What Do You Call a World That Can’t Learn From Itself?
What Do You Call a World That Can’t Learn From Itself?: "Why Don’t Americans Understand How Poor Their Lives Are?"
Sunk costs and discontinuing things you're doing
“Continuing down a path that isn’t taking you where you want to go for no other reason than you’ve already walked a long way … is crazy.”
Tomorrow's News [video]
"Tomorrow's News, a public service announcement by Sandy Hook Promise, highlights the importance of recognizing and speaking out about warning signs."
The compelling case for working a lot less
"Whether it’s walking away from your desk for 15 minutes or logging out of your inbox for the night, part of our struggle is control – the fear that if we relax a grip for a moment, everything will come crashing down."
US gun violence spawns a new epidemic: conspiracy theorists harassing victims
"After mass shootings, survivors and victims’ families face a second round of attacks online – and fighting back is ‘like trying to kill roaches with a fly swatter’"
Recipe for Christmas tree water
"Fire safety for real trees depends heavily upon properly maintaining the moisture content of the tree as high as possible". See a recipe for what Christmas trees like to drink to stay fully-hydrated:
http://burninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ChristmasTrees-factsheet.pdf
A comparison of 3 fire extinguishers (2 spray cans, one regular) - YouTube
A comparison of the Fire Gone and Tundra spray can fire extinguishers, and a regular dry chemical extinguisher.
How Our Broken Justice System Led to a Sexual Harassment Crisis
"A series of powerful men have been accused of serious crimes, with little legal accountability. Sound familiar?"
The Great College Loan Swindle
"How universities, banks and the government turned student debt into America's next financial black hole"
Rain-X
A car window treatment that makes rain more fun and driving in rain safer. Also makes your wipers quieter and smoother, and cleaning your windows easier.
How to make disposable razors last for months
- When done with your razor, grab a dry corner of a towel between your thumb and fingers.
- Roll your hand over so the towel is upwards, held securely by your thumb.
- Swipe the razor on the towel three times, away from the direction of the blades (if you go the other way you'll try to shave your towel), pressing down firmly.
That's it! Keep your razor where it won't get wet accidentally, dry it each time you use it, and enjoy the savings on razors and reduction in bleeding.
The problem with apples
I like apples (especially Granny Smiths). The problem: they are kept in the fruit drawer, and are therefore not as easy to see as the other stuff that lives on the open and eye-level shelves, and so go forgotten.
Solution: take an apple out to eat, and at the same time take another one and put it on a fridge shelf at eye level.
Problem solved! You're welcome, world.
Solution: take an apple out to eat, and at the same time take another one and put it on a fridge shelf at eye level.
Problem solved! You're welcome, world.
Down With the Copay
"We can’t eliminate the profit motive in health care without eliminating copays."
Every Noise at Once
From the bottom of the page: "This is an ongoing attempt at an algorithmically-generated, readability-adjusted scatter-plot of the musical genre-space, based on data tracked and analyzed for 1536 genres by Spotify. The calibration is fuzzy, but in general down is more organic, up is more mechanical and electric; left is denser and more atmospheric, right is spikier and bouncier.
Click anything to hear an example of what it sounds like.
Click the » on a genre to see a map of its artists."
Click anything to hear an example of what it sounds like.
Click the » on a genre to see a map of its artists."
As far as surviving a nuclear war, Hollywood got some things right and some things wrong. No, you can't ride the blast out hiding inside a refrigerator. Yes, you can make a hazmat suit out of a shower curtain and a soda bottle gas mask
Best comment: "I prepare for all of the apocalypses by not preparing--by reminding myself surviving isn't living. I trust my fellow humans not to repeat mistakes of the past, but if they do, I probably don't really want to be part of humanity any more anyway. I'm a soft, sweet product of a thousands-of-years manufacturing process that's crafted some of the finest things and people yet. Admittedly some of the worst things and people too, but good R&D's like that. I know I could survive in an apocalyptic hellscape, but practically none of the people would be worth being around: the rich, the sociopathic, the paranoid, and the selfish. So, no; that's where I draw the line at helping. I'll work ceaselessly to help prevent it, but I'm not rebuilding it if it ever goes that far. Let some other species have a go."
Debit cards: People love them, but that could be a big mistake
An event years ago caused us to switch to a credit card.
The Power of Being Bored
"Boredom, in today’s world, is fleeting. Because of our phones — supercomputers, but pocket-sized — we’re never more than a moment away from something to distract us from our idle time (battery life permitting). That may seem like a bad thing — our brains need a rest and chores, like doing dishes or taking out the trash, need attending to. But it turns out, there may be an even greater benefit to being bored. "
The problem with the restaurant boom
"The American economy has basically become a giant wealth extraction machine operating on behalf of the top 1 percent. The next class down, the top 10 or 20 percent, has to grind every day to keep up with their rising costs of living. "
A good take on mental ilness
"
I wear glasses. Can I manage without glasses? Well, yes, probably. I could squint a lot, constantly move up close to anything I want to see, take the bus or a taxi if I want to go anywhere. I could just accept that I’ll never be able to see eagles flying in the sky or whales jumping out of the ocean.
But why? Why try so hard to manage life when I could just put on a pair of glasses? No one would ever suggest a near-sighted person should just work harder. No one would say ‘Maybe that’s just your normal’ to someone that needs glasses. They would say ‘Let’s go to the eye doctor and get you a prescription so you’re able to see again.’
You shouldn’t have to try so hard.
"
My doctor (paraphrased), when I expressed doubts about going back on an anti-depressant. (via
(via squidilydink)
This is such a good analogy because nobody thinks about it like this. If you wear glasses, you literally need constant use of a medical aid to experience the world like most people do. If it were anything besides glasses, that would be considered a disability. But needing glasses is an extremely common, visible, and accepted form of disability to the point that we don’t even consider it one, we just accept that some people need glasses and that’s perfectly normal and there’s nothing wrong with needing to rely on them.
That is how all disabilities and illnesses should be seen, and how we should look at treatment for them. You have a problem, and you need help dealing with it, and there’s nothing wrong with either of those things. That’s perfectly normal and that’s okay.
(via ninjarobotclone)
Reblogging myself bc ^^that^^ was such a beautiful addition. ~JJ
(via teachthemhowtothink)
Yes. This.
(via livhathaway)
I love this so much.
(via broken-from-memories)
Glasses are such a great example because even when you only need them part time no one questions if you really need them if you don’t always use them.
Like if you wear a brace sometimes but not always then people get suspicious, if you use a wheelchair for long distances or for sitting for extended periods of time but can get up and grab something or walk around a little, people question whether you really need the wheelchair at all.
But if you just use glasses for reading and then take them off later, or just for driving, or just at school/work if you need to see distances, no one questions whether you really need glasses since you don’t always seem to need glasses.
But if you just use glasses for reading and then take them off later, or just for driving, or just at school/work if you need to see distances, no one questions whether you really need glasses since you don’t always seem to need glasses.
(via chronicillnessproblems)
And I don’t recall anyone telling me to soldier through reading without my glasses because it would make me a stronger person and I wouldn’t want to give up and become dependent on needing something to help me see, either. Somehow, wearing glasses is normal and a perfectly fine aid, but taking medication or using a mobility aid means you’ve given up. It boils down to which aids make able-bodied people uncomfortable and which ones they see as minor and acceptable.
(via hobbitballerina)
You're not going to believe what I'm about to tell you (classroom-friendly version) - The Oatmeal
Why facts don't convince (cartoon)
How to be a reducetarian
"The term ‘reducetarian’ was coined by Brian Kateman, an energetic young New Yorker who spent years advocating for recycling, composting, and other environmentally-friendly practices before realizing that reducing meat consumption was the single most effective action he could take to help the climate. "
How Confidence Can Be Bolstered In Understanding That Everyone Is as Equally Foolish as Oneself
"Once we learn to see ourselves as already, and by nature, foolish, it really doesn’t matter so much if we do one more thing that might look quite stupid. Failure won’t be news to us; it will only confirm what we have already gracefully accepted in our hearts long ago: that we, like every other person on the earth are a nitwit."
Warning: one swear word.
Warning: one swear word.
Quote of The Day
“Fifty thousand years ago there were these three guys spread out across the plain and they each heard something rustling in the grass. The first one thought it was a tiger, and he ran like hell, and it was a tiger but the guy got away. The second one thought the rustling was a tiger and he ran like hell, but it was only the wind and his friends all laughed at him for being such a chickenshit. But the third guy thought it was only the wind, so he shrugged it off and the tiger had him for dinner. And the same thing happened a million times across ten thousand generations - and after a while everyone was seeing tigers in the grass even when there were`t any tigers, because even chickenshits have more kids than corpses do. And from those humble beginnings we learn to see faces in the clouds and portents in the stars, to see agency in randomness, because natural selection favours the paranoid. Even here in the 21st century we can make people more honest just by scribbling a pair of eyes on the wall with a Sharpie. Even now we are wired to believe that unseen things are watching us.”
― Peter Watts, Echopraxia
― Peter Watts, Echopraxia
5 Calls: Make your voice heard
"Calling is the most effective way to influence your representative. 5 Calls gives you contacts and scripts so calling is quick and easy. We use your location to give you your local representatives so your calls are more impactful."
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