I read an article called “Digitalization is increasing the prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide“. Is it really, though? Now, fair warning, this isn’t really a post about anxiety, depression, and digitalization. It’s more about science communication and journalism. The scientists looked at Google Ngram Data, which covers about 6% of published books, to find…
Not long ago, I bought a copy of The Sunny Nihilist: A Declaration of the Pleasure of Pointlessness. I’d been browsing at my local Barnes & Noble in the philosophy section, when I ran across it. The cover caught my eye, and the title promised a view which I’m sympathetic to. I’d never heard of…
I used to be a big Bob Dylan fan. In the 90s, I nearly wore out my copies of Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits, Blood on the Tracks, Highway 61 Revisited, and The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. I never thought he was a good singer, but he had attitude and swagger. The lyrics were deep and meaningful….
I think everyone knows that X is the sexiest letter. X is the kisses part of hugs and kisses. XXX is the rating for, ahem, adult movies. No other letter carries connotations quite like X. My question is simple. Why? X is the third letter of the words sex, sexual, sexuality, sexy, etc. Are there…
Knowingness is, “a posture of always ‘already knowing’, of purporting to know the answers even before the question arises.” According to Jonathan Malesic, knowingness is a bigger problem than misinformation and echo chambers. I’m inclined to agree. Malesic makes an argument that I’ve been trying to articulate for a while now. I think I struggled…
I started as a writing tutor at a local community college about 17 years ago. I’ll never forget one of my first sessions with a student. I don’t remember what the whole essay was about, but the student was talking about the taste of blood and said it was like, “a rusty penny.” I suggested…
