dedo

Exactly. I try to consciously look at situations like a camera with telephoto lenses needed sometimes to focus, but wide angle lenses to take in the "big picture" required just as often to combat tunnel vision. I also try to look at more than one field to see if similar problems have been solved elsewhere. I think that "widening the perspective" to both history and other fields may be part of the solution to the OP's original question & may be a vital path to improving scientific progress.

I am alarmed as well. Did not know about Poland & glad they turned away from far right. Clearly there is psychopathology that is more widespread than one country. Authoritarianism is rising just as in the early 20th C. That might be an interesting thread in politics or medicine categories to discuss what is the psychopathology, how it works, & possible solutions.

Yes, & I commended someone on another thread for coming up with an idea for organized resistance. It can take time for organized resistance to work as in civil rights or women's suffrage, so the sooner it begins, the better. Also, being alert for "sudden emergencies" is prudent as that is a known technique for autocrats to consolidate power. Putin is accused of doing that. Nevertheless, although my ideology is more conservative than liberal, I believe my assessment of risk is higher than even most liberals, not from ideology, but from research of the problem behind It, which may be from cumulative factors in social norms discussed more in other threads. Currently, I put the estimated risk of SHTF at up to 90% in the 21st C., most likely to occur before 2050. That is unfortunate, because similar systems have been solved, but only with intentional action & that discussion has not even begun. PS: I was also an "exchemist" as I majored in chemistry undergraduate thinking that it would be easy before being proven wrong by physical chemistry that was anything but easy.

Did not want to stray too far off the OP's original ? as some of the "evidence" was outlined in other posts. A brief summary of evidence that the Fermi paradox is a filter to protect the galaxy from aggression includes: 1. There is a vast difference in ages between star systems. On Earth, even a 20 y difference in technology can produce a major military advantage. If alien intelligent life followed Earth evolution, then you would expect either endless war (Star Wars) or tyranny but there is no evidence for that. If aliens have visited, at least so far they are not aggressive. 2. There is evidence of a cumulative process behind group violence. The evidence is called the power law data discovered by Lewis Richardson in 1949, unfortunately mostly ignored in international relations literature & not even included in most textbooks solely devoted to theories about the "cause of war" which is unknown. Power law means there is a relationship between frequency & intensity for war, such that wars are small & frequent or rare and huge. Forest fires follow the same distribution as do earthquakes. So do other models, but these types of systems are often modeled with a computer sandpile model. Sand pours onto a sandpile and avalanches (wars) are measured that follow a power law. This implies that there may be an input process. If you look at the last two periods of global war, lumping WWI / WWII into one period of intense conflict, then the interval between "avalanches", onset to onset is 109 years with an intensity increase of about a factor of 20. If the pattern repeats, then the rough estimation of onset for WWIII is 2023 with an estimated casualty level of about 2 billion. If you model "end to beginning", or 1815 to 1914, then that puts onset for WWIII at 2044. Of course if the onset is later, intensity should be worse. Either way, it puts onset for WWIII in the 21st Century, likely sometime before 2050 meaning the "nuclear age". 3. We know FTL technology (if it exists) is much more difficult than nuclear technology. Thus, since nature often has "elegant design", it is logical that there may be a filter to protect the galaxy from aggression. Hope this is not too much detail & evidence is not proof, but it is evidence. Would prefer to be wrong & see evidence to the contrary that so far has eluded me. Also, some people just can't deal with it from denial. I have seen people used to dealing with life & death emergencies become agitated if conversation ventures in that direction, so I try to be sensitive to that as not everyone wants to discuss the "fate of the world" etc.

Since on another thread I pointed out that this admin. may have already met 2 of the 3 criteria for "dangerous leader disorder" in less than a month in office I don't think I am "blissfully unaware". However, I do always try to avoid dichotomous (black & white) thinking that can be seen in groups under pressure that some call "group think". If you watched the movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy was pressured to attack Cuba by hawks who saw that as the "only alternative". Kennedy resisted & found another way. In contrast, in the run up to the 2nd Gulf War, the same dichotomous rhetoric was noted (by me) in US officials who said things like "attacking Iraq is better than doing nothing", as if those were their only choices. Thus, I always look for more possibilities without discounting evidence (not proof) of the worst possible scenario that should be prepared for. The defenses in the US currently is more than the judiciary. The Congress is heavily influenced by public opinion & the Rep could get massacred in the midterms & even the perception of that can swing the Congress if they sense losses on the way. Scotus also does not always rubber stamp DT & will also respond to changes in public opinion or even to their own sense of morality. There may be other safeguards. Hopefully, we won't be heading for the scenario acted out in last year's movie "Civil War", but even then the tyrant lost in the end. Of course, Hollywood needs a positive emotional outcome to sell movies.

All of this could be true, & the US could be on the brink of fascism -- or not. There are many possible futures at any moment in time. Someone else noted the possibility of "JFK'd". This is a possibility & could even be a false flag if someone wanted to trick the US into attacking another country that the event could be pinned on. Or DT could do what many of his voters hoped & voted for, & just clean up waste, solve problems, & eliminate perceived Dem extremism. Unfortunately, human nature often replaces unpopular policies with even worse. The Nazis replaced the Weimar. In support of the "hoped for" category is the observation that sometimes DT backs off in response to feedback. This is a good sign & points to the possibility of reversibility. For example, the airlines developed training for controlling authoritarian captains to prevent accidents & the training worked. This suggests that authoritarianism could be reversible. If not, and popularity falls like a rock, there is a chance of impeachment. So there are many possible futures & all we can do is make educated guesses & try to contribute something positive if the opportunity arises.

I would say that science is progressing, but not in a straight line and likely not in the best way forward. This means that critical areas of science may be getting neglected because other areas are easier to generate $. A neglected area may be the soft science of human behavior. Personally, I believe the answer to the Fermi paradox is that a lot of intelligent life destroys itself before advancing to FTL because technology advances faster than the science of understanding and preventing group violence. This likely occurs in the nuclear age and protects the galaxy from aggressive cultures. Defense companies make money selling weapons, not by selling harmony. So, because we race ahead with technology with little comparative effort to understand and prevent aggression, this flaw in human pursuit of science places humanity at high risk of getting "filtered".

Saw a recipe on line that emphasized putting the eggs in already boiling water is key to ez peeling. Found this works although still add baking soda to the water that may not be needed. Found that gently lowering eggs into water with a spoon keeps them from cracking instead of just dropping the egg. Cool the eggs with tap water when they reach your desired level of "doneness", unless you want to eat a couple hot, right after cooking. Since adopting this method, eggs peel fine.

A practical example that may apply about how both the "object" and the "interaction" matter could be organizational science from the safety literature. Many organizations only focus on qualifications of "the object" and they vet people as best they can, but give little regard to the "interaction". However, the safety literature has shown that improving the "interaction" is vital to reduce error and to make the "interaction" work, both training and infrastructure of the interaction is helpful. High hazard systems like commercial aviation developed specific infrastructure and training to improve the "interaction" as a response to near misses and plane crashes especially an event that occurred in the late 1970's where a veteran captain flew his airliner into the ground when a flight engineer on the plane who knew how to save the plane could not speak up enough even to save his own life. Then the airlines trained crew to speak up and officers to listen with training called "CRM" or "Crew Resource Management". The airlines also have multiple reporting systems to enable "interaction". Personally not a pilot, but I asked the question on an airline forum which of the feedback loops in commercial aviation was the most important & the pilot responded "CRM". So your philosophy has merit in that it can encourage focus on both the object, and the interaction, as important in producing favorable outcomes.

Not sure what your question is. If it is: "Is there evidence that a major political storm is coming?" I would say yes, there are multiple lines of evidence that a storm is coming, including what is going on in the US, and other countries. What you noted in DODGE amounts to political extremism and suppression of dissent which is interesting coming from someone who tried to trumpet "freedom of speech" as his rational for making Twitter into a right wing platform that gave free reign to those that support genocide. To quote myself: "The infected are capable of any moral abomination, accusing others of what the infected does, lying about it every step of the way." There is evidence of an infection in social norms, as evidenced by statistical data that shows that wars follow the same statistical distribution as forest fires. Thus, "brush" builds up in social norms until, boom, the world burns -- unless the "infection" is treated. I believe that extreme tribalism & a form of bullying or obsession with oppression of those perceived as vulnerable are the hallmarks, which explains in part going after USAID first. There is the diagnosis given to Hitler of "DLD" or "dangerous leader disorder" marked by: suppression of dissent, grandiosity, and extreme violence (internal or external). It has been noted on another thread that this administration has met 2 of those. Putin has met all three. There is the Doomsday Clock, set at the closest setting to MN in history backed by an organization with their own journal and Nobel Laureates if that means anything. There are nuclear threats pouring out of Russia although they have toned it down recently. If you want to stray away from evidence that can be considered "science" to pseudoscience, then there is a new book about Nostradamus & Trump recently released that I only mention as it seems to suggest the Senate eventually removes him which may comfort someone a little. However, even if a prophecy was true, which most here would deride, prophecies only show "possible futures" that could be changed with effort or self awareness. I read somewhere that Hitler read about himself in Nostradamus but it did not change him unfortunately. So, in response to what I think is your question, yes there is evidence of a storm brewing. We can hope that the institutions of the US will hold, and if there is a positive outcome, then whatever occurs will stimulate high level multidisciplinary problem solving to address the cause, before it is too late.

Only had a year of college physics, but my understanding is that matter has mass which bends space time from two effects, the mass of the matter also called gravity, and the spin of the matter called frame dragging.

This is a good idea. Healthy systems change from the bottom up including democracy (that still functions), civil rights, suffragettes, & high hazard industry. Unresisted, autocratic trending actors generally get worse. So starting early is a good idea to both mitigate extreme behavior, and to get the institutions prepared to act if looks like the executive branch becomes out of control

Yes, there was an initial claim that seemed to be alarming. However, simply saying "God saved me" is not a problem as it is reasonable to say any good thing comes from God. But when it crosses into "God saved me so I can do X, Y, Z, then I believe that qualifies for the DLD diagnosis. So what was said is right on the line & it is important to watch for more of that kind of rhetoric. Would also include for the final tier (internal or external violence), "preparation for internal violence", meaning forming a new secret police or gestapo. If that begins, or is hinted at, then those tasked with protecting the country should take notice.

1&3. Right now, it is likely no where near as severe as in the TS example, since in that example, secret police likely came after dissenters. However, this admin. has been in power less than 2 weeks. So we don't know where it goes. Will it be self-limited, or progress to an attempt at full on fascism? Regarding #3, it likely comes from the same process regardless of current severity. Where the process could end was defined as one of the diagnosis given to Hitler called "DLD Syndrome" (dangerous leader disorder) consisting of a triad of 1. suppression of dissent. (your example). 2. grandiosity. 3. Violence (internal or external. So if you start hearing rhetoric claiming a grandiose vision, or mission from God, watch out. Obviously, if aggression against other countries happens or if there is violent suppression of dissent, then the end stage has arrived. I used to just think this problem was just political leaders. Now, whenever I see part of the process anywhere, especially the internet, I believe it is the same process.

If the agenda is science, can you show where? Specifically: Science is defined as the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of natural phenomena. I don't consider pushing an agenda, talking down to people, or distorting facts to be science. Teaching the known facts is a small part of science but the important part is to explain the natural world through investigation. So you have remarked on pathology in Australia. I submit that the same kind of pathology brought the right wing to power in the US. Who does it more, or who is worse, is tribal arguing that may or may not even qualify as debate. So you have noted a natural phenomenon and have even brought in a moral / spiritual measure for that behavior as evil. So do you have an idea or an opinion for the theoretical explanation for the behavior pathology you noted in Australia, or any similar pathology? If you are able to theorize that, then you have done actual science especially if you can combine your hypothesis with anyone else's. Personally have not seen it occur on the internet, so am curious what it takes to enable that, meaning real science, or investigating the unknown, to occur on the internet where the other techniques of science (experimentation, observation etc.) can't be used & all you really can do is to combine data toward some goal. So if you have a theory of this behavior pathology you observed, let us know.

Just put DEI on your post, or on your mirror, reread it periodically, & maybe you will start to understand the results of the election. Had I known more people like yourself, I might have voted for Maga too. However, congratulations, your POV & deity wannabe desire to bully others, that people like you stamped all over Dem policies including DEI, drove anyone near the middle right into the Rep voting booth

Pass on the proctoring. What DEI should mean is what I described in the way we did it. What I believe it actually became, was it got morphed into part of the political ideology of the Democratic Party enraging voters & played a major role in getting the current administration elected. Look at who ran LA. Do you really believe those people were hired on merit? The article I linked to also describes the flaws. My proctoring, I mean the ideology of derision against the current administration is celebrated, and anyone not goose stepping to that faces interrogation, straw man arguments & repeated tribal bias. So pass on answering more questions until, you state what you believe / support, or phrase a problem to solve. It is almost impossible to convince a tribe that their ideology is flawed, but there are examples of the most extreme ideologies cooperating to solve a hard problem. So if you like the latter, will try to add something. If you want to decline to answer anything & just proctor, hard pass as convincing you of anything is impossible. The desire to proctor / be a deity is part of the pathology infecting the world from my POV. It drives people like Putin to invade, & fuels the issues DEI was originally planned to resist like discrimination. But that is outside the scope of this thread. I have studied it for decades.

Maybe you could try explaining exactly what you are for as we seem to be talking past each other. I believe I gave 2 huge examples to support DEI failure including the LA fires, & the election of the current administration. Here is one more of a more general analysis of it's poor implementation: https://eric-sandosham.medium.com/the-problem-with-dei-cb81d1053543 I believe I likely support and have practiced DEI, the way it should work likely more than anyone here meaning hiring totally done on merit, without regard to race or sexual preference. Furthermore, what is practiced here the majority of the time, meaning talking down to people was rare, and was punished if it was a chronic problem. Saw two highly competent people hounded into forced retirement for that, one shown the door the next day after derision to staff on a night shift. In our work place a simple question from anyone, even the person that mopped the floor, was answered on the spot, with respect. That is a foreign concept for many if not most people. Thus, if you don't believe I supplied enough evidence for poor DEI implementation, say what you do believe. Personally, I don't think supplying even 100 examples matters to people with tribal agendas. Your agenda & the agenda of most here, is the Democratic Party. Mine, as an independent, is to solve problems & I believe the last admin. did a good job in difficult circumstances. So say what you believe, & maybe I will agree with you. Otherwise, I've said enough here & more examples won't matter. One lady on X was trying to argue a subject with me she clearly never practiced or even watched a single event, yet she just had a tribal narrative she wanted to push. More examples or evidence in that situation won't change POV. What might work, is to make the subject "how can this problem be solved", not who is right and who is wrong.

Then be clearer on what "specifics" you want. Answer: Review initial post about LA govt. hiring related to recent fires, salaries paid etc. Rep allegations all over the place for the same, including pro-crime prosecutors, but personally don't have time to track down all of them. Cannot help you if you cannot grasp my hypothesis of why DEI was done, because the Democrats correctly sensed a problem, and incorrectly attributed it to racism to be solved by DEI. Most genocides are the same race. Thus, analysis of the problem by Dems, and the solution was utterly lacking in scholarship, and driven by a political agenda. Since you sound like a Dem supporter, then the greatest harm is if this admin. / Maga, turns out to be as bad as you believe, because DEI got it elected causing Dems to force policies on US that millions considered to be abhorrent. And so just as the Weimar was replace by Nazis, Dems replaced by Maga. We can only hope this is not a repeat of history.

There is a lot of evidence that "something is wrong", and in some cases, even without evidence, intuition can sense it. Evidentiary examples include the setting of the Doomsday Clock, nuclear threats pouring out of Russia, conflicts in Ukraine & Gaza with scores of people justifying genocidal actors in these conflicts including those in the general public with no personal affiliation to a side. Getting into "what is wrong" crosses into another thread in politics meaning "War is a Disease". There is evidence in the international relations literature, almost ignored, that there is a cumulative process behind group on group conflict called the power law data, or Richardson's Law. This means the world is infected with a cumulative disease, like coronary disease, and the above examples are like angina, warning of a system approaching explosion. Power law systems are often modeled with a sandpile computer model. Sand pours onto the sandpile until avalanches (wars) occur that are small and frequent, or rare and huge. This means that the longer the period of relative peace, the worse will be the next global war. The world is in one of the most peaceful periods in history since the end of WWII, maybe the most peaceful period in history. This means the next global war will be the worst war in history. The public can sense it coming, in my opinion. So the liberals, correctly sensed danger coming, but came up with DEI as the answer. That would be like a politician trying to solve an extremely complex problem like guiding a catheter through the heart to prevent a heart attack. A problem this hard, that defied the totality of world scholars for generations, does not get solved by a small group of politicians. It requires a Manhattan project level of input.

Don't know for sure. As I said, what got my attention may not get yours. My guess is it was the utter bizarreness of the situation. I worked where the SHTF was expected, but this was so unusual it was one of those "once in your life if you're unlucky situations". Maybe that is why it made an impression. The near death experiences I believe I was saved from were the same variety. I used to blow off a friend's concern about sharks, until I got double bumped at 50 degrees (white shark). That 75 meters of praying, paddling, + the bizarre situation got my attention. Maybe you are not afraid of sharks. Who knows.

I hadn't thought of that until you mentioned it, but it reminded me of a time we were in DC seeing monuments & there was a possibility of rain that did not occur. So I wore a long black raincoat on what turned out to be a sunny day, & a cop on a horse road up to ask us questions. At first I thought he was concerned about weapons, but maybe he was concerned I would cause it to rain. Good thinking. Will consider an umbrella the next time the plants are too dry.

I don't, in a way that could convince someone else. It convinced me. My hypothesis is God wants to meet each person where we are. So what works for me, may have little meaning for you. Maybe for you, finding a new quantum theory would do it.

Not all religious invent conflicts between belief and science. I never did. In fact science is part of what lead me to religion from intense curiosity which fuels science. So I wanted to see if God was "real" by seeking God. Many people also seek religion from a personal need. That can include fear or hardship & religion helps them get through it. Studies on soldiers in combat (according to Google AI) show that soldiers who have experienced combat are more likely to practice religion. People who seek religion & have an experience they attribute to the Divine, often strengthen their faith. If you believe the Divine saved your life, that is something you never forget. I had a couple of those. Never was a soldier, but the science I studied was tested every day. We expected to have minutes or even seconds to resolve a situation weekly & on a bad day, more than once. That type of situation leads people to do whatever is necessary, anything & everything, from extreme education and training, to praying. Once I saw a looming catastrophe resolve so fast with one prayer at the end of a 12h shift, I included that in my report to the relief. The next morning when I came back on & asked if it unraveled again & the SHTF, the night guy said "no your prayer worked". Those kinds of experiences outweigh a whole mountain range of argument from anyone regardless of credentials, who spout philosophy like "confirmation bias", but who have never walked on one of those life and death roads themselves.

I think the motivation behind DEI was originally good, meaning people sensed "something is wrong" & tried to fix it. However, the solution of DEI & how it was implemented likely accomplished little & may have made things worse because it was not well researched. DEI would be like someone seeing "something is wrong" with a relative with angina, so the person stays at the Holiday Inn & prescribes supplements, instead of sending his relative to a cardiologist. Republicans like to claim DEI was just used to advance liberal ideology and cronyism. Look at the people in charge of the LA govt. & the salaries they gave each other & see an example of what Rep complain about. Of course Rep could have an even worse tribalism that DEI helped bring to power. Historically, when one party has a toxic tribal agenda, the public can choose an even worse tribe as a result. So the Weimar was replaced with the Nazis.