Author Archives: jackpelham

SURVEY: Your Outlook on Life

Posted on February 2, 2015 by jackpelham

What is your outlook on life? Here’s an early draft of a survey I’ve building as a pre-reading survey for the book I’m writing.  Sorry, but it’s not going to analyze your answers and give you some result—so it’s probably … Continue reading →

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A Tale of Two Believers

Posted on January 24, 2015 by jackpelham

One man derives his beliefs by taking an idea that seems valuable or desirable to him and enshrining it in multiple layers of stubborn refusal to believe anything contrary to it.  He guards it and even builds his own identity … Continue reading →

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Voices of Reason Doing More Harm than Good

Posted on January 8, 2015 by jackpelham

It does very little good to attempt to be a voice of reason in a society that is not given to sound reasoning.  In fact, in an irrational culture such as ours, reasonable commentary on particular points of religious or … Continue reading →

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Political Reform? Really?

Posted on January 7, 2015 by jackpelham

Why is there such drive amongst some people to reform the state and federal governments when there is not one city or county government in this country that is known for being non-corrupt? Do you really expect to succeed in … Continue reading →

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Pelham’s Law of Social Dissonance

Posted on January 6, 2015 by jackpelham

In a relativist culture, the more beliefs one person communicates to another, the greater the likelihood that dissonance between their conflicting beliefs will spur the listener not to like the one communicating. In a culture (or subculture) in which people … Continue reading →

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Nine Good Moves I Made in 2014

Posted on December 27, 2014 by jackpelham

Looking back on 2014, it seems I’ve done nine things in particular that are proving to have been good strategic moves for life.  Here they are, in no particular order. 1.  Throwing the football (and Frisbee) with my son, James.  … Continue reading →

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Regulating Certainty

Posted on September 10, 2014 by jackpelham

Here’s a graphical representation (below) of a model I’m currently considering.  It regards the question of how we should regulate our level of certainty on any particular belief.  The idea is simple:  We need to understand first the nature of … Continue reading →

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A Little Activist Irony

Posted on March 15, 2014 by jackpelham

What do activists do?  Well, they try to motivate others to “wake up” and change things that need changing. “And what’s ironic about that?”, you ask. What’s ironic about that is that a great many activists are attempting to bring … Continue reading →

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The Belief Box

Posted on March 5, 2014 by jackpelham

Billy has a box.  In his box is a belief.  It is both important and special—a belief to be guarded and treasured—something of which to be proud and confident. He was given the belief long ago by a highly-trusted person … Continue reading →

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Pelham’s “Hacking” Epiphanies

Posted on February 16, 2014 by jackpelham

Some paradigms disappoint because they turn out to be simply dysfunctional, while others seem to work immediately upon adoption, fulfilling our vision for them in a most satisfactory way.  But then there is a third kind of paradigm.  This sort … Continue reading →

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