Saturday, July 7, 2012

One Thing Leads to Another and Before You Know It...

My plans for the day have been totally shot to hell. I was originally planning to work on campaign stuff today, but got sidetracked by the story about California approving the start of their High Speed Rail Project. That led to some Google research on the California High Speed Rail Authority, which led to some fairly detailed specs on a similar project in Brazil, which led back to further research on high speed rail technology in general, which led to yet further research on tunneling technology. Net result: No progress on the campaign today, but I would like to direct your attention to this fascinating video on how tunnels are constructed. All in all a pretty interesting if unproductive day!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Cognitive Dissonance

“Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted.

It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't fit in with the core belief.”

Frantz Fanon

We all believe that our political opponents suffer from this, but if the statement is true, then we must all constantly ask ourselves if we might not be victims of this same phenomenon. I experienced a political epiphany in 2009, and that is why I became a Libertarian. But lately I am finding that even Libertarians can be guilty of being too dogmatic at times. It seems I have become a permanent resident of the world of cognitive dissonance. I don't find this particularly disturbing. More like interesting. I take a seat every day in front of my computer and wonder, "What will I learn today?" Boy, I sure do love this internet. Marketplace of new ideas.