“Assimilate This!” In the Star Trek movie, First Contact, Worf uttered this memorable line as he fired a phaser rifle at the Borg Collective, a species that forcibly merges humans with technology and assimilates nearly everyone it encounters. However, no one wants to be assimilated. No one wants to believe “resistance is futile.” Least of … Continue reading “Assimilate This!”
Tag: politics
We Didn’t Know
I recall part of a conversation I had with my father about the Enron fraud case in the early 2000s. Dad was a retired executive, so I asked his opinion about the CEO claiming he didn’t know what was going on. My dad told me it’s the CEO’s job to know. If one said otherwise, … Continue reading We Didn’t Know
Jenga
Most people are familiar with a game called Jenga. Players remove rectangular blocks one-by one from a tower and place them on top without collapsing the tower. The person who removes the last block successfully and places it on top is the winner. The game is over when the tower collapses under its own weight. … Continue reading Jenga
War of the Words
Once upon a time, I had a guest speaker in one of my classes who made the following point. He told us he worked with interns who would say things like, “I know what I want to write, but I just don’t know how to put it into words.” His response was, “Then you really … Continue reading War of the Words
When in the Course
I was born at the beginning of the Eisenhower era and was raised by Republican parents. Even so, they preferred JFK to Richard Nixon, so there’s that. I came of age during the Viet Nam war; however, I was too young to be drafted. Many who graduated high school before me paid a terrible price. … Continue reading When in the Course
180
We sometimes hear people say, “I’ve changed my opinion 360 degrees on that.” It’s likely they mean 180 degrees, or enough to reverse course, not spin completely around. I’m sure most just want to say they’ve changed their minds, so it’s not a big deal. However, it seems to me it’s a bigger deal when … Continue reading 180
Dualities
“Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” “If you criticize Israel, that means you are antisemitic.” “If you question the president, you must hate your country.” There are many examples. These statements represent the “either-or” fallacy. Of course, a person might not agree with everything their country (or their president) does … Continue reading Dualities
The Expendables
Once upon a time, my class watched the classic Hitchcock film, “Lifeboat,” in our first-year seminar course. The lifeboat was a microcosm of life. With severely limited resources, nine passengers on a lifeboat were faced with deciding who will live and who will die. Now, an algorithm might give a seriously injured man a lower … Continue reading The Expendables
Winners?
When he saw one of us after a concert or recital, one of my music professors would ask, “So…winners?” If our performance went well, we would answer, “Winners!” If we hesitated, he said, “Losers, then?” His expression said, “Well, you can’t win them all. Better luck next time.” We could tell he wanted us to … Continue reading Winners?
What’s the Point?
“We all are going to die,” at least according to a prominent senator. This observation leads to two conclusions, both of which are unsatisfying. One is that religion (Christianity, according to the senator) will provide “salvation” in the next life, so we don’t need to fix things in this life. The other is that no … Continue reading What’s the Point?
MurrayWorks 