Persecutors think we can believe things at will. That’s why they think that if only they break enough of our knuckles, or yank out enough of our teeth, we may start accepting the teachings of the Party. However, hardly anyone else thinks we can believe things at will. “I can’t believe something just because I want to.”
The logic of the matter is that since contingent effects require causes, and contingent causes require causes, there must be a first cause that is not contingent but rather has to exist.
Sending everyone to college hasn't given everyone a college education. That can't be done. It's given everyone what used to be a high school education. A very, very expensive high school education.
If evolution is driven by the survival of the individual, then it’s pretty hard to explain why anyone would sacrifice for anyone else, since any impulse to do so should have been bred out of us long ago. Theorists of “kin selection” propose a solution to the puzzle. Does it work?
Why is the Nazi analogy so overused that it loses its force?
To understand the reason, consider first that almost all of the overuse is on the Left. Opposing critical race theory is like Naziism. Believing that there are two sexes is like Naziism. Disapproving riots is like Naziism. Supporting anyone who isn’t Woke is like Naziism. Practicing faith in God is like Naziism.
Ockham’s Razor is the rule that we shouldn’t assume more kinds of things than we need to. Roughly, if a simpler explanation can do the job, then simpler is better. It’s a pretty good rule of thumb if it is used correctly, but it usually isn’t.
It’s fascinating what one can pick up purely by accident from internet search results on unrelated topics. Recently, while looking up how certain consonants are formed in the mouth, I learned something about a genre of popular music.
