700 billion dollar bailout be damned. Salon MUST put Palin on the front page. Nothing else matters.

...Is that you cannot be certain about anything. I am unanimous in this!

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.

- Bertrand Russell

On the first page, I read (in reference to "gut feelings" and Eureca moments):

The evidence is substantial that these feelings do not correlate with the accuracy or quality of the thought.

I re-read the article on certainty that this article links and nowhere did I see any evidence that these "gut feelings" are useless. Instead, it was suggested that they are a biological mechanism outside of rational thinking that is somehow linked to the "subconscious." So which is it?

The second claim, about difficulty of catching someone lying, actually links with a study that shows that highly trained people (in law enforcement and psychologists studying lying) can in fact accurately predict if someone is lying. It is the untrained, average people who have difficulty distinguishing if someone is lying or not. But it is not impossible.

I'm not sure why a candidate would have to give a scientific explanation for speaking in tongues, if there were no policy implications for her/his practice or belief.

The age of the earth is relevant to the extent that certain policy-makers seek to teach religious conviction instead of science. And hearing or not hearing the voice of God is again only relevant if one makes decisions on the basis of that voice or a gut instinct in the face of conflicting hard evidence.

As you point out, we all harbor certain irrational beliefs. I am concerned that we not stigmatize the religious ones and create an anti-religious test for office to replace the religious test of Bush and his cronies.

700 billion dollar bailout be damned. Salon MUST put Palin on the front page. Nothing else matters.

Actually this article isn't about Governor Palin. It's about people whose biases cause them to adhere to foregone conclusions while ignoring obviously contradictory evidence. The article also notes that incompetent people are more likely to do this than competent people.

Actually this article isn't about Governor Palin.

Exactly. So why is Palin's picture illustrating the article? On a weekend when the blogs, the mainstream media, even the international press can talk of nothing else but the bailout, Salon has a cover story that's not about the bailout -- illustrated with a photo of Palin that has nothing to do with the article!

This is Palin Derangement Syndrome. Salon's got a real bad case of it.

Here we see presented research-based data that proves that democracy is NOT the be-all and end-all of governmental processes. People do not make voting decisions based on criteria that reflect on a candidate's ability to perform well in the position they are attempting to occupy.

Yes, I remember Winston Churchill's quote: Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

Yes, I have studied European history enough to understand that the kings who have been the greatest leaders have often also been the worst parents, and therefore their successors are often the worst kings.

I mostly prefer democracy to any other form of government that I am aware of. I just want us to be aware that it is far from an ideal institution. I want us to be aware that democracy is only as good as the choices we make when we vote.

I want us to stop acting as if it is some sacred and holy and infallible system that we are beholden to force down the throats of other nations.

It is my personal experience that decisions made in the vast majority of elections have been bad decisions. Whether it is mayor or governor of the several cities and states I have lived in, or the President of the United States, I think almost all leaders I have experienced have been poor choices. The ones who have been the best are the ones who recognize their own fallibility, and therefore tend to make the fewest mistakes. I cannot think of a single person who has been a "good leader."

OK, so what do we do now? Well, I guess we continue to stumble along with the system we have. A highly flawed system that re-elected one of the worst presidents in the nation's history.

But we need to be a lot more cynical about it.

So Robert Burton proposes that we have some sort of College Bowl to test the alleged thought processes of the candidates. Instead of oohing and ahhhing over Obama’s halo, or Palin’s hot milfness, as they’re being pitched softball questions, we would actually test their skillsets or whatnot? As if they were being interviewed for a job, as our potential employee?

In the words of Wilde: “Ah! that is clearly a metaphysical speculation, and like most metaphysical speculations has very little reference at all to the actual facts of real life, as we know them.”

It’s never going to happen. So why even bother bringing it up, other than to indulge a personal flight of fancy?

Apply it to your own selves. It is true. This writer has reached this conclusion from a psychological viewpoint. Others have reached this same truth from a philosophical starting point. Jesus and others have got here, starting from religion.

It's true! Look deep within, and think.

Think about it.

chief of neurology no less, is bound to be printed and hung up on nursing stations across the country :D or well, at least hidden in the break room to be giggled at in private.

Exactly. So why is Palin's picture illustrating the article? On a weekend when the blogs, the mainstream media, even the international press can talk of nothing else but the bailout, Salon has a cover story that's not about the bailout -- illustrated with a photo of Palin that has nothing to do with the article!

See, I could argue with you, but I actually read the article. It makes it clear that it's pointless to engage somebody with fervent convictions. If you really can't tell why it would be appropriate to put an image of Governor Palin in the article, then me explaining that she is a poster child for the righteous idiocy that infects our nation isn't going to change a damn thing.