Category Archives: illusion

Scribble: Rant – No Variations on the Theme, revisited

Posted on February 20, 2021 by pendantry

The preamble to the preamble I spent three hours (!) this morning talking with ‘a’ WordPress Happiness Engineer, (to whom I shall refer as ‘HE’ and ‘they’, for reasons that will become apparent, should you actually make it that far; … Continue reading →

Posted in ... wait, what?, Communication, Computers and Internet, illusion, Phlyarology, Reblogs | Tagged , , , , , , | 18 Comments

The illusion of free will

Posted on August 31, 2020 by pendantry

First, watch this: Having watched it, you may now have an idea what the ‘many worlds’ hypothesis is about. Focusing on the Schrödinger’s Cat example: when the box is opened, the universe splits into two; one in which the cat … Continue reading →

Posted in ... wait, what?, consciousness, Core thought, illusion, Phlyarology, Science | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The paradox of expertise

Posted on June 20, 2020 by pendantry

I’ve long maintained that the deal that’s been struck by computer makers with computer users about security is very one-sided. It assumes that the user always has the nouse to deal with their end of the bargain, and that’s simply … Continue reading →

Posted in ... wait, what?, Communication, Education, Games, illusion, Phlyarology | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Seeing the real world, revisited

Posted on April 4, 2020 by pendantry

With a hat tip to Fandango’s Friday Flashback, here we are, albeit a day late, with a post of mine from eight years ago today. There’s nothing special about ‘eight years’; it’s simply that, of all the fourth of April … Continue reading →

Posted in ... wait, what?, GCD: Global climate disruption, illusion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

What you believe can affect your appetite

Posted on March 23, 2020 by pendantry

I learnt a new word today: ‘ghrelin‘. It’s a hormone produced by the stomach that regulates hunger. If you have more ghrelin in your system, you’ll tend to feel hungry; if you have less of it, then you’ll tend to … Continue reading →

Posted in ... wait, what?, Education, Health, illusion, Phlyarology, Science | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Understanding the exponential function

Posted on April 11, 2018 by pendantry

Professor Albert Bartlett famously said: The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function. One of the reasons that this is a ‘shortcoming’ is simply that the term ‘exponential function‘ is obscure to many. … Continue reading →

Posted in ... wait, what?, Communication, Education, illusion, People, Phlyarology, Strategy | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

Seeing three dimensions in two dimensions

Posted on April 1, 2018 by pendantry

Let me tell you right off the bat here that this isn’t an April Fool’s post. I promise you that. I’ve just learned from The Observation Post that April is apparently ‘National Humor Month’*; this post isn’t meant to be … Continue reading →

Posted in ... wait, what?, art, illusion, Phlyarology | Tagged , | 21 Comments

Seeing the real world

Posted on April 4, 2012 by pendantry

I seem to have hit a period of recurring themes, coming back to haunt me like a Sierpinski triangle. A boss of mine some years ago (nice chap) was adamant that he had reached a stage in his life in … Continue reading →

Posted in ... wait, what?, Environment, GCD: Global climate disruption, illusion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Big brother’s eyesight can’t be any better than ours…

Posted on July 16, 2008 by pendantry

Who is this? It’s Albert Einstein, right? OK, stand up and back off from the screen a few feet. Look again… Who is it now? … and do you think that videocamera evidence should be admissable? Thanks, Jane, for sending … Continue reading →

Posted in ... wait, what?, illusion | Tagged , | 3 Comments