Prioritization

The Map is not the Territory

Cover of The World of Null-A, by A. E. van Vogt. 1st edition cover, via Wikipedia.org A truism does not a scientific discipline make. I last mentioned A. E. van Vogt’s Null-A novels a long time ago, noting the phrase “the map is not the territory”, which is a key concept of the Null-A universe. The phrase is actually a quote from Alfred Korzybski, in his book Science and Sanity, which formed the foundation for the school of thought known as General Semantics. Described by its

Oct 74 min read

Soul Contagion

Cartesian Flowchart The influence of René Descartes is hard to describe, and harder to demonstrate, but there are a few clues out there. Even if you discount most of his contributions to mathematics, physics, and philosophy, the phrase ‘Cogito, ergo sum’ (‘I think, therefore I am’) and the fact that we use the term ‘Cartesian geometry’ are a bit of a giveaway. With the ‘cogito’, Descartes was attempting to establish a ‘first principle’, upon which other ideas could be based.

Sep 304 min read

Eric Shaw

SpongeBob, via Wikimedia Commons I was not familiar with Eric Shaw, nor have I ever really watched SpongeBob SquarePants, though I am familiar with the characters through their impact on popular culture. According to Wikipedia, Mr Shaw is a television writer, credited with a number of episodes of SpongeBob, along with a number of other works. With that in mind, I was a bit confused when I heard the reference to Eric Shaw on Smashing Security Episode 476, in a conversation bet

Sep 234 min read

Stop Hacklore?

Hacker Silhouette, via Wikimedia Commons They want to help keep people safe. That’s a motivation I certainly support, but it’s important to be sure that your actions actually support your goal. On the 1-Dec-2025 episode of Cybersecurity Today, host David Shipley (whom I have mentioned before) talked about a new (at that time) website called Stop Hacklore! They describe themselves as “a group of current and former CISOs and security experts” who “want to offer guidance that ma

Sep 95 min read

Where’s Bobby?

Cyclospora cayetanensis, via Wikimedia Commons I was surprised to learn that Waldo is actually Wally, and that he’s only been around since 1987. I first heard of him as an adult, but always assumed that he had been around for years before that period where he appeared to be everywhere. Just like Robert F Kennedy, about whom I have written several times. Most recently, I described the changes he made to the Food Pyramid, but I have also discussed his anti-vax views and his app

Jul 294 min read

Cognitive Bias - Not Only Humans!

Artificial Intelligence, via Wikimedia Commons NOTE: An edited version of this article appeared on The Skeptic (UK). We live in a sea of cognitive biases. Everyone is affected. All of us. All the time. Psychologists study them, as do economists, cognitive scientists, and philosophers, but no one is immune to them. Skeptics need to understand them, and I suspect that most are able to rattle off a list as easily as they can a list of logical fallacies. It is essential, however,

Jul 15 min read

Canadian Shield

Scutum – Roman shield This is a shield. Not the one I wanted to show, but a shield nevertheless. I actually wanted to show an image of the coat of arms of Canada, even though it was created long after the point at which it might reasonably have been placed on an actual shield, but I stopped when I found a notice on the Governor General’s website stating that the heraldic emblems may not be reproduced without written consent. (I strongly suspect that my using that image would

Jun 244 min read

What is Neurotypical?

Da Vinci sketch of the human brain and skull (c. 1510), via Wikimedia.org NOTE: An edited version of this article appeared on The Skeptic (UK). “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Winston Churchill, 11-Nov-1947 The term “neurodiversity” has been used in recent years to describe the natural variations in human neurolo

May 275 min read

Quantum Again?

The Quantum Leap, via Wikipedia.org When I write, I often try to come up with two topics that are linked in some interesting way, and find it fun when the link is unexpected or particularly tenuous. The more unexpected the connection, the more fun it can be, particularly when I learn about something new. So, the first time I wrote about quantum computers and encryption, I discovered the band Mammút, through finding their song “Shore” while searching for more information about

Apr 223 min read

AI Minions!

Minion Sculpture – Brisbane 2024, via Wikimedia Commons Minions have a wonderful combination of traits which make them both dangerous and sweet. They want to help, but usually end up creating more problems than they solve. It seems as if their purpose in life is to be the henchmen of a villain, but they’re comically bad at it – incompetent and easily distracted, though not evil. At times, they seem almost like old stereotypes of interns – eager, but inexperienced and a bit c

Mar 114 min read

By His Bootstraps!

Cover Art, Astounding Science Fiction, October 1941, via Wikipedia.org One of my favourite stories by Robert A Heinlein , was actually written by Anson MacDonald. Early in his career, Heinlein wrote under several pseudonyms , but only one of them was “obvious”. I’m not aware of any way to link the names Lyle Monroe, John Riverside, Caleb Saunders, or Simon York to Heinlein. In contrast, knowing that Robert Anson Heinlein was, at that time, married to Leslyn MacDonald made “An

Oct 29, 20254 min read