Parasocial relationships form easily. Carefully-scripted and highly-rehearsed, people see fictional characters people on their screens from the comfort of their homes and almost naturally come to believe they really know and very much like them. People are not able to internalize that… Read More ›
Recent events, including today’s (weird, irrelevant, distraction-mechanism) announcement by Trump about colleges and “free speech zones,” warrant a few comments and reminders about free speech/censorship and about facts/options, generally. People should remember common sense and decency at every step. People… Read More ›
According to Southern mores, “bless your heart” is typically a veiled insult, despite its sympathetic denotation. “Think for yourself” has a similar, contradictory function. Think-for-yourself phraseology appears in my inbox regularly, but only when I have publicly expressed my most… Read More ›
Suggestions that something is classist, racist, or sexist, for example, are often met with dismissively hostile words. People say, “you’re thinking too hard,” “you’re looking to cause trouble,” “you can find [fill in the blank] anywhere if you look hard… Read More ›
Earlier this year and last year, Facebook started encouraging its users to garner charitable donations through its platform, especially for birthdays. In particular, on my birthday last month Facebook encouraged me to select a charity that friends could donate to… Read More ›
The topic of this blog is one that has been on my mind for sometime, but I have struggled with exactly how I want to articulate and fully develop the idea. I’m providing at least a sketch of what is… Read More ›
According to people’s behavior, little regard is generally given to notions of “truths.” “Alternative facts” have become all too common and too acceptable, fully named by Kellyanne Conway on January 22, 2017 but in full force well before this phraseology emerged…. Read More ›
