Sparks

    Currently engaged in attempted coursework (sounds so much more sophisticated and adult than 'homework', doncha think?). Consequent ramping up/down of brain effort always spins off a number of tangents (#reference, tag, mark), therefore expect potential short term increase in posting.
    Those who read newest to oldest, disregard.

    Last night held 467 words before sleep claimed me. I ought to start writing before midnight in future.

    Today - yesterday, since before I began typing - marked the end of one class, except the one part of it I am not working on at this very moment. It was a relatively simple and very generously marked role-play exercise in which we each pretended to be a Library Technician dealing with difficult customer situations. I got to rant about the satanic influence of Harry Potter and also to misplace a patron's musicology conference proceedings. Oh, what fun to fit in the space of half an hour!

    There was also some activity on the secret project front, which will likely not be resolved or printed here until late November. Start counting.

A Conundrum

    3. Outline a suitable dress code for her staff. They are of all ages and both sexes.

    Are we talking about the staff collectively or individually?

Empathy

    A recent post in a transgender community which is irrelevant to this post got me thinking about empathy.
    I think empathy as it is often described - the ability to imagine oneself in the position of another, realise how one would wish to be treated and treat the other accordingly - seems to me a relatively primitive conception.
    I would say a better idea of empathy is one which entails possessing a model of the other's mental state such that one may have a reasonable understanding of the other's thoughts, feelings and desires and consequently respond to the other as they are/would wish to be responded to, rather than as oneself would wish.

    Gah. It is too late and I am too tired to be lucid... best time to try.

This post

    Let me show you it. The Alternative-Science Respectability Checklist.

    The short of it is, if you have a brilliant new theory and do not wish to be dismissed as a crank, please demonstrate that you understand what you are attempting to overthrow and the enormous weight of evidence backing it up.