PadawanOfHappiness

This is a long quote from a WaPo Opinion piece title " The Sad Self-Importance of Journalists" and it is amazing and I think many of us, journalists or not should read this and reflect on it in our own lives. In his classic essay, “The Inner Ring,” C.S. Lewis warned about “the delicious knowledge that we — we four or five all huddled beside this stove — are the people who know.” Lewis lectured rising British university students that “from the first day on which you enter your profession until the day when you are too old to care,” that they would be driven by the desire to be within the Inner Ring.   It is, of course, a fallacy; there is no special knowledge that emanates from such bonfires. Lewis went on to describe the perilous dangers such an illusion carried, dangers to the soul if not necessarily someone’s career. “It may end in a crash, a scandal, and penal servitude; it may end in millions, a peerage and giving the prizes at your old school,” he argued. “But you will ...

I am so frustrated by the all out push from so many media outlets, celebraties, friends, and acquaintances, are shouting get the shot, get the shot, there is no problem with the shot, there is no worries.  Why are you so anti-science, why do you hate people and not want to get the shot, you are horrible. Let us take a brief moment to remember that this vaccine is not fully approved, it is approved under Emergency Use Authorization, which is not the same thing as fully approved.  By definition we are missing long term studies, and yes that is a valid reason for some people to hit the pause button. Let us also reflect that there is no such thing as "settled science". Most middle schoolers or high schoolers in America are taught a mode of empirical inquiry and knowledge attainment usually referred to as the "scientific method." Although the discipline has origins dating back to classical antiquity, the term emerged in the 19th century and took on sustained life in ...

When I was in high school back in the 20th century science was taught as a bunch of questions, you question things and you debate them and acknowledge that there are different view points, and weigh the merits and decide.  It seems that as more information becomes available it is not about the science and it is not about the debate it is about who is loudest and shutting anyone else down. Earlier today I saw a friend share Neil deGrasse Tyson's post and it made me both sad and angry.  These posts are not helping anything. Screen shot from Neil deGrasse Tyson's Public Facebook Page In fact it is inhibiting discussions and causing people to dig into their positions.  Please remember that as we learn more it seems that both sides of the position are actively fear mongers, we had vocal 'authoritative voices' down play the risks, as well as overstate the risks.  The funny thing is that science isn't set in stone so what we 'know' today may very well be prove...

I have been doing a lot of thinking about jobs, work, and careers lately and one thing that came to mind is a concept that many people that crochet or knit known and understand well. And that is identifying what about the craft they enjoy, are they a process or product person .  I realized that can very easily apply to a job/career as well.   All of my corporate work experience is in some area of financial data or banking.  As I looked at job postings I would often see a phrase that was similar to "must be passionate about XYZ industry".  On one level I completely understand how that would be a benefit for the employee and even the employer, however that doesn't always mean that passion can mean the person is the best for the job. What is Process vs. Product? I am going to define what I mean in terms of process vrs product as an employee. Process : A person that is a process employee probably doesn't have love or hate for the industry they just like the pro...

Is TV viewership down?  Maybe and likely, but I doubt it is a simple answer. Nielsen's answer is they have a smaller sample size and they don't track streaming viewers and that the industry like other industries wasn't ready for the pandemic shift. I have not spend any real amount of time watching "TV" since February 2020 and this is big because I LOVED TV, I always have but I turned it off and very rarely turn it back on.  I watch a bit of the super bowl (I was disappointed and I didn't follow the NFL at all last season, nor am I following the NHL and begrudgingly a bit of the MLB because one of my little Padawans is listening to the games on his radio.) but I have not picked up on any of the series that I regularly watched.  I would watch re-runs, new stuff, and reality TV.  But I stopped I just could not stomach it any more. I stopped watching for several reasons: Political ads of all varieties and affiliation Fear mongering news promos Double standards i...

Right now I am very frustrated with what I perceive to be this cult like highly pressurized environment to get the COVID vaccine.   To be honest I don't have anything against the vaccine and I am very happy to see so many people want to get it, that is awesome good for them.  It is amazing that this vaccine is available so 'Yeah Science!' as all the kids are saying these days. BUT what frustrates me is the almost blatant bullying of those that don't want to receive the vaccine.  Some may not feel comfortable with it, due to their concerns with long term affects (which is valid, I don't care how long the concept of the RNA vaccine concept has been in development the fact is we simply don't have the data.).  Some may not be comfortable just because they don't like vaccines for whatever reason.  There are even some that believe in the science but simply don't want it. And finally, there are some that trust the science but do not like the fact that aborted f...

I read this article about a group of millionaires that feel they should be taxed more to pay for COVID-19 related issues.  While I applaud their sentiment I have to say it is misguided.  I do have questions though, specifically for the the 76 millionaires (as of when I looked on 3/29) that are based in the US and pay US taxes signers of the ' Millionaires for Humanity ' letter. Do you take tax deductions? The reason I ask if if you want to pay more taxes you wouldn't actually take any tax deductions.  And yes I fully understand that would not produce nearly as much revenue as those signatories want to create, but the point is are they doing everything they can to live what they say they want or are they just talking? Those individuals could also make a simple 'gift' to the US Treasury   Money deposited into this account is for general use by the federal government and can be available for budget needs. So voila make your gift to the government at your higher tax ra...