Engaging Life with Courage and Intelligence
Speaking of the alignment of people, the Dutch Revolt, which started in 1566, is a prime example of the unpredictable nature of political magnetism. The Spanish Netherlands, which today consists mainly of the Netherlands and Belgium, was controlled by the House of Habsburg and the Holy Roman Emperor in 1566. The independent-minded and disunited subjects…
The first question arising from the phrase “the English Civil War” is which one? Scholars may debate what constitutes a discreet English civil war, but there have been around eleven since the Norman Conquest in 1066. Most of the civil wars were between rival barons and royal houses. A succession crisis typically sparked conflicts after…
The American Revolution was the first successful, large-scale revolt against autocratic rule. There have been small-scale examples of people who ruled themselves, but nothing on the size of the 13 American colonies. The Dutch Revolt in 1566 and the English Revolution in 1640 were uprising against oppressive autocratic rule, but both were half-measures. While they…
Note: This post was written in April 2023 I previously commented that no commonly accepted antonym existed for the word “Woke.” In fact, it is hard to understand the meaning of “Woke.” Those on the extreme Right have defensively coopted the word to refer to virtually any perceived attack on their way of life, intelligence,…
Note: This post was written in April 2023 Definition of Gaslighting: a form of psychological manipulation in which the manipulator attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in the victim’s mind. Typically, gaslighters are seeking to gain power and control over the other person, by distorting reality and forcing them to question their own judgment and…
Note: This post was written in April 2023. Human Evolution Suzana Herculano-Houzelis, a neuroscientist who specializes in the evolutionary development of brains, wrote The Human Advantage: How Our Brains Became Remarkable. In it, she explains why human brains are about 25% larger than they should be compared to other animals. Her theory is that using…