In none of these articles were there specific references or links to academic papers. Rather, the authors use markers of scientific authority to present their claims as “facts”.
So a thought can be a process, the outcome of a process, capacity, inchoate intention, opinion, state of beholding, state of awareness, tentative belief, or an act of contemplation. Is there a common theme to these definitions?
Why are large farms increasing? Partly because families are better able to handle the logistical and financial challenges of running big operations, thanks to labor-saving innovations that favor scale economies.
Harming others directly through hands-on action is harder on our psyches than causing harm indirectly, either through inaction or action at a remove (e.g., pulling a switch, pressing a button).
Education, healthcare, healthy food, safety, and housing: those are the basic goods governments should strive to provide for all citizens. Plus some type of safety net...
16. Expand captive breeding programs to improve genetic diversity of endangered species and develop genetically viable populations for eventual habitat return...
Authority includes the most tyrannical of masters: our past selves. Just because something was crystal clear at 25 doesn’t mean it holds water now. Just because we were passionate doesn’t mean we were right.
To think is to follow a scent, focused and determined. To think is to pursue. To wonder is to become a vessel. To wonder is to be filled.
Poor farmers often lack the resources to maintain or improve the productivity of their land. As the soil becomes depleted, they will move operations if they can – leaving a used-up landscape behind...
One out of five plant species are threatened with extinction. Almost a quarter of mammal species are endangered. The situation is just as bad or worse for reptiles (21% endangered), amphibians (30%), fish (21%), insects (22%) and mollusks (41%). Birds are doing slightly better (“just” 12% endangered). Habitat loss is the main culprit.
Reality is bigger than matters of fact. Matters of fact are a subset of reality and a product of our attention. Our attention is a product of our concerns.
Patriotism is devotion and loyalty to one’s country. Some say patriotism is the author of all sorts of ills. It easily morphs into its ugly cousin Nationalism, that bully with a superiority complex. By favoring one’s own country over others, patriotism encourages the denigration, hatred or distrust of others, making violations of human rights more acceptable.
Optimism undermines success when it’s based on magical thinking. We engage in magical thinking when we believe happy endings are the result of a will-to-success. Voila! It will happen because I Can Do It.
The tendency among mindfulness practitioners to revere masters goes hand-in-hand with appeals to authority and status that are commonplace among boosters within the movement.
One way the mindfulness movement reflects a religious sensibility is in the reverence shown towards sacred texts: the sayings of individuals thought to have achieved enlightenment.
Using practice tests as a teaching tool has been criticized for emphasizing memorization over reasoning and for being narrowly focused on knowledge goals rather than the learning process. No doubt practice tests can be misused, overused, or poorly designed. But they are also one of the most effective ways to reinforce knowledge and improve our ability to think about that knowledge.
We cannot escape risk, because we cannot stop change. So what was a safe bet before becomes a risky bet, because the variables keep shifting.
There are two ways we dehumanize others: focus on their machine-like qualities or stress their animal nature. Mechanistic dehumanization characterizes people as unemotional, cold, and rule-bound, like robots or automatons. Animalistic dehumanization portrays people as overly emotional, impulsive, and childlike.
Rewilding is typically conceived as an act of restoration: bringing back species (or their proxies) that used to inhabit an ecosystem. Like cheetahs and mammoths (well, elephants) in North America. It’s ok, because they used to be here.
Helping people in the short term may lead them to make decisions that harm them in the long run. No, this isn’t some cranky diatribe against the welfare state or an argument for tough love. It’s more a plea for activists and politicians to look beyond the intended impact of do-good laws and to seriously consider trade-offs and potential unintended consequences.