Month: April 2017

CHRISTOPHER STEINER ~ AUTOMATE THIS ~ 2012

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~ BLU-ACAWDST-AWPMAMOOWUTCOAWCLTOW-OWIPTS ~ But Left Unsupervised – Algorithms Can And Will Do Strange Things – As We Put More And More Of Our World Under The Control Of Algorithms We Can Lose Track Of Who – Or What – Is Pulling The Strings

~ JWOBOCFSANBSABFPOCC ~ Jobs We Once Blamed Other Countries For Stealing Are Now Being Snatched Away By Faceless Piles Of Computer Code

~ ITSM-HHLBRTIO-TAOTMN ~ In Today’s Stock Market – Humans Have Largely Been Reduced To Interested Observers – The Algorithms Own The Market Now

~ NSTAWSFTTB ~ News Services That Are Written Specifically For The Trading Bots

~ TINWTUTIOGATFCTTNH-TSAWSCBWIF ~ There Is No Way To Understand The Implications Of Giving Algorithms The Full Control That They Now Have – The Speed At Which Something Can Go Wrong Is Frightening

~ SADTOYASPVRR-AOTCCHI-ITCWOT ~ Some Algorithms Developed Thousands Of Years Ago Still Play Very Real Roles – Albeit Ones Their Creators Couldn’t Have Imagined – In The Computerized World Of Today

~ AOWWWKTEFTNTBEOM ~ Algorithms Only Work When We Know The Exact Factors That Need To Be Examined Or Manipulated

~ TWP-PANITATTITN-A-SIOTFTM ~ To Work Properly – Predictive Algorithms Need Instructions That Allow Them To Ignore The Noise – And – Zero In On The Factors That Mater

~ TWI-A-I-W-NSFC-P0TCTW-TJHABCOTROA ~ Those Who Imagine – Art – Innovations – Words – Novel Strategies For Companies – Products That Change The World – Their Jobs Have Always Been Considered Outside The Reach Of Algorithms

~ SPATTCROBWCTT-TNITACI-TABCC-WNL-H-TTADA ~ Smart People Assume That This Creeping Revolution Of Bot Workers Can’t Touch Them – The Notion Is That Algorithms Can’t Innovate – That A Bot Can’t Create – We’re Now Learning – However – That These Are Dangerous Assumptions

~ ACBTTETQAOOOC ~ Algorithms Can Be Taught To Evaluate The Quality And Originality Of Others’ Creations

~ AWPDAABAA? ~ At What Point Does An Algorithm Become An Artist?

~ TVOAIAITS-AAUTSMAMIOD-DMILT-IKA-RL ~ The Value Of Algorithms Is All In Their Speed – Algorithms Allow Us To Squeeze More And More Into Our Days – Doing More In Less Time – Is Known As – Removing Latency

~ M-S-T-HAGT-FBOW ~ Money – Speed – Technology – Have Always Gone Together – For Better Or Worse

~ THABITHOAPF-SOPTWMTGF-H-ATPWDT ~ Technology Has Always Been In The Hands Of A Privileged Few – Some Of Those Who Make The Greatest Fortunes – However – Are The People Who Democratize Technology

~ GTS ~ Gaming The System

~ AWCTIPASATWHAAWRIH ~ Algorithms Will Continue To Invade Professions And Skill Areas That We Have Always Assumed Will Remain Inherently Human

~ TPMBHEWNBTTGR ~ The Predictions Made By Human Experts Were No Better Than Those Generated Randomly

~ TACT ~ Technical Automated Compatibility Testing

~ PDB ~ Paging Dr. Bot

~ WMSTBRUOIF-TTITIABSBA-A-TRCAYTC ~ While Medicine Seems To Be Rather Unhackable On Its Face – The Truth Is That It’s Already Been Shaken By Algorithms – And – The Real Changes Are Yet To Come

~ IASBGNOH-CAAITNOWDAAP ~ In A Small But Growing Number Of Hospitals – Consulting An Algorithm Is Task Number One When Diagnosing Any Admitted Patients

~ TJFP-R-S-T-A-PM-A-CE ~ The Jobs For People – Reading – Scans – Tests – And – Patient Metadata – Are – Certainly Endangered

~ T-C-A-A-TGSED ~ They’re – Cheap – Accurate – And – They Get Smarter Every Day

~ AOU-WOBATE-CB-C-T-A-CLAAIAZ ~ All Of Us – When Observed By A True Expert – Can Be – Categorized – Tagged – And – Catalogued Like An Animal In A Zoo

~ PCPRC-EHWAPIETLTAAS ~ People’s Core Personalities Rarely Change – Exceptions Happen When A Person Is Exposed To Long-Term Abuse And Stress

~ AWGO-OVMGVAD-BTWIWWS-TSWLTOS-RTS-TSGAACATHAOUPLAAUP ~ As We Get Older – Our Vocabulary May Grow Varied And Dense – But The Way In Which We Speak – The Structures We Lend To Our Sentences – Remains The Same – Those Structures Give Away Amazing Clues As To How Any Of Us Process Logic And Act Under Pressure

~ HTSRAAUITMIEK ~ How The Speech Recognition Algorithms Are Used In The Markets Isn’t Exactly Known

~ TPFBI-B-S-AE-P(TR)-ICH ~ The Potential For Bots In – Business – Service – And Even – Politics (Think Robocalls) – Is Clearly Huge

~ WLCPTTFTOTFH-WBCSM-S-LC-A-HC? ~ Why Leave Customers Prone To The Fickle Treatment Of Their Fellow Humans – When Bots Can Secure More – Satisfaction – Lower Costs – And – Happier Customers?

~ AOT-C-E-A-C-D-G-S-S-A-E ~ All Of This – Click – Eyeball – And – Cursor – Data – Gets – Strained – Sifted – And – Examined

~ HWSIWSWOITPO-TIRCTSP-TBI-H-OATSTBCTTOTI-TSATWCSAE ~ How We Speak Indicates What Spot We Occupy In The Pecking Order – The Influencers Rarely Change Their Speech Patterns – Those Being Influenced – However – Often Alter Their Speech To Be Closer To That Of The Influencer – The Same Applies To Written Communication Such As E-Mail

~ WBOI-OLT ~ Words Betray One’s Influence – Or Lack Thereof

~ BATIPOTDAOAWSCLTNAI-P-M-S-M-TTMMTBM-FTNTH ~ Being Able To Identify Pecking-Order Top Dogs Automatically On A Wide Scale Could Led To New Approaches In – Politics – Management – Sales – Marketing – There’s Too Much Money To Be Made – For This Not To Happen

~ HE-WLTAAOTTTTDOUSREY-CBAEIAWTD ~ Human Error – Which Leads To Almost All Of The Thirty-Three Thousand Deaths On U.S. Roads Every Year – Could Be Almost Eliminated If Algorithms Were The Drivers

~ LAASAATAAI-TADNRHIOTPTICMPL ~ Lawyers Are As Susceptible As Anybody To An Algorithm Invasion – The Algorithm Does Not Require Health Insurance Or The Promise That It Could Make Partner Later

IAN ANGUS ~ FACING THE ANTHROPOCENE

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~ TGA ~ The Great Acceleration

~ TP-CC-A-PB ~ Tipping Points – Climate Chaos – And – Planetary Boundaries

~ EA ~ Environmental Apartheid

~ D:GHS ~ Destination: Global Human Solidarity

~ THIO-TAHB ~ The Holocene Is Over – The Anthropocene Has Begun

~ C ~ Capitalocene

DEAN BURNETT ~ THE IDIOT BRAIN ~ 2016

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~ TBATLIAPRTBUOS ~ The Brain Apparently Thinks Logic Is A Precious Resource To Be Used Only Sparingly

~ WSDKTPOS-WTTRFI-SIEFNBF ~ We Still Don’t Know The Purpose Of Sleep – Whatever The True Reason For It – Sleep Is Essential For Normal Brain Functioning

~ TMRBTBASCTAHCUBAC-TPOALOAIM ~ The Memories Retrieved By The Brain Are Sometimes Comparable To A Hairball Coughed Up By A Cat – The Product Of A Lot Of Alarming Internal Mangling

~ MOWOBDIDTMYLAFAGAP-A-OOTWICDTIBMYMTMYFBAY-MUFAIWWBIAIC ~ Much Of What Our Brain Does Is Dedicated To Making You Look And Feel As Good As Possible – And – One Of The Ways It Can Do This Is By Modifying Your Memories To Make You Feel Better About Yourself – Making Us Feel As If We Were Better Informed And In Control

~ ASOSWAASTBITNFFH ~ A Sense Of Self-Worth And Achievement Seems To Be Integral To Normal Functioning For Humans

~ WBMOOWVOWOPTOATU ~ We Base Much Of Our World View On What Other People Think Of And Tell Us

~ IYPHS-IHLTYPTU-WHTWATWST ~ If Your Parents Have Superstitions – It’s Highly Likely That You’ll Pick Them Up – Without Having To Witness Anything That Would Support Them

~ TBSTSWTITSCHFNDROTC-TRORHNKOC-OOWITRATETHDSFAR-ORTA-‘F’ ~ The Brain Seems To Struggle With The Idea That Something Can Happen For No Discernible Reason Other Than Chance – The Rejection Of Randomness Has Numerous Knock-On Consequences – One Of Which Is The Reflex Assumption That Everything That Happens Does So For A Reason – Often Referred To As – ‘Fate’

~ FTBTEATA-ISTHTBSARI-B-ASATITO-STRCBA ~ For The Brain To Enjoy A Thrilling Activity – It Seems There Has To Be Some Actual Risk Involved – But – Also Some Ability To Influence The Outcome – So The Risks Can Be Avoided

~ FI-I-TAT-UI-WWI-AI-ASO ~ Fluid Intelligence – Is – The Ability To – Use Information – Work With It – Apply It – And So On

~ CI-I-TIYHSIM-A-CUTHYGTBOS ~ Crystallised Intelligence – Is – The Information You Have Stored In Memory – And – Can Utilise To Help You Get The Better Of Situations

~ FIDAWA-C-CIRSOAL ~ Fluid Intelligence Declines As We Age – Contrastingly – Crystallised Intelligence Remains Stable Over A Lifetime

~ LNTAPNSCBASCITB-TBIAPO-ICAWPATTDMOI ~ Learning New Things And Practising New Skills Can Bring About Structural Changes In The Brain – The Brain Is A Plastic Organ – It Can And Will Physically Adapt To The Demands Made Of It

~ ‘BT’-GAE-TI-AP-NAETAOTPCAIIGI-TJCYTBGASG-ATBIECENTHTEEETATTH ~ “Brain-Training” – Games And Exercises – There Is – At Present – No Accepted Evidence That Any Of These Products Cause An Increase In General Intelligence – They Just Cause You To Become Good At Specific Games

~ DMTIOEMF-N-‘SD’-MOTARNAAOSPSAMOA-TLTEOGIACAG ~ Drugs Meant To Improve Or Enhance Mental Function – Nootropics – “Smart Drugs” – Most Of These Are Relatively New And Affect Only Specific Processes Such As Memory Or Attention – Their Long-Term Effects On General Intelligence Are Currently Anyone’s Guess

~ WSATTIIF-TTTPWOT-ITTIV-TPB ~ When Students Are Told That Intelligence Is Fixed – They Tend To Perform Worse On Tests – If Told That It’s Variable – They Perform Better

~ TBHTPACWGN ~ The Brain Has To Pick And Choose What Gets Noticed

~ TMWAWSUOPTIITCW-ILRASP-B-IBOUDOA ~ The Most Worrying And Wide-Spread Use Of Personality Tests Is In The Corporate World – It Looks Rigorous And Sounds Proper – But – It’s Based On Untested Decades-Old Assumptions

~ FLAPVOECBD-ICRTBTASOLH ~ Feeling Like A Passive Victim Of Events Can Be Damaging – It Can Reduce The Brain To A State Of Learned Helplessness

~ DTAIOAPTICAH-WCPTIIHIBTPAROO ~ Despite The Apparent Individuality Of A Person’s Tastes In Comedy And Humour – We Can Prove That It Is Heavily Influenced By The Presence And Reactions Of Others

~ TBHASEVOPDTCWO ~ The Brain Has A Surprisingly Extensive Variety Of Processes Dedicated To Communicating With Others

~ OBAVAARARF ~ Our Brains Are Very Adept At Recognising And Reading Faces

~ FITD-T-AWASRWMYMATALR ~ Foot-In-The-Door – Technique – Agreeing With A Small Request Will Make You More Amenable To A Larger Request

~ DITF-T-BITPBMWI-‘STD’-MOL-YFB-TADT-‘MIU’-TT ~ Door-In-The-Face – Technique – But It’s The Person Being Manipulated Who Is – “Slamming The Door” – Metaphorically Or Literally – You Feel Bad – There’s A Desire To – “Make It Up” – To Them

~ RBU-ATSBRTP-PP ~ Relationship Break-Up – Activates The Same Brain Regions That Process – Physical Pain

~ BPOAGCOOJ-EOS-WO-OBP-‘BL’-O-‘BR’ ~ Being Part Of A Group Can Override Our Judgement – Even Our Senses – Worryingly Often – Our Brains Prioritise – ‘Being Liked’ – Over – ‘Being Right’

~ FADB-TMSOIIOP-MAIAFPWCL ~ For A Developing Brain – The Main Source Of Information Is Other People – Mimicry And Imitation Are Fundamental Processes Whereby Children Learn

~ ‘MN’-NTA-B-WWPASA-A-WWOTAFSE-STBRAPTBOOAAFL ~ “Mirror Neurons” – Neurons That Activate – Both – When We Perform A Specific Action – And – When We Observe That Action From Someone Else – Suggesting The Brain Recognizes And Processes The Behaviour Of Others At A Fundamental Level

~ OBPTUOPAAGTRFIIUS ~ Our Brains Prefer To Use Other People As A Go-To Reference For Information In Uncertain Scenarios

~ GWOAAMEXTIMWIA-GP-IVCAWGDMICC-ICBLOPBAC-A/O-OOTBA ~ Groups Will Often Adopt A More Extreme Conclusion Than Individual Members Would If Alone – Group Polarisation – It’s Very Common And Warps Group Decision-Making In Countless Circumstances – It Can Be Limited Or Prevented By Allowing Criticism – And/Or – Outside Opinions To Be Aired

~ CD-TAMOL-AMBLMG-WDAOI ~ Countless Decisions – That Affect Millions Of Lives – Are Made By Like-Minded Groups – Who Don’t Allow Outside Input

~ PAWTBR-JNTFR ~ People Are Willing To Be Rebels – Just Not The First Rebel

~ OBCUTFG-A-TOTWTT ~ Our Brains Compel Us To From Groups – And – Turn On Those Who Threaten Them

~ TMPACSLI-THIIFTTATNAIOTWO-B-ALAWDDSSLPTMPPICORC ~ The More Privileged And Comfortable Someone’s Life Is – The Harder It Is For Them To Appreciate The Needs And Issues Of Those Worse Off – But – As Long As We Don’t Do Something Stupid Like Put The Most Pampered People In Charge Of Running Countries – We Should Be OK

~ TBIATWIFAJ-WGBGR-A-BBIP-U-TIT-B-TBISIIOBTWSTIA-SWBVFTM ~ The Brain Inherently Assumes The World Is Fair And Just – Where Good Behavior Gets Rewarded – And – Bad Behaviour Is Punished – Unfortunately – This Isn’t True – But – The Bias Is So Ingrained In Our Brains That We Stick To It Anyway – So We Blame Victims For Their Misfortune

~ PALCOV-ITTCITATS-O-ITWTTVWCL ~ People Are Less Critical Of Victims – If They Themselves Can Intervene To Alleviate Their Suffering – Or – If They Were Told The Victims Were Compensated Later

~ DIAGASPTDEAR-NDAS ~ Depression Is A Genuine And Serious Problem That Deserves Empathy And Respect – Not Dismissal And Scorn

~ DINL-EWPAEIPAFTOB-A-IOBHDTEIAA-TIOEEIOL ~ Depression Is Not Logical – Everything We Perceive And Experience Is Processed And Filtered Through Our Brain – And – If Our Brain Has Determined That Everything Is Absolutely Awful – That’ll Impact On Everything Else In Our Lives

~ AOSAOIPWDASCTS-EHOWTDTIRE ~ Accusations Of Selfishness Also Often Imply People With Depression Are Somehow Choosing Their Situation – Exactly How Or Why They’d Do This Is Rarely Explained

~ ITMW-TBTTTWBOOBI-GOS-IITIOTF-TWGP ~ In The Modern World – The Biggest Threat To The Well-Being Of Our Brains Is – Good Old Stress – If It’s Too Intense Or Too Frequent – Then We Get Problems

SIMON HEAD ~ MINDLESS ~ 2014

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~ SMAMDH ~ Smarter Machines Are Making Dumber Humans

~ CBS ~ Computer Business Systems

~ ES ~ Enterprise Systems

~ BPR ~ Business Process Reengineering

~ ERP ~ Enterprise Resource Planning

~ BS ~ Balanced Scorecard

~ ‘DW’ ~ “Data Warehouses”

~ ‘DM’ ~ “Data Marts”

~ CP ~ Corporate Panoptics

~ TOOMANLFABH-BTER ~ The Objects Of Management Are No Longer Flesh-And-Blood Humans – But Their Electronic Representations

~ WHB-T-N-CW-C-S-A-T-TRUODS ~ We Have Become – The – Numbers – Coded Words – Cones – Squares – And – Triangles – That Represent Us On Digital Screens

~ KPI-TINLTTN-TMCATAP ~ Key Performance Indicators – There Is No Limit To The Number – That Management Can Attach To A Process

~ TRSOTEOE-I-TCDON ~ The Reverse Side Of The Empowerment Of Experts – Is The Complete Disempowerment Of Nonexperts

~ TLOGW-C-A-T-TMASUTMOG-AAUT-MATTWOESTG ~ The Labeling Of Goods With – Chips – And – Tags – To Monitor And Speed Up The Movement Of Goods – Are Also Used To – Monitor And Time The Work Of Employees Shifting The Goods

~ MIS ~ Management Information Systems

~ RAE ~ Research Assessment Exercise

~ EL ~ Emotional Labor

~ SABRE ~ Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment

~ AEASE ~ Abstracted Electronic And Statistical Entities

~ ATSRAC-IF-HHOIT-SEOT-T-M-E-WWIBITS ~ All The Systems Rules And Commands – In Fact – Have Human Origins In The – Superior Expertise Of The – Technical – Managerial – Elite – Whose Wisdom Is Baked Into The System

WILLIAM BONNER ~ HORMEGEDDON ~ 2014

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~ TMOAGTLTD ~ Too Much Of A Good Thing Leads To Disaster

~ TMI ~ Too Much Information

~ SK-PM ~ Servi Kaffe – Pereat Mundis

~ GS-PPD-AWYGWYA-R-S-S-P-SL-TAIBS ~ Generally Speaking – Public Policy Disasters – Are What You Get When You Apply – Rational – Small-Scale – Problem-Solving Logic – To An Inappropriately Broad Situation

~ TFLIT-LTWMTOBC-FOC-A-FTCTBB ~ The Feedback Loop Is Twisted – Leaving Those Who Made The Original Bad Choices – Free Of Consequences – And – Free To Continue Their Bad Behavior

~ ‘H’-TMOAGTIAPPC ~ “Hormegeddon” – Too Much Of A Good Thing In A Public Policy Context

~ ED-T-‘TMOAGT’-A-‘DMU’ ~ Economists Describe – The – “Too Much Of A Good Thing” – As – “Declining Marginal Utility”

~ FPCSTITPLIOOTCCOTAIWTHPSMF-I-TBITAORTET-‘DS’ ~ Few People Can Stomach The Idea That Public Life Is Out Of The Conscious Control Of The Authorities In Whom They Have Placed So Much Faith – Instead – They Believe In The Ability Of Right Thinking Experts To – “Do Something”

~ ADS-‘CD’-TABOBZ-LNTIC-TI-TI-TI-TP-AASTBSAN-TMCI ~ A Different Solution – “Creative Destruction” – To Avoid Being Overrun By Zombies – Let Nature Take Its Course – The Inefficient – The Incompetent – The Imprudent – The Passé – All Are Supposed To Be Swept Aside Naturally – The Market Cleanses Itself

~ B-TDAHTWIIST-TZ-EB-T-PT-PC-A-STS-TUTPOGTHOWTGAGM ~ But – This Doesn’t Always Happen The Way It Is Supposed To – The Zombies – Erect Barriers – To – Protect Themselves – Prevent Change – And – Stabilise The System – They Use The Power Of Government To Hold Onto What They’ve Got And Get More

~ EAO-BAG-CAA-BG-WIASFC-WCOSAGSP ~ Entitlements Are Offered – Bailouts Are Given – Contracts Are Awarded – Bureaucracies Grow – Whole Industries Are Shielded From Competition – Whole Classes Of Society Are Given Special Privileges

~ TME ~ Too Much Economics

~ SEM ~ Simpleton’s Economic Model

~ TWATWEWNSC-NSBAA-NSA-A-NSD ~ There Was A Time When Economists Were Not So Conceited – Not So Bold And Arrogant – Not So Ambitious – And – Not Such Dumbbells

~ IEWRTPODRWNVQ-TGBU-L-WTAUT-D-P-A-M-TBD-HBTN ~ In Economics We Reach The Point Of Diminishing Returns With Numbers Very Quickly – They Gradually Become Useless – Later – When They Are Used To – Disguise – Pervert – And – Manipulate – They Become Disastrous – Hormegeddon By The Numbers

~ NHPNOS-N-A-P-S-A-A ~ Numbers Help Put Nonsense On Stilts – Numbers – Appear – Precise – Scientific – And – Accurate

~ BATNAS-NISAD-NASSCBT-YEBWTATTWB-A-UT-S-S-M-TETCPP ~ But All The Numbers Are Squishy – Nothing Is Stiff And Dry – Not A Single Statistic Can Be Trusted – Yet Economists Build With Them As Though They Were Bricks – And – Upon Their – Squirming – Shimmying – Mound – They Erect Their Central Planning Policies

~ METTTWIABOHS-NABOP ~ Most Economists Today Think They Work In A Branch Of Hard Science – Not A Branch Of Philosophy

~ IOSUGITFY-TFAI ~ Instead Of Storing Up Grain In The Fat Years – The Feds Ate It

~ BMEHDETAMPTATTFTLOTRW-TGMBDIDBICGFIDDTLY ~ But Modern Economists Have Developed Elaborate Theories And Mathematical Proofs That Allow Them To Flout The Limitations Of The Real World – The Government May Be Deeply In Debt But It Can Go Further Into Debt During The Lean Years

~ TITNOH-OYAII-YTTSII-UYRTBE ~ This Is The Nature Of Hormegeddon – Once You Are In It – You Tend To Stay In It – Until You Reach The Bitter End

~ ADGOTLTTST-TDOMV-BOFRBDL ~ All Democratic Governments Owe Their Legitimacy To The Same Thing – The Decisions Of Misled Voters – Based On Fraudulent Representations By Dishonest Leaders

~ TITGMITMTBIF-GIBUAANOSBTOATI ~ The Idea That Government’s Mission Is To Make Things Better Is False – Government Its Best Understood As A Naturally Occurring Struggle Between The Outsiders And The Insiders

~ T –‘SC’-IAF-YCHACUYHTWAAP-TDWFOTP-ITYWO-WKOCIITYDATACGOO? ~ The – “Social Contract” – Is A Fraud – You Can’t Have A Contract Unless You Have Two Willing And Able Parties – The Deal Was Forced On The Public – Imagine That You Want Out – What Kind Of Contract Is It That You Don’t Agree To And Can’t Get Out Of?

~ TIDNRGAAC-TNTGSOOI ~ The Insiders Do Not Run Government As A Charity – They Need To Get Something Out Of It

~ ‘TM’-INAB-IIAC ~ “Too Much” Is Not A Blessing – It Is A Curse

~ WFWTAH-NWTAE-WTINRC-WIT ~ We Flourish When Things Are Hard – Not When They Are Easy – When There Is No Real Challenges – We Invent Them

~ YLNFS-LSMT-GLRTPODMUQ-SW-BL-I-M-M-B-BIFTTTIL ~ You Learn Nothing From Success – Like So Many Things – Good Luck Reaches The Point Of Declining Marginal Utility Quickly – Starting With – Bad Luck – Is – Much – Much – Better – Because It’s Failure That Teaches The Important Lessons

~ BWHWMOPFTIFTATST?-A-‘LT’-O-‘DT’ ~ But What Happens When Millions Of People Find Themselves In Financial Trouble At The Same Time? – A – “Liquidity Trap” – or – “Debt Trap”

~ RTLTBGTCTD-TGWTAC-IWTBBIH-TBWSTUTMTIL-I-TBHRC-BPOLTEO ~ Rather Than Let The Banks Get The Comeuppance They Deserved – The Government Wrote Them A Check – It Was The Biggest Bailout In History – The Banks Were Supposed To Use The Money To Increase Lending – Instead – The Banks Had Reduced Credit – By Paying Off Loans To Each Other

~ CW-TAHWL-TAHTFH-BCEABOOEDA ~ Corrections Work – They Are How We Learn – They Are How The Future Happens – By Culling Error And Backing Out Of Dead-End Alleyways

~ CCNBE-CAHWA-‘TMOAGT’-A-TLTA-P-D-A-D-TWTCWB ~ Corrections Can Never Be Eliminated – Corrections Are How We Avoid – “Too Much Of A Good Thing” – And – The Longer They Are – Prevented – Delayed – And – Dodged – The Worse The Corrections Will Be

~ M-ITWC ~ Methane – Is The Wild Card

~ TI-FAIISP-STALTOW ~ The Internet – For All Its Information Shovelling Power – Seems To Add Little To Our Wealth

~ ME-HGVR-B-TIDNSTHLTAGUIP ~ Many Entrepreneurs – Have Gotten Very Rich – But – The Internet Does Not Seem To Have Led To A General Uptick In Prosperity

~ WUTWW-HE-E-A-SM-N-TMIMBPWNBAS ~ What Used To Work Was – Hard Effort – Education – And – Saving Money – Now – The Money Is Made By People Who Never Break A Sweat

~ TFWF-Z-I-R ~ The French Word For – Zombie – Is – Rentier

~ TZBI ~ The Zombie Banking Industry

~ AFE-I-TC-TU-A-TU-TNLF-NWSFPAFOI ~ A Free Economy Is – Too Chancy – Too Unforgiving – And – Too Uncontrollable – To Nurture Lifelong Friendships – No Wonder So Few People Are Fond Of It

~ TZLOFEO-WSNASD-TMTRCASTRT-AHEOTOHONSRTS ~ The Zombies Look Out For Each Other – With Safety Nets And Sweetheart Deals – They Make The Right Connections And Say The Right Things – A Healthy Economy On The Other Hand Offers No Sure Route To Success

~ GP&RD ~ Greasy Palms & Revolving Doors

~ VFV-TPCGBBMCTTR ~ Vote For Vote – The Poor Can Generally Be Bought More Cheaply Than The Rich

~ TWBZ ~ The World’s Biggest Zombie

~ MIAMP-WTM-TANMM-NMD-NMR-NME ~ Hormegeddon Is A Modern Phenomenon – Without The Masses – There Are No Mass Movements – No Mass Delusions – No Mass Revolts – No Mass Epidemics

~ GIAAEARI-FTIOT(V/C/B)PAP-O-T(U/U/H/H)F ~ Government Is Always And Everywhere A Reactionary Institution – Favoring The Interests Of The (Voting / Contributing / Backstabbing) Past And Present – Over – The (Unborn / Unknown / Helpless / Harmless) Future

~ G-HCTR-L-C-IS-W-VLFS ~ Governments – Have Come To Resemble – Large – Coercive – Insurance Schemes – With – Very Lax Financial Standards

~ C-ACOCRTV-WAATTPOM-IINBBIETPTAFI-IIBIIU-TVOCITIP ~ Civilization – A Culture Of Cooperation Rather Than Violence – Was An Adaptation That Took Place Over Millennia – It Is Not Because Barbarism Is Evil That People Turned Away From It – It Is Because It Is Unprofitable – The Virtue Of Cooperation Is That It Pays

~ ACI-TSRWI ~ As Civilization Increases – The Stakes Rise With It

MATT TAIBBI ~ THE DIVIDE ~ 2014

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~ TCOTCITCDS-OASAOHU-TOAVGOEWOTR-HBITWALT ~ The Cleaving Of The Country Into Two Completely Different States – One A Small Archipelago Of Hyperacquisitive Untouchables – The Other A Vast Ghetto Of Expendables With Only Theoretical Rights – Has Been In The Works A Long Time

~ DWCCITNCWRANSOPART-I-CWG-IS-BTORP ~ Dealing With Corporate Crime In The New Century Would Require A New Set Of Persecutorial And Regulatory Tools – Increasingly – Companies Were Growing – In Size – Beyond The Old Regulatory Parameters

~ ATBWSCSTWTOCSAAWFCIOECIAI-IWOTTNLEOHUSKORT-CAHCWBC-ANWGA-THTBAPH-TPEUB-CC ~ As The Biggest Wall Street Companies Screamed Their Way Through One Criminal Scandal After Another Without Facing Corporate Indictments Or Even Criminal Indictments Against Individuals – It Was Obvious That The Nation’s Law Enforcement Officials Had Undergone Some Kind Of Radical Transformation – Crime After Heinous Crime Was Being Committed – And Nobody Was Getting Arrested – There Had To Be A Plan Here – That Plan Ended Up Being – Collateral Consequences

~ BTSFTUTBCUWACTDWWBETCJM-TWSMACAWWSEAUENTQ ~ But They Somehow Failed To Understand That By Coming Up With A Calculus To Determine Who Was Big Enough And Important Enough To Command Jurisprudential Mercy – They Were Simultaneously Making A Calculation About Who Was Small Enough And Unimportant Enough Not To Qualify

~ TFOPBTPDAECW-AMCFS-IWBMP-ER-LQ-SM-A-STOTISIAHRAAAB ~ This Failure Of Prosecuturial Backbone Took Place During An Epic Crime Wave – A Massive Criminal Fraud Scheme – In Which Banks Mass-Produced – Extremely Risky – Low-Quality – Subprime Mortgages – And – Sold Them Off To Institutional Sucker-Investors As Highly Rated AAA Bonds

~ TSWTSLAHPKRATTNPOHBCKTHAW-BTITABTD-TREDBOPREVIHT-AD-E ~ The Situation Was Tenable So Long As Housing Prices Kept Rising And These Teeming New Populations Of Home Borrowers Could Keep Their Heads Above Water – But The Instant The Arrow Began Tilting Downward – This Rapidly Expanding Death-Balloon Of Phony Real Estate Value Inevitably Had To – And Did – Explode

~ OTBB-WBE-NEMFCIAHCTPITEF-TWTVDOSC ~ Once The Bubble Burst – Whistle-Blowers Emerged – Nearly Every Major Financial Company In America Had Chosen To Participate In This Enormous Fraud – It Was The Very Definition Of Systemic Corruption

~ DWLLMOE-ANWACTTCWETWCP-WWLMSOW-BTOFISP-AICTLROTNFPTPTSOSFOTRFNO ~ Despite What Looked Like Mountains Of Evidence – Almost Nobody With Any Connection To The Crisis Was Even Threatened With Criminal Prosecution – We Were Letting Major Systemic Offenders Walk – Bypassing The Opportunity For Important Symbolic Prosecutions – And Instead Committing The Limited Resources Of The Nation’s Financial Police To Putting The Smallest Of Small Fry On The Rack For Negligible Offenses

~ TAO-CC-SDRTWSAR-TWAAGSSOTEPIAANC ~ The Architects Of – Collateral Consequences – Seemingly Didn’t Realize They Were Starting A Revolution – They Were Accelerating A Government-Sponsored Sorting Of The Entire Population Into Arrestable And Nonarrestable Classes

~ TBAT-LBODFDC-WMFTCO-ARS-TMMFBTTOB-LRMWMOAGS-HTCAOC-TOPWAS-ABF ~ The Bank Admitted To – Laundering Billions Of Dollars For Drug Cartels – Washing Money For Terrorist-Connected Organizations – Allowing Rogue States – To Move Money Freely By The The Tens Of Billions – Letting Russian Mobsters Wash Money On A Grand Scale – Helping Tax Cheats And Other Crooks – The Only Penalty Was A Settlement – A Big Fine

~ PTBFSE-WTTRGIR-T-LIBOR-CFNEPITWWHMOBOSA ~ Probably The Biggest Financial Scandal Ever – Working Together To Rig Global Interest Rates – Through – London Interbank Offered Rate – Consequences For Nearly Every Person In The World Who Has Money Or Buys Or Sells Anything – A $1.5 Billion Fine

~ TLISTBAUEAB-T-SC ~ The Law Isn’t Supposed To Be About Unspoken Excuses And Behind-The-Scenes Calculations

~ TUPDL-‘U’&’I’-DRA-IML-ABIM ~ The Usual Political Descriptors Like – “Unfairness” And “Injustice” – Don’t Really Apply – It’s More Like A Breakdown Into Madness

~ ‘OPT’-AFSOTS-LMWP-IHNIYCBAFSAT ~ “Obstructing Pedestrian Traffic” – Arrested For Standing On The Sidewalk – Like Most White People – I Had No Idea You Could Be Arrested For Such A Thing

~ UTACDTD-ITW-TPCAYFJAA ~ Ultimately This All Comes Down To Discretion – If They Want – The Police Can Arrest You For Just About Anything

~ TGBRYNHO ~ The Greatest Bank Robbery You Never Heard Of

~ IWTPTFCC-SBISTIWPITTNE ~ It Was The Perfect Twenty-First-Century Crime – So Broad In Scale That It Was Practically Invisible To The Naked Eye

~ F-HBOTWOTD-T-STTABB-BODWQM-OOTRO-C ~ First – Hefty Bonuses On The Way Out The Door – Then – Sold Themselves To Another Big Bank – Billions Of Dollars Were Quietly Moved – Out Of The Reach Of – Creditors

~ TODWBGATPKGBABED ~ Trillions Of Dollars Were Being Gambled And The Pots Kept Getting Bigger And Bigger Every Day

~ TDTGAWSWOTW-WUITRAPC-TAIAPOBS-E-AFMOWSATUSG ~ The Deals The Government And Wall Street Worked Out That Weekend – Were Unprecedented In Their Reach And Political Consequence – Transforming America Into A Permanent Oligarchical Bailout State – Essentially – A Formal Merger Of Wall Street And The U.S. Government

~ EDOWS-MI-S-E-B-A-R-B-TOTTAOSAAITTDFNITCC ~ Every Day On Wall Street – Money Is – Stolen – Embezzled – Burgled – And – Robbed – But – The Mechanism Of These Thefts Are Often So Arcane And Idiosyncratic That They Don’t Fit Neatly Into The Criminal Code

~ WKTPP-A-PTMU-ITCOTB-AMSCADAITICPEVM ~ What Keeps The Poor Poor – And – Pushes The Money Upward – Is The Complexity Of The Bureaucracy – A Maze So Complex And Dispiriting And Irrational That It Can’t Possibly Even Be Mapped

~ ATFC-ALOLLTT-O&O-Y-BTH-B-NOTBTWC-NTSH-MA ~ About The Financial Crisis – A Legend Our Leaders Like To Tell – Over And Over – Yes – Bad Things Happened – But – None Of Those Bad Things Were Crimes – Nothing To See Here – Move Along

~ ITLIAUE-OALEPOT-ASP-LEBPI-WCOAB-I-I-MU-WHTBRCTTPN ~ If The Law Is Applied Unequally Enough – Over A Long Enough Period Of Time – At Some Point – Law Enforcement Becomes Politically Illegitimate – Whole Classes Of Arrests Become – Illegal – Improper – Morally Unenforceable – We Have To Be Really Close To That Point Now

~ TISJEETEHOMOEBODIP-B-SNQEETFAITDSMASDIJ ~ There Is Somehow Just Enough Evidence To Extract Hundreds Of Millions Or Even Billions Of Dollars In Penalties – But – Somehow Not Quite Enough Evidence To Force Any Individual To Do So Much As A Day In Jail

~ RPWGATBG-NM-HWP-IF-TBOTWTOAVEWWIALS ~ Real Police Will Go After The Bad Guy – No Matter – How Well Protected – In Fact – The Best Of Them Will Take On A Villain Even When Winning Is A Long Shot

~ TVEITALS-INATAABD-BIRE ~ There’s Value Even In Trying And Losing Sometimes – It’s Not As Tangible As A Billion Dollars – But It’s Real Enough

EDWARD BERNAYS ~ PROPAGANDA ~ 1928

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~ IWNU-1915-TGFSDTEROMMTRTPTFA-MEATPOAGB-TOWMTVM-ATSMOTWATPII ~ It Was Not Until 1915 That Governments First Systematically Deployed The Entire Range Of Modern Media To Rouse Their Populations To Fanatical Assent – Mass Enthusiasm At The Prospect Of A Global Brawl – That Otherwise Would Mystify Those Very Masses – And That Shattered Most Of Those Who Actually Took Part In It

~ N-‘PO’-SOAAFTMBM-A-NTCG-B-BETTDTAIJ ~ Now – “Public Opinion” – Stood Out As A Force That Must Be Managed – And – Not Through Clever Guesswork – But – By Experts Trained To Do That All-Important Job

~ TGAC-SLSP-TBGOAAP-NLCHBP-STTTBB ~ The Great Allied Campaign – Suddenly Legitimized Such Propagandists – The Reborn Generation Of Admen And Publicists – No Longer Common Hucksters But Professionals – Sold Their Talents To Big Business

~ ‘TMOC’-ANTTPS ~ “The Manufacture Of Consent” – A Necessity Throughout The Public Sphere

~ WAG-AMM-OTF-OIS-TISAVACEFOTCOMITIOSPOCOI ~ We Are Governed – Our Minds Molded – Our Tastes Formed – Our Ideas Suggested – There Is Consequently A Vast And Continuous Effort Going On To Capture Our Minds In The Interest Of Some Policy Or Commodity Or Idea

~ YW-IAI-PIGOBDUTMOTCU-ATCOTIP ~ Yet Whether – In Any Instance – Propaganda Is Good Or Bad Depends Upon The Merit Of The Cause Urged – And The Correctness Of The Information Published

~ TETWPSTPOAAUMSEWIP ~ The Extent To Which Propaganda Shapes The Progress Of Affairs About Us May Surprise Even Well Informed Persons

~ MPIAYFFBAESATMOHMABNMAR ~ Mass Psychology Is As Yet Far From Being An Exact Science And The Mysteries Of Human Motivation Are By No Means All Revealed

~ IYCITL-EWOWTCC-YAITGWTW ~ If You Can Influence The Leaders – Either With Or Without Their Conscious Cooperation – You Automatically Influence The Group Which They Sway

~ GM-IFIIUTFTEOATL ~ Group Mind – Its First Impulse Is Usually To Follow The Example Of A Trusted Leader

~ BWTEOTLINAH-ATHMTFI-IDSBMO-C-PW-I-WSFAWGOIOE ~ But When The Example Of The Leader Is Not At Hand – And The Herd Must Think For Itself – It Does So By Means Of – Cliches – Pat Words – Images – Which Stand For A Whole Group Of Ideas Or Experiences

~ BPUAOC-OMANO-TPCSSAWMOGE ~ By Playing Upon A Old Cliche – Or Manipulating A New One – The Propagandist Can Sometimes Swing A Whole Mass Of Group Emotions

~ HDATSWMTSMW-OBUTCTPC-T-V-L-J-M-WI-MS ~ Human Desires Are The Steam Which Makes The Social Machine Work – Only By Understanding Them Can The Propagandist Control – That – Vast – Loose-Jointed – Mechanism – Which Is – Modern Society

~ TL-WLTATAPC-WDSOITCBMTTTOI ~ The Leaders – Who Lend Their Authority To Any Propaganda Campaign – Will Do So Only If It Can Be Made To Touch Their Own Interests

~ AMECBMTAEIBEITPMAAMOS ~ A Minor Element Can Be Made To Assume Economic Importance By Being Established In The Public Mind As A Matter Of Style

~ EAAMBCIOTPIIC ~ Events And Activities Must Be Created In Order To Put Ideas Into Circulation

~ EOWPPOWTTPCS-ETPIS-CBUIOWOA ~ Every Object Which Presents Pictures Or Words That The Public Can See – Everything That Presents Intelligible Sounds – Can Be Utilized In One Way Or Another

~ IWBO-OC-TWTTDIAIMBOTTP-IWN-TOPWWETTWIATWBMSAI-IPTIUOU ~ It Will Be Objected – Of Course – That Propaganda Will Tend To Defeat Itself As Its Mechanism Becomes Obvious To The Public – It Will Not – The Only Propaganda Which Will Ever Tend To Weaken Itself As The World Becomes More Sophisticated And Intelligent – Is Propaganda That Is Untrue Or Unsocial

~ KTGIATPATPIATG ~ Keep The Government Informed About The Public And The Public Informed About The Government

~ TAMPITGUCOPITWT-IIAGDFIAO ~ The American Motion Picture Is The Greatest Unconscious Carrier Of Propaganda In The World Today – It Is A Great Distributor For Ideas And Opinions

~ ITPIBIATPOIL-IWBSMTMRTRATIOI ~ If The Public Is Better Informed About The Processes Of Its Life – It Will Be So Much The More Receptive To Reasonable Appeals To Its Own Interests

~ ITPBMIIICD-CFWMTNS ~ If The Public Becomes More Intelligent In Its Commercial Demands – Commercial Firms Will Meet The New Standards

KEN ROBINSON + LOU ARONICA ~ THE ELEMENT ~ 2009

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~ FYPCE ~ Finding Your Passion Changes Everything

~ E-TPWTTYLTDATTTYAGACT ~ Element – The Place Where The Things You Love To Do And The Things That You Are Good At Come Together

~ HWPOCAHWCATO-DLOWWEOO ~ How We Perceive Our Circumstances And How We Create And Take Opportunities – Depends Largely On What We Expect Of Ourselves

~ EIAAAYATAOTWIWYETW-ADWYOTSL-JDTTFG ~ Element Is All About Allowing Yourself Access To All Of The Ways In Which You Experience The World – And Discovering Where Your Own True Strengths Lie – Just Don’t Take Them For Granted

~ GCTAD-TACOVDSOPWDBCT ~ Great Creative Teams Are Diverse – They Are Composed Of Very Different Sorts Of People With Different But Complementary Talents

~ CTHADPACTGDSS ~ Creative Teams Have A Distinctive Personality And Come Together To Do Something Specific

~ G-SBTRIASWTFOOOTG-WMDODPTSCWOP ~ Groupthink – Since Breaking The Rules Is A Sure Way To Find Ourselves Out Of The Group – We May Deny Our Deepest Passions To Stay Connected With Our Peers

~ FTLOI ~ For The Love Of It

~ TBIYE-IINTDEEADIAD-ED-MPETLDOT-ATTCTASITLTDTTTL ~ To Be In Your Element – It Isn’t Necessary To Drop Everything Else And Do It All Day – Every Day – Many People Earn Their Living Doing One Thing – And Then Then Create Time And Space In Their Lives To Do The Thing They Love

WENDY KAMINER ~ I’M DYSFUNCTIONAL, YOU’RE DYSFUNCTIONAL ~ 1992

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~ ITHIR-WDTRATPTKOS? ~ If They’re Happy In Recovery – Why Do They Resent And Take Personally The Skepticism Of Strangers?

~ TSHTHABCAAC-RAIDOAMOE-EPTLOTFSIOHTB-TUTDPWDPCEBSBTST-IIATIT ~ The Self-Help Tradition Has Always Been Covertly Authoritarian And Conformist – Relying As It Does On A Mystique Of Expertise – Encouraging People To Look Outside Themselves For Standardized Instructions On How To Be – Teaching Us That Different People With Different Problems Can Easily Be Saved By The Same Techniques – It Is Anathema To Independent Thought

~ EPIASTTGWTD ~ Experts Package Inanities As Secrets That They’re Generously Willing To Divulge

~ ITSOR-ATYPAS-AAPS-AWIWWTMBC ~ Imagine The Slogan Of Recovery – Admit That You’re Powerless And Submit – As A Political Slogan – And What Is Wrong With This Movement Becomes Clear

~ TPSOTRMRTSTTEIA:APLTTAT&MPAMATP ~ The Phenomenal Success Of The Recovery Movement Reflects Two Simple Truths That Emerge In Adolescence: All People Love To Talk About Themselves And Most People Are Mad At Their Parents

~ YCAWAT-YCOCIWATOYO-THNVAA-YCEBSOIVAT-T-AASFT-IC ~ You Can’t Argue With A Testimonial – You Can Only Counter It With A Testimonial Of Your Own – Testimony Has No Value As Argument – You Can’t Even Be Sure Of Its Value As Testimony – Testifying – As A Substitute For Thinking – Is Contagious

~ ITSHU-AIP ~ In The Self-Help Universe – Anything Is Possible

~ IIFTSTEWWPWTUFTW ~ It Is Frightening To See The Ease With Which People Wall Themselves Up From The World

~ SWERDE(TOSTAEOAT)-TSTETANTBQ-AIVNI ~ So While Experts Routinely Disclaim Expertise (They Often Say They Are Experts Only About Themselves) – They Seem To Expect Their Authority Never To Be Questioned – And It Virtually Never Is

~ CARUTMTESLCF-WPBS ~ Confessions Are Routinely Used To Make The Experts Seem Like Common Folk

~ JSTBTPWRALBM ~ Jargon Seems To Be The Place Where Right And Left Brains Meet

~ SNI ~ Saying Nothing Inspiringly

~ S-CWFH-IA-C-CT-O-PRW-TLTQT-CPFTEB-TATOA ~ Smugness – Coupled With False Humility – Is A – Common – Central Trait – Of – Popular Religious Writers – They Like To Quote Themselves – Citing Passages From Their Earlier Books – They Are Their Own Authorities

~ ESHEDTTBI-‘QF’-RBOT ~ Even Self-Help Experts Deny That They Believe In – “Quick Fixes” – Right Before Offering Them

~ SHCMII-B-TTTROE ~ Self-Help Consumers May Idealize Intuition – But – They Tend To Rely On Experts

~ SHBMAIACT-IIBNT-A-FTIOBF ~ Self-Help Books Market Authority In A Culture That – Idealizes Individualism But Not Thinking – And – Fears The Isolation Of Being Free