(This is the third of a four-part series.) If you have read the previous two essays and are feeling a bit more confident, it is time to put that newfound social competence to work and help your fellow partygoer. We aren’t born minglers; it’s something we pick
(This is the second in a four part series) As I mentioned in my previous essay, my go-to method of “benevolent release” was to offer my conversational partner a drink. But does that really work? I would dutifully go and get the drink and return. That unfortunately puts me
(Part one of four) Whenever I am at a cocktail party, I always find it awkward to leave a small clique of attendees. I know the purpose is to circulate or, as the technocrats label it, “mingle dynamics.” Everyone else is aware of this also; otherwise, the hostess will observe
From 2020 to 2024, cancel culture was in its most virulent form resulting in loss of livelihoods and reputation. It certainly hasn’t disappeared and cancel culture is still going strong in first-amendment-challenged Europe, but it has weakened into a free speech imbroglio in the U.S. Here
How do you describe human behavior and personality? With words, of course. And as it turns out, we have lots of them. The 100 billion Homo sapiens who have been on this planet for 50,000 years have diligently spent their time developing all sorts of words to describe all
As human beings, we are not well-equipped to be immortal. We need food, water, and air. Our biology seems to have a "use-by date" ingrained in our DNA, leading inevitably to our demise. We must also consider our psychological frailty; if a human being is isolated
Predicting the future is a fool's game; that’s why I don’t do it. “What do you mean?” you may ask. “You wrote a book about the future, in fact, a future so eonic that numbers fail to quantify the time involved.” This is true. If there
It's hard going to work every day, the modern curse of the hunter-gatherer. It is even worse when you have a bad boss. Take Biff, for example. While Biff is at work in his cubicle, his boss appears. Not known for cordiality, the boss locks eyes with
I began my previous blog post discussing the most common logical fallacy, the ad hominem attack. But rather than approaching it clinically, which was my intent, the more I wrote, the angrier I became. Ruining a person's reputation is, I believe, the worst thing you can do. I
I’ve just concluded a series on finding alternatives to the Hitler slander, the lazy man’s epithet. As I chronicled, if a person insists on making the world a slightly worse place by insulting someone, there are many other evil people to choose from besides the overexposed Adolf. Not
(This is the last part of a four-part series. See part 1, part 2 and part 3 for background.) Finally, the baddest of the bad of 1926: 3. Leon Trotsky Although not unknown, Leon Trotsky has fallen off today’s radar. Most likely, it was because he was assassinated
(This is the third part of a four-part series.) The list continues! (See part 1 and part 2 if you missed them.) Remember, this is an exercise in how evil was perceived in 1926, not now. The reputations of major figures rise and fall over the decades as each