The Neutral Game

“If a householder moulds himself according to the circumstances just like nature moulds Herself according to seasons and performs his Karma then only shall he acquire happiness. One who does this successfully gains in all walks of life.”  
~ Rig Veda
 
“He who would be useful, strong, and happy must cease to be a passive receptacle for [...]

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ABCs of Securitization

Narrated by David Harper, these excellent videos from Bionic Turtle illustrate the concepts and principles behind asset-backed securities (ABS) and securitization. ABS include Mortgaged-backed securities, Collateralized Debt Obligations, and many others–and are the prominent “star” of the recent financial crisis.
Although the videos are technical, they are presented in lay-man language enough for everyone to learn [...]

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Practical Wisdom

Intelligence = How To Make The Rules, Wisdom = When To Break The Rules
Barry Schwartz calls for a return to practical reasoning or wisdom using the example of hospital janitors. Quoting Aristotle: practical wisdom is the combination of moral will and moral skill. Wisdom is experiential, not inborn–it is a manifestation of behaviour shaped by [...]

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John Lennon – Critical Singer

Musician, author, and prominent activist until his untimely death in the 80s, John Winston Ono Lennon, and his thoughts,
On reality:
I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the [...]

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A World Imagined By Lennon

I heard a cover of this song recently on the radio and it suddenly made me think about the world’s issues today.
Considered one of the greatest songs of all time–and one of John Lennon’s greatest works, Imagine’s poetic lyrics written more than 30 years ago eerily still echo the same sentiments we encounter from activists [...]

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Bertrand Russell – Critical Thinker

Prominent skeptic, logician, mathematician, and historian, Betrand Russell and his thoughts on:
Bias:
A stupid man’s report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.
Skepticism:
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
Everything is vague to [...]

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Bertrand Russell and Critical Thinking

William Hare of Mount Saint Vincent University wrote a brilliant essay relating Bertrand Russell’s philosophy and ideas with critical thinking.
His abstract:
The ideal of critical thinking is a central one in Russell’s philosophy, though this is not yet generally recognized in the literature on critical thinking. For Russell, the ideal is embedded in the fabric of [...]

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The Zeitgeist Movement

Peter Joseph, author of the controversial Zeitgeist films, has recently released an orientation documentary containing the principles, concepts, and tenets that characterize the activist movement he has started. The Zeitgeist Movement is the activist arm of The Venus Project of Jacque Fresco which promotes a resource based economy as an alternative to the monetary system [...]

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