Carl Abbott

Why Do Idiot Savants Run Things?

First, we should ask, “do idiot savants run things?” I’d say so according to the second definition of “idiot savant” in Merriam-Webster Dictionary, i.e., 2: a person who is highly knowledgeable about one subject but knows little about anything else. Of course, “knowledgeable about one subject” and “knows little about anything else” is relative and […]

Trust But Verify

In some ways, being a true believing Christian might hinder fulfilling Christ’s message to the world. Believers in anything, Christian or otherwise, rely on their tenets of belief to substantiate the very belief they hold. Approached this way, one has little incentive to challenge one’s own understanding. Rather, the understanding becomes the pillar of proof. […]

Are You A Beliefaholic?

I had a fine discussion with a born again Christian recently. These kinds of talks always offer fascinating food for thought. Particularly interesting was his view on global warming, and the conspiracy he thinks lies behind it. His certainty was high despite his limited knowledge of basic science. It may be that the less one […]

Sage Advice from Wall Street

They call Warren Buffett the sage of Wall Street because he is a most successful investor. His chief advice for investing is this: “Be fearful when others are bold, be bold when others are fearful”. Obviously, this advice frequently applies to life in general. It parallels chapter 73’s He who is fearless in being bold […]

Of Course It’s Alive!

The Science News report, Enter the Virosphere, covers a researcher’s discovery that shakes up the current biological paradigm. Apparently, he had actually found a gigantic virus—one so large and possessing such a peculiar mixture of traits that it is challenging the very notion of what it means to be alive. One researcher commented, “I think […]

What Am I Doing?

Chapter 56’s view that one who speaks does not know should logically include writing and thinking as well. After all, speaking, thinking and writing are all interconnected, which suggests that I don’t know what I’m talking about! So what the heck am I doing here? Why do I think and write anyway? I was born […]

I understand, but do I know?

What is the difference between understanding and knowing? Perhaps chapter 70 alludes to this… My words are very easy to understand and very easy to put into practice, yet no one in the world can understand them or put them into practice. Our cleverness at understanding far exceeds our ability to know intuitively what we […]

Just In: We’re All Nuts!

“Some mental disorders aren’t merely common—they’re the norm”, or so a recent Science News article, Rates of common mental disorders double up, reports. Note the tallest bar in the graph showing a recent prospective study of 1000 New Zealanders assessed for mental disorders eleven times between the ages of 3 and 32. No doubt, such […]

The Future is Now!

About ten years ago, humanity’s plausible future became increasingly obvious to me. I saw our advancing technology leading toward a time of plunging human population to a point where, for example, governments would support citizens during their parenting years. Now, when I travel on freeways, I eerily see a time when they will be half-empty […]

Peeking Through the Covers

The Tao Te Ching is a manual that helps us peek through biology’s covers to reveal the deeper whats and whys of reality as best it can with words. Chapter 70 acknowledges the difficulty of this… My words are very easy to understand… yet no one in the world can understand. As ancient as it […]

Innately Ethical

Chapter 38’s A man of the highest virtue does not keep to virtue and that is why he has virtue served as a model for raising my sons. Yet, given their Taoist upbringing, it is odd to see how rigidly law abiding they are at times. For example, we headed down the street to order […]

Can You Believe What You See?

The Science News report, What do you see? Emotion may help the visual system jump the gun to predict what the brain will see supports what I’ve suspected for years. Namely, our needs and fears (1) generally dictate what we see (2), even though our mind may believe otherwise. Our perception of reality is essentially […]