Did you know that the inventor of the polygraph/lie detector was also the creator of Wonder Woman? Did you know the lie detector is also fiction?
For the longest time I would muse that it was odd that polygraph experts weren't driven out of business by better software. I was totally surprised that the reason for this is that lie detectors are bullshit (I should say Bullshit since that is the show that made me aware of this). It is a clever idea for technology that just doesn't work.
There are a several reasons the polygraph doesn't work including: The human body is too complicated, and may give false positives. The human mind is complicated and may be responding to a word in the question, a tangent thought, or something completely unrelated which would result in a false positive. The truth is too complicated and a binary answer isn't appropriate.
In my family we were raised to believe that a man is only as good as his word. I've taken this philosophy to an extreme and nearly driven myself crazy trying to pursue the truth. I know how hard the truth is, but I can not abide a blatant lie.
The lie detector belongs next to the gadgets in kids spy kits, that work well enough as toys but are not actually practical. The only solution I see is if people start suing these reality shows that do polygraph.
These shows reinforce to the American public the false legitimacy of polygraph. Lives have been ruined by these things and someone needs to make these shows fear legal recourse. I don't generally advocate going crazy with the litigious attacks, but people trust Maury and his ilk, and he is providing the only information on the subject that many people have.
And it matters. There are states that still use polygraph in there courts and many businesses ask if applicants are willing to submit to a polygraph. Spy agencies still use them around the world.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
memenaut
While explaining for my family business I was telling my aunt (which I pronounce awwnt fyi) about my phobia to mint. When I was five I noticed something odd in my behavior; I would not eat mint even though I didn't know what it taste like. I actually forced myself to put a mint in my mouth and keep it there even though I had the urge to spit it out. Maybe I even spit it out and picked it up and put it back in my mouth, that parts a little fuzzy. What is clear is that I concluded that I liked the taste of mint and my revulsion was due to some sort of earlier trama. Years later I'm living with my dad (who I never told about the mint thing) and he tells me a story about me choking on a dinner mint.
My aunt didn't respond in anyway, wondering if she was even still in the room, I turned to look at her and her jaw was dropped. The reaction was so strong it took me a minute to connect what she said next to the story "You look for the things in yourself that others run away from."
I'm not afraid to 'go there'. I'm someone who loves to think and contemplate even when it takes me to some dark places. To me there is nothing better than realizing I didn't really understand something before or that I was wrong.
I like to put on other people's paradigms and walk around. Explore their world view a bit. As far as I know the only time I got caught up in it was when I was checking out conspiracy theorist (the mid crazy not the crazy crazy).
I sometimes explore these ideas through fiction. I create characters who think differently from myself or live in a world where there is a God or magic is real. But more often lately I have taken my storytelling skills to nonfiction where I've learned to bring people along without being so subtle it may be missed.
I hesitate to label myself a philosopher or even 'a noticer' as Mark Twain has been referred. I'm a thinker. And while it's impossible to never bullshit yourself there are a few tools that will help you if you want to explore as I do:
Know that everything is absurd. Nothing should be sacred to you to the degree that it can't be ridiculed. Laugh at it especially if you believe in it.
Know that no one is inherently better than . If you think one religion,gender or race makes people more moral, you are wrong. There are assholes of all creeds.
Know that there are multiple truths. Things are always more complicated and more simple than you would think. Everything bleeds into everything else. Everything that can be identified is part of something else and has parts within it you can't see. While something you believe may be true there are things that seem contrary that are also true
My aunt didn't respond in anyway, wondering if she was even still in the room, I turned to look at her and her jaw was dropped. The reaction was so strong it took me a minute to connect what she said next to the story "You look for the things in yourself that others run away from."
I'm not afraid to 'go there'. I'm someone who loves to think and contemplate even when it takes me to some dark places. To me there is nothing better than realizing I didn't really understand something before or that I was wrong.
I like to put on other people's paradigms and walk around. Explore their world view a bit. As far as I know the only time I got caught up in it was when I was checking out conspiracy theorist (the mid crazy not the crazy crazy).
I sometimes explore these ideas through fiction. I create characters who think differently from myself or live in a world where there is a God or magic is real. But more often lately I have taken my storytelling skills to nonfiction where I've learned to bring people along without being so subtle it may be missed.
I hesitate to label myself a philosopher or even 'a noticer' as Mark Twain has been referred. I'm a thinker. And while it's impossible to never bullshit yourself there are a few tools that will help you if you want to explore as I do:
Know that everything is absurd. Nothing should be sacred to you to the degree that it can't be ridiculed. Laugh at it especially if you believe in it.
Know that no one is inherently better than . If you think one religion,gender or race makes people more moral, you are wrong. There are assholes of all creeds.
Know that there are multiple truths. Things are always more complicated and more simple than you would think. Everything bleeds into everything else. Everything that can be identified is part of something else and has parts within it you can't see. While something you believe may be true there are things that seem contrary that are also true
Monday, January 10, 2011
believe it or not it's no ones fault
Should Sarah Palin apologize for putting crazy fuel out there with that graphic of a crosshairs on Gifford's district? No. It might be nice if this tragedy inspires her to tone down the rhetoric,but we shouldn't be holding her accountable for something that was inevitable.
Palin and her ilk are only as much to blame for the attack in in Arizona on Rep. Gifford as rap music, video games, and pornography are to blame for Virginia Tech and Columbine- not at all. Some people are just crazy and sheltering them from rhetoric and shocking entertainment will not diminish that. I spent an hour reading as much of his writings as I could and see no evidence that he is coherent in any real way. This act was not a logical conclusion to the hateful language in our politics. This was an illogical conclusion of a madman. If it wasn't political, it would have been a pop star event or in the halls of his community college.
The violent outburst in Tucson may be a reflection of our rhetoric but it isn't a symptom.
Palin and her ilk are only as much to blame for the attack in in Arizona on Rep. Gifford as rap music, video games, and pornography are to blame for Virginia Tech and Columbine- not at all. Some people are just crazy and sheltering them from rhetoric and shocking entertainment will not diminish that. I spent an hour reading as much of his writings as I could and see no evidence that he is coherent in any real way. This act was not a logical conclusion to the hateful language in our politics. This was an illogical conclusion of a madman. If it wasn't political, it would have been a pop star event or in the halls of his community college.
The violent outburst in Tucson may be a reflection of our rhetoric but it isn't a symptom.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Corporate Hissyfits
Don't buy into the corporate hissy fits. I'm talking about when a new law is passed and affected industries start raising prices or adding fees so they can 'stay competitive'. It sounds reasonable but you must consider the source. If Bank of America, Exxon, or Goldman Sachs is saying it, probably not true. If it's a community credit union or small business that isn't publicly traded, then there might be something to it.
I'm not anti-prosperity, I actually do a lot of business with Bank of America. But big companies know they have the ears of our politicians. They make sure they do. Even when someone like Obama gets a lot of donations from individuals they make sure they make bigger payouts to maintain their influence.
This raises the question of how big of a deal it is when they bitch about restrictions the same way my 5 y/o may cry a little harder when mommy is home. These companies punish their customers and hope the politicians cave before the competition figures out how to take advantage.
When a small business raises prices in response to a national law it is because they have to. They don't have the luxury of taking their customers for granted. They are not having your tax money funneled to them. They can't dump a small portion of their budget to flood the media with ads.
One of the recent lines of crap I've been hearing is about 'job killing bills'. The problem isn't a lack of jobs. There are lots of jobs overseas and/or for robots. The problem (well one of many but we'll focus for now on) is that our tax money is paying big companies to run smaller companies out of business. Tax money driving companies too small to employ robots and too local to export the work.
Smaller companies thrive on being altruistic (generally) while publicly traded companies are legally obligated to endlessly raise the value of their stock even at the expense of their customers. The stocks and subsidies give them superhuman levels of purchasing power,shelf space, and regulatory override.
I'm not anti-prosperity, I actually do a lot of business with Bank of America. But big companies know they have the ears of our politicians. They make sure they do. Even when someone like Obama gets a lot of donations from individuals they make sure they make bigger payouts to maintain their influence.
This raises the question of how big of a deal it is when they bitch about restrictions the same way my 5 y/o may cry a little harder when mommy is home. These companies punish their customers and hope the politicians cave before the competition figures out how to take advantage.
When a small business raises prices in response to a national law it is because they have to. They don't have the luxury of taking their customers for granted. They are not having your tax money funneled to them. They can't dump a small portion of their budget to flood the media with ads.
One of the recent lines of crap I've been hearing is about 'job killing bills'. The problem isn't a lack of jobs. There are lots of jobs overseas and/or for robots. The problem (well one of many but we'll focus for now on) is that our tax money is paying big companies to run smaller companies out of business. Tax money driving companies too small to employ robots and too local to export the work.
Smaller companies thrive on being altruistic (generally) while publicly traded companies are legally obligated to endlessly raise the value of their stock even at the expense of their customers. The stocks and subsidies give them superhuman levels of purchasing power,shelf space, and regulatory override.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
"The N word" isn't a word (and why nigger belongs in Huckleberry Finn)
For the longest time I was in a seemingly endless debate with one of my best friends about racism. My basic point was that it is wrong to act as if there has not been any progress made on racism when there has been. My friend would make arguments and I would make counter arguments.
He was smoking a lot of pot then and would forget the whole conversation, so we'd get into it over and over. My arguments would get stronger while he kept making the same points until he finally threw up his hands and loaned me the book he was basing most of his arguments from.
The book is titled "Racism without Racists" and it basically says that white people feel guilty for being racist so they cover it up. Which there might be some validity to, but the more I read of the book, the more full of shit I realized the author is.
As an example he implied that one woman in a survey was hiding her racism because she said that her uncle was black when in fact he wasn't her uncle he was her godfather. While to me, having a parents who CHOSE a black godfather, would imply that she was probably not a racist.
I told you that story so I could rant about something else. In the book "Racism without Racists" the author argues that in an age of color blind racism that hiding racial slurs is actually evidence of racism. Saying 'the N word' means that you are just as much a racist as someone who says 'nigger'.
Though the author is an asshole it did make me realize how stupid saying 'The N word' is. This euphemism actually takes the bite out of the word, but not in the way intended. When it is being reported that someone said 'the N word' it doesn't sound as bad as the man was ranting about 'them niggers'. I have a much more appropriate response to the man who was ranting about 'them niggers' than a guy who said the 'n word'.
In current events this is important because there is a new edition of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn that will replace the word nigger with slave to allow the book to be taught in schools.
This is HERESY! Twain is making social commentary with his book. Changing the word takes meaning out of that commentary. When Finn starts the book calling his unlikely accomplice a nigger it shows just how far Finn comes at the end of the book when he's calling him a friend.
If teachers are not competent enough to teach the material as is they should have the children read something else (like where the Red Fern Grows or My Side of The Mountain). If a teacher is worried about the parents get permission slips. It is important for the reader to hear the ugliness of the words if they are to understand the book.
Some will say it is better to edit the book and let kids read it then deny them the book. Bullshit. They are being denied the book if you nerf it. You might as well edit out the section on lynch mobs while you are at it. There are plenty of fine adventure books in classic literature that will appeal to children. Huckleberry Finn says something about our country and it makes us feel something about our country. If we aren't ready to expose our children to that don't try to sell them the diet version. Have them read Tom Sawyer an hope they read the sequel when they can handle it.
He was smoking a lot of pot then and would forget the whole conversation, so we'd get into it over and over. My arguments would get stronger while he kept making the same points until he finally threw up his hands and loaned me the book he was basing most of his arguments from.
The book is titled "Racism without Racists" and it basically says that white people feel guilty for being racist so they cover it up. Which there might be some validity to, but the more I read of the book, the more full of shit I realized the author is.
As an example he implied that one woman in a survey was hiding her racism because she said that her uncle was black when in fact he wasn't her uncle he was her godfather. While to me, having a parents who CHOSE a black godfather, would imply that she was probably not a racist.
I told you that story so I could rant about something else. In the book "Racism without Racists" the author argues that in an age of color blind racism that hiding racial slurs is actually evidence of racism. Saying 'the N word' means that you are just as much a racist as someone who says 'nigger'.
Though the author is an asshole it did make me realize how stupid saying 'The N word' is. This euphemism actually takes the bite out of the word, but not in the way intended. When it is being reported that someone said 'the N word' it doesn't sound as bad as the man was ranting about 'them niggers'. I have a much more appropriate response to the man who was ranting about 'them niggers' than a guy who said the 'n word'.
In current events this is important because there is a new edition of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn that will replace the word nigger with slave to allow the book to be taught in schools.
This is HERESY! Twain is making social commentary with his book. Changing the word takes meaning out of that commentary. When Finn starts the book calling his unlikely accomplice a nigger it shows just how far Finn comes at the end of the book when he's calling him a friend.
If teachers are not competent enough to teach the material as is they should have the children read something else (like where the Red Fern Grows or My Side of The Mountain). If a teacher is worried about the parents get permission slips. It is important for the reader to hear the ugliness of the words if they are to understand the book.
Some will say it is better to edit the book and let kids read it then deny them the book. Bullshit. They are being denied the book if you nerf it. You might as well edit out the section on lynch mobs while you are at it. There are plenty of fine adventure books in classic literature that will appeal to children. Huckleberry Finn says something about our country and it makes us feel something about our country. If we aren't ready to expose our children to that don't try to sell them the diet version. Have them read Tom Sawyer an hope they read the sequel when they can handle it.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Monday, January 3, 2011
Deadlines
Yesterday Lindsay Graham was on Meet The Press. Though he later surprised me with his revelation that he is now some kind of enviromentalist, who seeks to get off of foreign oil, he didn't surprise me with his comments on deadlines.
Dusting off some Republican talking points as to why we couldn't announce our time table in Iraq, Graham went into why we shouldn't do the same thing for Afghanistan.
Lindsay Graham is a well groomed proper boy with a girl's name, so maybe he doesn't have the relationship with deadlines most of us do. Most of us need deadlines.
I try to put a blog up every day by 10AM. That is just a general guide that no one but me (as far as I know) cares about. The baby really doesn't care about it. So I often take more time than I really need on either the blog or projects I put ahead of the blog. But when I was in art school, and had deadlines I was always taking on these huge projects and turning them in on time (Or early).
Deadlines keep us honest. Not only does it mean we will finish in a (arguably) timely manor, it means that we will set realistic expectations. Politicians tend to overpromise when there is no deadline.
It is better to surprise pesimist by exceeding their expectations than to disappoint optimist by falling short. If we set the bar low and get out, the people of Afghanistan will be much more likely to look favorably upon us, than if we continue to stay there raising the bar.
I know there are probably generals who say we need more time, but half the kids in my class would say the same thing. People tend to ask for more than what they need. That's how it works.
The deadline for withdrawl in Afghanistan will have a great affect on morale. For our troops it'll raise morale because they get to go home. For insurgents it'll lower morale because they can't claim we're imperialist pigs who want the Arkansas of the middle east.
Or better yet the 'terrorist' will try to wait us out. They'll tell themselves they're just going to lay low for a while until we leave and then they'll really show us. But most of them won't set any kind of deadline for how soon after we leave that they'll do it, so they'll just never get around to it.
Dusting off some Republican talking points as to why we couldn't announce our time table in Iraq, Graham went into why we shouldn't do the same thing for Afghanistan.
Lindsay Graham is a well groomed proper boy with a girl's name, so maybe he doesn't have the relationship with deadlines most of us do. Most of us need deadlines.
I try to put a blog up every day by 10AM. That is just a general guide that no one but me (as far as I know) cares about. The baby really doesn't care about it. So I often take more time than I really need on either the blog or projects I put ahead of the blog. But when I was in art school, and had deadlines I was always taking on these huge projects and turning them in on time (Or early).
Deadlines keep us honest. Not only does it mean we will finish in a (arguably) timely manor, it means that we will set realistic expectations. Politicians tend to overpromise when there is no deadline.
It is better to surprise pesimist by exceeding their expectations than to disappoint optimist by falling short. If we set the bar low and get out, the people of Afghanistan will be much more likely to look favorably upon us, than if we continue to stay there raising the bar.
I know there are probably generals who say we need more time, but half the kids in my class would say the same thing. People tend to ask for more than what they need. That's how it works.
The deadline for withdrawl in Afghanistan will have a great affect on morale. For our troops it'll raise morale because they get to go home. For insurgents it'll lower morale because they can't claim we're imperialist pigs who want the Arkansas of the middle east.
Or better yet the 'terrorist' will try to wait us out. They'll tell themselves they're just going to lay low for a while until we leave and then they'll really show us. But most of them won't set any kind of deadline for how soon after we leave that they'll do it, so they'll just never get around to it.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
New Years
I've come around on New Years resolutions. I didn't think much of them but my wife seems to have convinced me they are important. I don't remember what she said so I'm assuming she was naked when she won me over.
I always try to keep a little log of how much drawing I do every year with the goal of drawing at least two pictures/comic panels a day. But this year in addition to that I will attempt the following:
Finish Ron Paul's A Foreign Policy of Freedom; Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship
I've been borrowing this book from my grandpa since before Ron Paul was a household name. Because each section is so short I've been using it as a bathroom reader. The main problem is I am a slow reader but a fast pooper so I'm only about halfway through it. I'm sure at least one of the kids will recollect as an adult how I "always coming out of the bathroom ranting about how fucked up our political system is".
Finish drawing Crawlers
...Or at least what I have planned for Crawlers. Right now there are only supposed to be four or five chapters. Though I already have one intermission planned...
Publish MENTAL
In either 2008 or '09 I finished the first book of MENTAL. I have to go in and fix the links but more than that I need to get it in book form even if it is only Print-On-Demand. I would also like to get it on the Kindle.
If you noticed that I said 'the first book' and are wondering "Are there more books coming". I would have to say "Scott, did you call grandpa it's his birthday" and "maybe, eventually".
Publish NILvsDCbs
I'd like to put all my political comics and press releases from my 2010 into some form of print and donate copies to the local libraries if they'll take them.
Lose weight
I want to get back below 200. Before going to Chicago for Thanksgiving and my wife's bake-o-thon I was around 206 (though the Wii may say differently if I bother to check)
TBA
Around my birthday (in the spring) I'll say my final resolution because there is more than one way to start a new year
I always try to keep a little log of how much drawing I do every year with the goal of drawing at least two pictures/comic panels a day. But this year in addition to that I will attempt the following:
Finish Ron Paul's A Foreign Policy of Freedom; Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship
I've been borrowing this book from my grandpa since before Ron Paul was a household name. Because each section is so short I've been using it as a bathroom reader. The main problem is I am a slow reader but a fast pooper so I'm only about halfway through it. I'm sure at least one of the kids will recollect as an adult how I "always coming out of the bathroom ranting about how fucked up our political system is".
Finish drawing Crawlers
...Or at least what I have planned for Crawlers. Right now there are only supposed to be four or five chapters. Though I already have one intermission planned...
Publish MENTAL
In either 2008 or '09 I finished the first book of MENTAL. I have to go in and fix the links but more than that I need to get it in book form even if it is only Print-On-Demand. I would also like to get it on the Kindle.
If you noticed that I said 'the first book' and are wondering "Are there more books coming". I would have to say "Scott, did you call grandpa it's his birthday" and "maybe, eventually".
Publish NILvsDCbs
I'd like to put all my political comics and press releases from my 2010 into some form of print and donate copies to the local libraries if they'll take them.
Lose weight
I want to get back below 200. Before going to Chicago for Thanksgiving and my wife's bake-o-thon I was around 206 (though the Wii may say differently if I bother to check)
TBA
Around my birthday (in the spring) I'll say my final resolution because there is more than one way to start a new year
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