Random Acts of Thought

You have arrived at Jeromes space on the Web Welcome to my rambling ground. I have set up this space for a number of reasons. Firstly I am not good at keeping in touch with people. I KNOW I should write letters, make phone calls and such, but I am plain bad at it.A blog seemed a practical way of letting many people at once know how I am doing and what I am up to. Secondly I enjoy talking and thinking. This seemed like a good place to express my views on whatever came to mind.

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The Thoughtful Ape is a primate who is honestly interested in understanding the world he lives in. He is particularly interested in cognitive biases and the limits of intuition. Like most of his species he is both vain and opinionated but is interested in understanding what is true despite these faults. The Thoughtfuls Ape's opinions change and evolve with time. What is posted here reflects his opinion at the date at which it was written.

Monday, July 04, 2005

A list of bad ideas

A while back for an online forum I made a list of ideas i believe to be false but very widely held.....

In future I think I will go into more detail about why on this site.

For now, here is the list...
1) Decreasing the gap between rich and poor is a good worth pursuing for its own sake.
2)The government is a good vehicle for ensuring a fairer world.
3) Sexual behavior, particularly women's, is an excellent indicator of an individuals moral worth
4) Suffering and poverty are inherently ennobling.
5) Extreme poverty is morally superior to extreme wealth.
6) Changing your mind is a sign of weakness and an indication of a weak or indecisive character. 7) Truly great leaders make decisions from their heart. They rely on their gut. analysis is for dorks.
8) Government has a duty to protect domestic jobs from foreign competition
9) All means of reaching conclusions are equally valid. Its all a matter of perspective.
10) There is no such thing as better or worse cultures they are simply different. We must suspend all judgement in these matters.
11) To assert the superiority of one culture/socioeconomic model over another in clearly a sign of entrenched bigotry/racism
12) The best road toward moral excellence is a set of clear rules, rigidly followed.
13) Religion is neccessary for the living of a moral life.
14) All religions contain great truth. To criticise the religions of others is a sign of arrogance/ignorance.
15) Some people have a duty to readdress the wrongs committed by their ancestors on the ancestors of other.
16) The physically strong and imposing are also morally ethically and intellectually more substantial

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