Saturday, June 23, 2018

A Closer Look



Having recently studied the brain and human behavior, this story really caught my eye.

A scientist was doing research on the brain hoping to identify common characteristics of sociopaths (especially serial killers).  He mapped his brain and his family's along with the "killer" samples to use in the "control" group.  All of the family group was normal except for one "killer" brain -- his own!

Astonished, he went home to tell his wife.  Her response?  "I'm not surprised."  Then, he went to all of his colleagues and friends:  "You're very smart, organized, witty, a great guy at a party.  When it comes to feeling close to you, sorry."

He thought to himself:  "Well, that's interesting."  And, he then realized, "That's the response of a sociopath, all right."

 He seized on the intelligent approach: "Well, some sociopaths serve society:  Surgeons.  CEO's.  Maybe scientists." Then he researched his ancestry and found several killers among them...including Lizzie Borden!

So now, our scientist is working on what he decided to do with his newfound knowledge:  He studied the characteristics of empathy and is faking it as best as he can.

Saturday, June 2, 2018

Truth and Consquences



Remember the good old days when we had the luxury of contemplating the "end of truth"?  When the physicists were telling us that reality is indeed a collaboration between the observed and the observer?  "Not so fast" we now whine.  As we drown in a sea of lies, we cling to our lifeboat called Truth.  "Please, we need to be saved by truth."

Same for the FBI.  We oldsters remember when Hoover was busy unleashing his band of white male clones.  His targets were the "Commies" among us, the protesters, MLK.  Now we celebrate those men, desperate for their investigation to force things back in place.

It's tough being an observer in this upside down world.