Fact Of The Day

[Pacman000]

Not exactly a fact, but probably important:

Reality is so complex no one can understand all its nuances. We try to, & we invent frameworks to help us understand it. These frameworks are based on & supported by facts, but cannot include all the known & unknown facts of the universe. Rather, these frameworks help us select which facts are most important, allowing us to disregard the rest as outliers.

When two people using different frameworks try to discuss reality, they'll probably butt-heads.

So how do we move forward as a society? How do we stop arguing? We cannot understand everything; we'll still have to choose a framework to live by. So who's do we choose? Someone will be left out. Who will it be?

(Note: this post is a framework itself.)

[ER]

Not exactly a fact, but probably important:

Reality is so complex no one can understand all its nuances. We try to, & we invent frameworks to help us understand it. These frameworks are based on & supported by facts, but cannot include all the known & unknown facts of the universe. Rather, these frameworks help us select which facts are most important, allowing us to disregard the rest as outliers.

When two people using different frameworks try to discuss reality, they'll probably butt-heads.

So how do we move forward as a society? How do we stop arguing? We cannot understand everything; we'll still have to choose a framework to live by. So who's do we choose? Someone will be left out. Who will it be?

(Note: this post is a framework itself.)

Good post, right down my psychological alley. :-)

I remember reading Daniel Boorstin's The Creators, and he dedicated an entire chapter to how of all the concepts that play a role in reality and daily life, it was the quantification of time that presented the greatest challenge, because it presents an almost totally abstract concept, yet every person alive can feel it. The measurement of time is an monumental idea if you think about it.

[Alex]

Although Humpback Whales have a huge mouth, their throat is tiny by comparison being only wide enough to fit a man's fist down (according to something I saw on TV this morning).

[Svengoolie 3]

Or,  as RCMerchant would put it,  "About 3 months worth. "

[BoyScoutKevin]

Hindsight being 20/20, or, the 8 mistakes Paramount Pictures has made, since the new management took over in 1993.

1. absentee management.
2. mismananagement, when it was there.
3. disinvesture of CBS.
4. failure to appreciate the internet.
5. losing Msrvel to Disney.
6. shortsighted decisionmaking.
7. spinning off small screen division.
8. and underestimating talents, who then went to their competitiors, such as Universal.

Next time: we study our successes, when . . .

[AoTFan]

It is legal in South Africa to equip your car with a flamethrower to prevent car theft.

[claws]

It is legal in South Africa to equip your car with a flamethrower to prevent car theft.

I wonder why Trevor never mentions the cool stuff 

[indianasmith]

Many historians believe that Alexander the Great may have paid to have his father Philip of Macedonia assassinated.

[Svengoolie 3]

I have a painful pulled muscle in my upper right arm from a weightlifting mishap.

[BoyScoutKevin]

We study our successes, when we could/should/would study our failures, or, the case of the USFL ('83-'85) or what went wrong.

1. They did not know what they were doing.

2. They had the wrong team owners, including Donald Trump. Yes, that Donald Trump.

3. They hired the wrong people.

4. They drafted the wrong players

5. They played in the wrong cities.

6. They spent too much cash on some things.

7. And too little cash on other things.

8. They let their optimism overrule their common sense.

9. They wanted to go into direct competition with the NFL*. Both on the field and in the courts.

10. And when they did know what they were doing, they had no plan on how to do it.

Jeff Pearlman's "Football for a Buck"

*NFL also comes off badly here. More competent, but less lovable. While the USFL comes off as less competent, but more lovable. 16 LOL!s in the book, and that doesn't happen much in the non-fiction books I read.

To be continued . . .

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .
Jeff Pearlman's "For a Buck"

The writer calls Trump a "football moron." That is giving (IMHO) Trump too much credit. Fooball idiot is more likely. Idiot yesterday. Idiot today. Idiot tomorrow--most likely.

Trump may have been the lead leming off the cliff, but, he did not go alone. He had followers, or, as the writer calls them "selectively blind." Which leads to one of my most favorite sayings: "There is none so blind as he [or she] who would not see."

Knowing what they knew, there were still people who voted for Trump for President, because the other candidate was a woman. I have more respect for someone who says they won't vote for a candidate, because the candidate is a woman, then someone who makes the excuse they won't vote for a candidate, because she is too shrill or some such, which they would not apply to a male candidate.

Even with the end of the USFL, the competition for the NFL continues.
AAF (2019-)
XFL (2020-)
If the last sounds familiar, there was a XFL in 2001, which lasted for only 1 season.

Next time: in honor of the Oscars, he has a little list.

[Trevor]

It is legal in South Africa to equip your car with a flamethrower to prevent car theft.

I wonder why Trevor never mentions the cool stuff  

That was known as the Blaster. Civil rights groups here thought getting turned medium rare by a flamethrower was not right for potential car thieves  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaster_%28flamethrower%29

[Trevor]

Many historians believe that Alexander the Great may have paid to have his father Philip of Macedonia assassinated.

I hate my birth parents so much - never knew them - that I would have paid much $$$ to have them put in a hole.

[BoyScoutKevin]

And in honor of the Oscars, . . .
. . . he has a little list of films you can do without and will never be missed.
10 Worst Best Picture Oscar Winners
(USA Today 2/21/19)

10. Slumdog Millionaire
09. Shakespeare in Love
08. Out of Africa
07. The English Patient
06. Around the World in 80 Days
05. Driving Miss Daisy
04. Cavalcade
03. The Greatest Show on Earth
02. Crash
01. Broadway Melody

Your opinion may differ
As for himself. Of the 10. Seen 1. #6. Agree

Honorable mention
Green Book
If only because it beat out the critical favorite Roma and the popular favorite Black Panther for Best Picture. And there is the fact, that while the roles have been reversed, it has a certain similarity to Driving Miss Daisy, which, at least, USA Today considers one of the worst films ever to win an Oscar for Best Picture.

Next time: comic book mash-up in aisle 9

[Svengoolie 3]

I never heard this before.