Christians than Muslims in the world today. According to recent Pew Research studies, about 31% of the world population identifies as Christian, with about 24% identifying as Muslim. Coming in third place, about 16% identify as atheist or agnostic. Judaism comes in 9th place with a very small percentage of .2%. All three are Abrahamic religions embracing the same fundamental stories. I used this research as background for my book “30 Philosophers: A New Look at Timeless Ideas.”

I wrote that 1. General Math FAQ,

and posted it to TST 3 years ago.

Idea 3.

A 1. General Math Story.

Animal Chemoreception: Proto-Taste and Smell Emerge.

600 Mya

Chemoreception is older than animals and is found across life, including bacteria, fungi, and plants. Taste and smell evolved later in animals, after the bilaterian split, as early nerve nets and proto-nervous systems gradually gave rise to animal brains that benefited from more specialized information for navigating life.

Animal-level chemoreception, the ability to detect chemical stimuli, likely started emerging around 600 million years ago among some of the earliest soft-bodied multicellular organisms. This evolutionary leap did not necessarily require a proto- or pre-brain in the complex sense associated with later animals but rather relied on cellular mechanisms capable of processing chemical information. These early forms of chemoreception enabled organisms to make rudimentary distinctions necessary for survival, such as identifying nutritive substances versus harmful ones. They could “taste” potential food sources upon direct contact and “smell” chemicals dissolved in the water, guiding them towards nourishment or away from danger. These primitive sensory mechanisms laid the groundwork for the sophisticated development of taste and smell in more complex animals.

Kimberella (circa 560 Mya): The Kimberella, while not an ancestor of vertebrates, is a likely early example of a creature with chemoreception. It is potentially an early mollusk, and exemplifies the importance of chemoreception in early animal life. Its grazing on microbial mats would have necessitated a basic form of chemoreception to discern between nutritious and non-nutritious substances. The distinction between food sources implies an elementary ability to ‘taste’ and ‘smell,’ integral for selecting suitable food. This behavior marks a significant step in the evolutionary sophistication of sensory systems, foreshadowing the complex senses of taste and smell found in later species.

Domain: Eukaryota > Kingdom: Animalia > Phylum: Bilateria or Mollusca

I wrote that 1. General Math Story,