Yesterday, I realized that I had spent so much time Tuesday arranging for my ride to the garage, and organizing trash ans recyclables to get them in the bins (since Wednesday evening is when the bins have to go out for trash day) that I hadn’t updated the Open Thread before going to bed.Well, sorry-not sorry; very glad the bins got done. So that was Tuesday, Yesterday, I took the last loads to the bins and put them out before my ride was due at 4:00. (The driveway has plenty of room for the bins and even a large car to get past them.) We got the car picked up, but I had to (figuratively) swear on my parents’ grave that I would replace all the tires ASAP. So that will be today.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Crooks and Liars – Republicans Refuse To Talk To Any Mainstream Media
Quote – NPR is finally recognizing that the extremist MAGA cult candidates are refusing to engage with any form of media that asks real questions. Danielle Kurtzleben wrote about difficulties speaking with Republicans on the campaign trail. “[T]hey are also a part of a trend of Republican candidates ignoring or actively avoiding legacy media — particularly national outlets…. That can reduce the scrutiny they face while running for public office, hampering voters’ ability to make informed choices.”
Click through (it’s short). I want to say we must not allow this to become normal… but I fear that ship has sailed.
Psyche – Popper was right about the link between certainty and extremism
Quote – We tested both of these possibilities with our data. The fact that both the ‘extremely Left-wing’ and ‘extremely Right-wing’ expressed absolute certainty about their political views at similar rates supports a link between extreme ideology in general and a black-and-white view of the world. But some of what we found was consistent with the rigidity-of-the-Right hypothesis. For one, when we assessed a characteristic known as dogmatism via a 20-item measure of unjustified belief certainty regarding ‘big’ or ‘important’ issues (eg, ‘I am so sure I am right about the important things in life, there is no evidence that could convince me otherwise’), we found that people identifying as ‘extremely Right-wing’ were far and away the most dogmatic group in the study.
Click through for research and conslusions. Karl Popper is best known for his thoughts on freedom of speech. But his thoughts on certainty may be even more pertinent.
Food For Thought
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