Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

From Lionell Griffith: … if you keep doing the same thing and keep getting results contrary to your spoken objective, your real objective is the results you get.

While the above is a nice slogan, popularized by Milton Friedman and others, it is hardly applied consistently. Try, for example, to “choose” certain drugs: Psychedelic mushrooms can do more than make you see the world in kaleidoscope. Research suggests they may have permanent, positive effects on the human brain. […] This dampening of one…

Kind of an odd headline for a general readership blog? You bet. So why? Because I think there is a deeper meaning. From Plastics News. North American prices for solid polystyrene resin fell again in June amid weak demand for that material. Solid PS prices ticked down an average of 1 cent per pound, according…

Whether she intended to or not, Joan Rivers steals the show at the Drudge Report. Yow!

If humans are in fact “Hard-Wired To Drink,” then what’s the point of the endless attempts to identify and label people “alcoholics” and then subject them to various treatments and cures? I’m asking because to some it matters a great deal (to the control freaks, at least) whether people are born with certain traits or desires…

As best as I can tell, the Obama administration is doing nothing about this shit: BAGHDAD (AP) — The leader of the extremist group that seized much of northern Iraq and Syria called on Muslims worldwide on Tuesday to join the battle and help build an Islamic state in the newly conquered territory. The 19-minute…

Too busy, but this helps.  

Pianist Jack Gibbons plays Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue solo.

Two year olds get it – “mine, mine, mine” and “don’t hurt me”.

Are you for change or against it? Should change be slow – evolutionary – or fast – tipping points. And how do things evolve anyway? Will destroying elements of a system destroy the system? Suppose the Republican Party was eliminated (an occasional dream of mine) would our system survive? Would it prosper? Can you rip…

Another day, another horrifying SWAT Team atrocity. The difference is that this one made me worry that by focusing on the drug war aspects, I might be losing sight of the bigger, and more ominous picture. Here’s what happened. In a 3:00 a.m. SWAT Team raid, police broke down the door of a house to…

I have no idea whether this is true, or whether it is some kind of hoax: …Facebook data scientists tweaked the algorithm that determines which posts appear on users’ news feeds—specifically, researchers skewed the number of positive or negative terms seen by randomly selected users. Facebook then analyzed the future postings of those users over…

While it shouldn’t surprise anyone, unless something is done to stop the data miners (like massive lawsuits), your credit card purchases are soon likely to be examined by your health care providers and insurance companies. You may soon get a call from your doctor if you’ve let your gym membership lapse, made a habit of…

No, seriously: 43 People Whose Eyebrows Are So Bad They’re Actually Works Of Art Most of the eyebrows pictures really are that bad, which is saying something. I kind of liked this pair of eyebrows, though, which stand out because they really say something. Hell, if you have a good argument, put it in writing where…

The deathgod smiled. “Catch your breath quickly now, while you may,” he stated. “Breath is the least appreciated gift of the gods. None sing hymns to it, praising the good air, breathed by king and beggar, master and dog alike. But, oh to be without it! Appreciate each breath, Rild, as though it were your…

The world of course cannot be explained, but I think Burroughs came dangerously close when he divided the world into Johnsons (who mind their own business) and Shits (who do just the opposite): ‘The Johnson Family’ was a turn-of-the-century expression to designate good bums and thieves.  It was elaborated into a code of conduct.  A…

According to whoever wrote this piece for CBS Detroit, it’s a given that water is a “human right”: DETROIT (WWJ) – It’s a basic human right: water. But could the United Nations soon help the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department provide the service to struggling customers? Water department spokeswoman Curtrise Garner says it’s a possibility — but…

TonyfromOz has run the numbers on wind power in Germany. Note also that the delivered power was below even the guaranteed minimum for 1,920 hours during the year, so it could not even generate the guaranteed minimum for 22% of the year, almost one quarter of the year. That’s not the maximum power but the…

Earlier I pondered a remarkable idea from Arne Duncan and the Department of Education — that mentally retarded people should be attending college. Yes, the government is spending millions on this, and naturally, the mentally retarded are being dumped not into Harvard, Yale, or the nice colleges attended by the children of those who come up with these…