A few minutes of key ideas!
The research & wisdom reminders.
These are the six key ideas that guided the high-level topics of this week’s column.
This week:
Confidence.
Confidence in ideas increases with alignment to reality.
1.
John Snow and the Broad Street Pump
The story of John Snow in 1854 reminds us that good reasoning corrects weak patterns by letting confidence follow evidence, not fear or public assumption.
2.
“A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence.”
- David Hume
- 1739
Confidence should rise with support, not desire.
3.
Were dinosaurs Jurassic movie smart?
Jurassic Park gave dinosaurs a sharper mind to match their sharp teeth. The idea is speculative, but it is not pure fantasy. Crows are dinosaurs, and they are very smart. Their intelligence sharpened over a few million years, building on a bird-style brain with roots going back at least 100 million years. So while we have no proof that non-avian dinosaurs reached crow-level smarts, it is reasonable to suspect that some cousin theropod lines may have been very intelligent. Over 170 million years of dinosaur evolution, it is fun to wonder about the smartest species. Were some crow-smart? Smarter?
4.
How does the idea of Identity in Christ fit within TST?
TST respects religious self/non-self teachings, but treats them as personal meaning frameworks rather than as rational truths.
5.
What is the difference between Public Truth and Public Belief?
Do not confuse what is widely repeated with what is well tested. Public belief deserves attention, but public truth deserves your higher confidence.
6.
Did Einstein’s driver really give one of his early talks?
Historical belief should rise only as high as the evidence behind the story. Watch for contemporaneous evidence, testimony, and surviving relics.
That’s it. The end.