High-octane fuel

High-octane fuel (race gas) is NOT more flammable than regular gas... it is exactly the opposite. In a high performance engine, you don't want the fuel igniting too EARLY, so you use high-octane fuel and a REALLY BIG SPARK AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME to get the most power from the explosion.

water

The fact that humans exist on Earth is NOT what makes it special. What makes Earth special is that Water exists in all 3 states: solid, liquid and gas.

Though outside of cooling a beverage, I can't think of why having water ice is so darn important. (see "snow")

Memories

Recent scientific evidence proves that memories are NOT read-only, every time you 'remember' them you change them. Memories also use lossy compression (probably 'medium quality jpeg')

Sleep

Sleep is necessary, it is when you body can focus on repairing and maintaining your body. It is also the time when your experiences are compressed into memories. Categorized, grouped, related to other similar memories.

Thinking

Thinking is something to do when there aren't any "actions" that need to be done.

Smell

Smell is actually "taste", when you "smell" something it means that you have inhaled tiny 'bits' of something. These 'bits' bounce off your nose hair, and land on the moistened surface of your sinus where they dissolve and chemoreceptors are able to judge the contents of the material. Your body is then left with the material to expel or metabolize (depending on the size/makeup of the particulate). There is a good chance that whatever you smell ends up in your blood stream.

Language

[specifically verbal] is often confused with "communicating" which is nearly impossible. Language is a process whereby thoughts (term used loosely) are converted to exhalations over two thin and flapping membranes (vocal chords). The pitch created by the vibrations are shaped by the throat, tongue and 2 more flapping membranes (lips) and are then released into the immediate environment.

These modified vibrations will occasionally enter the ear canal of a nearby person where they are focused onto a tiny membrane (which doesn't quite "flap"). These vibrations are then sent to the brain where they are translated once again into thoughts.

The overhead and multiple translations so muddles the initial "thought" that [verbal] language is almost never used for important thoughts. However it is excellent for starting fights(see 'fighting' below).

veneration of the elderly

older people often complain that nobody gives them any respect anymore. Well, it used to say something about you that you had lived that long. Now they'll let anyone get old.

Extra sensory perception

reading minds is not rocket science, our schemes and motives are rarely difficult to guess.

anger

most anger is misdirected, and thus creates more injustice and more anger

acrobatics

The most noble and spiritual thing you can do with your body is MOVE IT

Philanthropy

one cannot be a philanthropist without any money

Corruption

"absolute power corrupts absolutely".

That doesn't mean we have to keep giving the power to the corrupt.

celebrity

'celebrity' is in the eye of the 'adoring' public, the weight of which crushes more people than it elevates. Be cautious who you idealize.

worry

worrying does not keep planes in the air.

electric cars

electric cars are not any more environmentally friendly than internal combustion cars, and won't be until we stop burning coal to generate electricity.

recycling

most of the material we seperate as "recyclable" ends up in land fills because there isn't a market for post-consumer recycled material.

except aluminum

lighting

incandescent lighting revolutionized the way humans live. So did the plague, it is time to upgrade your bulbs to flourescent.

blenders

Blenders are so hard to clean they aren't worth using. It is far better to go to the smoothie shop and pay the $6.50

fruit

Fruits are the bribery to get animals to assist in seed dispersal.
if you don't plant a couple fruits trees once in a while, you aren't keeping up your end of the bargain.

law

law is not a sufficient substitute for morality.

lies

The lie is the primary building block of culture. Clothing, language and even politness are all (quite literally) veils to allow complex (mutually beneficial) social structures that wouldn't survive the raw apetites of human animals.

Travel

You can't go far enough to get away from yourself.

Vacations

Vacations should be either
(a) long enough to forget your normal routine .
- or -
(b) short enough that you don't wste any of it being BORED


if at all possible, one should always schedule a day or two off, immediately upon returning from a vacation.

teaching

it is not true that "those who cannot DO, teach" but it is equally true that NOT everyone who teaches can DO.

Whenever one endevours to "teach", regardless of the intended subject, the primary lesson the student learns is that of integrity.

or, regrettably, the lack of it.

snow

No 2 snowflakes are alike but they are all equally crappy.
snow is white dirt.
if snow has ANY redeeming qualities they are only expressed at ski resorts and in postcards.

perspective

Everyone has a perspective, ...

However, when the show is on the main stage and your seat is behind a column you shouldn't be afraid to ask others for clarity.

Having a "perspective" is not the same as having an "opinion". Opinions can be subjective, poorly thought out, and are subject to human foibles... Perspectives 'just are'.

News

there is nothing "new" about the news.

shortcuts

There are no shortcuts. If another path is legitimately shorter then it is "the right way", not a shortcut. If a way is shorter than "the right way" then there are necessarily compromises (often hidden). If you can accept those compromises then you have redefined your goals and again you have chosen "the right way" not a "shortcut".

microwaves

microwaves don't cook food, they heat the water that is inside food, thus making it hot.
Heat does not cook food, the combination of HEAT and TIME cooks food

Microwaves are exceedingly good at what they do, and are a fantastic addition to modern life.

fighting

many people believe that fighting serves no purpose. In fact, fighting serves EXACTLY the purpose of the two participants. Everybody gets hurt.

While it is possible to "win" a fight, it is exceedingly rare. Winning requires that each participant be almost identically capable of inflicting damage, and that each one possesses an honest belief that the fight is a good idea.

Otherwise it is simply 'somebody getting beat up'.

hair

hair has a purpose, but nobody knows what that purpose is.

invention

clue: if you didn't have to invent a NAME for it, then you didn't really invent it.

tardiness

Being EARLY is just as bad as being LATE, only less annoying to the person you are meeting.

Natural

human being are a part of "nature", just like cheetas, clouds, and sleep. Nothing human beings DO can be considered anything other than "natural". This includes killing, infidelity, societal stratification, pollution, deception, hording, self-destruction, and wasting of natural resources. Even politics!

None of which are unique to the human animal.

paper

paper used to be what the internet is now.

paper is over. Saying that a digital display "isn't quite the same as paper" doesn't make the trees any less dead. Get over yourself and buy a better display.

commercials

Americans are CONSUMERS, which means we buy stuff. Without commercials how would we know what to buy. Content creators insist that they must punish us with commercials when most people prefer commercial to art to the point of going to movies (or watching tv, or videos) and treating them as commercials. Buying whatever crappy sunglasses or tires happens to be featured.

even in the blogosphere... as evident in the moleskine trend...

copyright

the purpose of copyright is to reward AND FOSTER innovation. NOT to promote "squatting". If you had a good idea... you ought to be able to come up with another.

copy "right"....

not "copy wrong"

in other times and places we call it standing on the shoulders of giants. Be a giant and let your IP go... if it was ever truly yours it will come back

Science

Science is not "technology". Science does not validate good ideas, it a process by which bad ideas are discarded.

Science in no way negates the existence of a God...

children

children are NOT little grown-ups. They are not "people with limited abilities". They are not "apprentice adults". They are fully formed beings that are just plain different.

Children have a deep understanding of the Human Condition; as equally valid as any adult. They don't need adults to help them become Human beings (they already are). They need adults to show them how to be Societal beings.

discipline

discipline is over-rated, except when it is necesary.

in parenting: discipline is not the with-holding of love, it is the APPLICATION of love.

cupcakes

you cannot "borrow" a cupcake.

music

Music is the practice is artistically creating sounds to convey meaning (with varying degrees of abstraction)

Music is not a job.

war

war is the abstraction of inherent human violence into something that can be scheduled so as not to interfere with rich people's social events.

War is only necesary when Football and wrestling no longer provide adequate distraction.

War has always existed, and can't be abolished. But soon giant robots will handle all the actual fighting.

television

television doesn't make people stupid, but a lot of stupid people make television.

watching public television doesn't make you smart, but it might make you a communist.

stealing cable is only bad if you don't give it back when you're done.

technology

technology is NOT about new-fangled gadgets. A Treo650 is no more "technological" than a loom, or an atl-atl. Technology is the use and modification of materials to facilitate some process.

College

The purpose of college is to see if you can commit to something in the face of distractions over an extended period. That is why employers pay more to people with a degree. Not becuase of what they learned (or didn't learn)

learning

the best way to learn something is to TEACH... but that doesn't mean you should TEACH what you don't know.

money

contrary to popular opinion, money DOES NOT create financial stability... For every problem it solves it creates 2. That doesn't mean that money is the "root" of all evil, but it is one of the "branches".

however if you like "stuff" then you will probably need money

violence

while violence is unpleasant, it is hardly avoidable during the course of one's life span. Better to try to limit it than to avoid it.

love

nobody knows what love is... but most people THINK it is when two junior-high, rich kids commit suicide because their folks didn't want them hanging out. (Romeo & Juliette)

End of the world

At the dawn of man, the 2nd idea communicated via complex vocalizations (the same day language was invented) was an alarmist Armageddon prophecy. The 1st was a pick-up line.

guns

guns don't kill people, ideas kill people... but guns do most of the grunt work

Lending money

Loan money only when you don't mind NOT getting it back,

Doing God's work

While you may very well NEED God... God doesn't NEED you. So if you find that someone claiming to speak for God (or claiming to BE God) is issuing commands that only YOU can fulfill. It is time to seek the aid of a professional psychologist (preferably at a secure institution).