A Moment of Insight: Recent Episodes
The Itopite
Heylo Folks. The Itopite speaking. Sometimes writing. Let us take moments aside to take apart one or two concepts and gain insight into how stuff works, a moment at a time.
4 decades and we are still facing the challenge that is HIV. It so far has eluded our efforts to functionally destroy it. Why has every attempt at curing HIV being a flop? Let's find out.
Are bride prices as symbolic as they say? Or are they transactions between families for the purchase of a person? An interesting topic this one. Join me as I explore this from as many angles as possible within the length of the typical attention span.
Want to make a friend out of someone who doesn't like you? Are you being kind and helpful to this person but they sti won't budge? Well, stop what you're doing. There may be another way. Very briefly, I talk about a phenomenon described first by American Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin.
We've all been there, seeing ants crawl over our leftovers or cubes of sugar moments after we leave them unattended. How do these insects find our stuff even when we think we've hidden them away? Very briefly, I explain how this happens.
Ever heard a new word like, "defenestrate" and then you see it everywhere? Or maybe you just got a new shirt and you suddenly notice that style everywhere. Is it just you or did it seem to start popping out of nowhere? Very briefly, I talk about what this effect is and why it happens.
This puzzle is one of my favorites to think about, it's intricacies and it's implications for the real world. I like to think the true nature of identity; is it a fixed thing or a gradient of things. What makes a thing a thing? The Ship of Theseus explores the apparent issues with how we designate identity.
A close friend of mine would say, "We can't solve problems if we don't talk about them". I'd like to add to that by saying, it's not enough to talk about the issue, but rather to converse properly about it. The world needs healthy conversations and arguments to pave the way forward for problem solving, on both societal and personal levels. Here, I talk about some of the things we do that are barriers to healthy conversations and ways we can go around them to meet the goal of problem solving.