Safetogototown

  What do I do now? My earlier post offered the idea that we all have the ability to understand anything to some degree.  The major theme of the post was "Use what you got".  I did not acknowledge that there may be topics that are so baffling that their mere mention sends or brains spinning uncontrollably.  these intellectual voids can take many forms.  We could be totally unaware of the structures and constructs of a topic.  If I was knocked unconscious and transported to say Sweden I could probably cope.  I would recognize roads buses store fronts, and other familiar references that would help orient me.  I would be able to find a police officer that would likely offer assistance (The officer would be wearing some type of distinguishing uniform).  If I was transported back to a prehistoric time the unfamiliarity would paralyze me.  I would not recognize topological reference points nor would I be able to grasp any of the social hierarc...

 Lets imagine it is July and you suddenly have $10 000 to invest.  You have no debt, no desire to buy a luxury item nor a wish to travel.  You have no immediate need for the money.  Let's paint an even rosier picture and say you have substantial savings.  You conclude that you can support a high level of risk with the money.  You are not going to be foolish and through it away.  You decide to get into crypto.  What would be your first action?  Chances our you are new to crypto and like most of us you understand nothing or very little about the subject.  You recall the Super Bowl commercials for a company called FTX.  You recall some of the celebrities from the commercials.  It is time to investigate FTX.  Chances are google would be your first resource. With google you can look at search results from a specific time frame.  I searched FTX and used July 1, 2022 - July 31, 2022 as the criteria.  I picked July simpl...

  Now that the mid-term elections are all but over it is time to assess the results and look at the information that was available.  From these we can see how the public disseminated that information and how it affected the results.  If it had any affect at all.  I do intend this to be a commentary on the issues but an analysis of what decisions people made with the information available.  I only have time and space to analyze the general issues and results.   To summarize, going into the election inflation appeared to be the main issue.  the previously identified  Pew Research article states that "The economy has consistently been the top issue for voters this year.  Also the party in power has historically failed miserably in mid-term elections.  This discontent coupled with the history of mid-term elections led many to predict a "red wave".    This meant that the republicans would control the house and the senate....

  The power of information While preparing for this weeks post I came across this site  Iowa University Library   I was quickly scanning the tabs and found that they paralleled a number of thoughts I have had about information.  I was very interested in the second tab on biases.  Again, it aligns with my thinking that all information has some level of  bias.  Just because the bias exists does not mean that we discount the information.  As the author states if we discounted information based on a perceived bias we wouldn't believe anything.  The author further states that we need to believe some things in order to conduct our daily lives.  I found the entire site an excellent summary of information, misinformation and how to address it.  The authors / contributors are listed on the main page of the site.  Again excellent work. As we go into election day one of the main issues reported by pollsters is concern for the future of ou...

Books Now that I feel that I have gotten my focus back, my mind has been much more tuned to how I assess and disseminate information.  I am hoping to stay on track with this post.  My wife and I went to the movies on Friday.   We watched "Ticket to Paradise" with George Clooney and Julia Roberts.  Wow, not even through the first paragraph and I am already rambling.  The movie is not what is of interest, it was the previews.  Specifically a preview for a movie called "She Said".  It is a movie about the reporters that broke the story regarding Harvey Weinstein.  I am always skeptical when viewing movie trailers and whether or not the movie would be worth seeing.  What really sparked my interest was the phrase, "based on the book".   My immediate thought after hearing this phrase was I may not want to see the movie but I would definitely like to read the book. I cannot think of many non-fiction books that have been turned into Ho...