“We kid ourselves that we're trying to be empathetic with the human condition from a distance, but I don't think that is it at all. It's stupid; it's a waste of time. But when the earth flexes its muscles, that's rather different. That's a powerful reminder of where we are.” ThinkingTryingHumansDifferentKidsEarthPowerfulConditionsStupidWasteDistanceMusclesWasting TimeHuman ConditionRemindersEmpathetic Author:Simon Winchester
“...academic credentials are neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for having your ideas taken seriously. If a famous professor repeatedly says stupid things, then tries to claim he never said them, there's no rule against calling him a mendacious idiot - and no special qualifications required to make that pronouncement other than doing your own homework.Conversely, if someone without formal credentials consistently makes trenchant, insightful observations, he or she has earned the right to be taken seriously, regardless of background.” IfsTryingSaidIdeasTakenSpecialConditionsStupidCallingClaimsBackgroundsObservationIdiotSufficientInsightfulProfessorsAcademicConsistentlyFormalHomeworkQualificationsStupid ThingsCredentials Author:Paul Krugman
“If you're working on better conditions for prisoners, if you make that a popular issue and you invite mainstream media to weigh in on that subject, you're going to end up with a much more regressive public-policy environment than if you approach it in a quieter way. It's not because the public is stupid, it's just that people with only a cursory interest in something are going to have a knee-jerk reaction to it. That's impossible to explain in a cable-news media... it doesn't make sense.” PeopleIfsWayEndsInterestIssuesEnvironmentImpossibleConditionsSubjectsMediaStupidPolicyApproachNewsReactionsMake SenseKneesPrisonerInvitesMainstreamCablesJerkPublic PolicyMainstream MediaNews MediaCable NewsKnee Jerk Reactions Author:Rachel Maddow
“We're still promoting stupid wasteful behavior in agribusiness - everything from ethanol production for cars to genetically modified crops. In commerce just about everything we do politically is in the service of WalMart and the systems tied to it. In transportation, we could, for instance, have compelled General Motors to produce railroad rolling stock as a condition of their bail-out, but we didn't do that. Instead, we're chasing the phantom of electric cars - and, believe me, we are going to be mortally disappointed how that works out.” BelieveStillsConditionsCarStupidProduceBehaviorProductionsWork OutInstanceDisappointedTiedElectricBelieve In MeCommerceRollingChasingCompelledPromotingMotorCropsTransportationPhantomsRailroadsBailGeneral MotorsWalmartElectric CarGenetically ModifiedEthanolAgribusiness Author:James Howard Kunstler
“You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.” ResultsConditionsStupidStupidityMaliceVillainy Author:Robert A. Heinlein