Thursday, 8 September 2011

Yea Verily

When Moab thus became a washpot, it was far other than when it was said, "Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed."

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Your Negativity Is Your Best Feature

The Pollyanna principle (also called Pollyannaism or positive bias) describes the tendency for people to agree with positive statements describing them. The phenomenon is similar to the Forer effect. Research indicates that, at the subconscious level, our minds have a tendency to focus on the optimistic while, at the conscious level, we have a tendency to focus on the negative. This subconscious bias towards the positive is often described as the Pollyanna principle.

You're Stars For The Day

The Forer effect (also called the Barnum Effect after P.T. Barnum's observation that "we've got something for everyone") is the observation that individuals will give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically for them, but are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people. This effect can provide a partial explanation for the widespread acceptance of some beliefs and practices, such as astrology, fortune telling, and some types of personality tests.

Sunday, 28 August 2011

Lost Cause

The value of a college education
is not the learning of many facts
but the training of the mind to think.
 — Albert Einstein

Saturday, 27 August 2011

The Nurture Of Nature

Intelligence is inherited to the same extent that stupidity is.

Friday, 26 August 2011

The Emotional Subtext Of Music

Anything too silly to be said can be sung.
— George Bernard Shaw Man and Superman, act II

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

One More Mystery Explained


I wonder where that fish has gone?
You did love it so,
you treated it like a son.
And it went... where-ever I... did go.

Is it in the cupboard?
Wouldn't you like to know!
It is a most elusive fish.
That went where-ever I did go.

Oh, fishy, fishy, fishy fish!
A fish, a fish, a fishy OOOOH!
Oh, fishy, fishy, fishy fish!
That went wherever I... did go!

— Monty Python 'The Meaning Of Life'

Monday, 22 August 2011

Absurd, Farcical & Tragic

Human relationships are patterned and cross-patterned and restricted and limited and delimited and caged and freed again by the elaborate conventions, rules and games which we call civilisation. They're often absurd and farcical, and sometimes they're tragic, yet we acknowledge that they are necessary.
— Peter Greenaway

Saturday, 20 August 2011

Rough Rhymes

rough
t•rough
th•rough

d•rough•t
b•rough•t