Surprised by ignorance Jul 15, 2015
I'm surprised by people who are surprised by ignorance.  Ignorance, i.e. not knowing something, is pretty common.  Everybody's ignorant about something, and a lot of people are ignorant about a lot of things.  Not everybody knows physics, or philosophy, or philology.  Our society kind of expects everyone to have a certain level of basic knowledge, i.e. you live on planet Earth, which orbits the sun, which is a star, etc.  But most things other than that are simply specialization. 

My coworker is constantly surprised by my lack of knowledge about things that have nothing to do with our job.  Whenever it comes up, it follows the same pattern: 
Me:  I didn't know that.
Her:  How could you not know that?
Me:  I just don't know it.
Her:  But didn't you learn it at some point?
Me:  If I did, I forgot it, because I don't remember everything I've ever learned.
Her:  I AM A ROBOT FEED ME ELECTRONS
I posted a comment online earlier about some knowledge I had gained regarding a video game.  Some people responded with "Thanks" or "I didn't know that".  But one guy responded with, "Everybody knows that.  How could you not know that?"  Wasn't there ever a time in this guy's life when he didn't know something?  Or was he, like my coworker, simply born with perfect knowledge of everything?  Omniscience isn't a real thing, you know. 

I guess I find it incredibly self-centered that a person can't possibly imagine a scenario in which another human lifeform doesn't have the exact same level of knowledge in the exact same arrangement at the exact moment in time as them.  Come to think of it, what I'm talking about is theory of mind, which is something that usually develops in early childhood.  Maybe the people I'm dealing with are damaged. #psychology
How not to get killed by police Jul 13, 2015
It's a bad thing when a cop kills somebody.  Let's establish that up front.  Murder is bad, whether it's justified or not.  That said, I feel like there are a few simple rules people should follow to lessen their chances of accidentally or intentionally being killed by police: 
  1. Don't play with things that look like real guns.  Whether it's a toy gun or a cell phone case that looks like a gun, you probably shouldn't pretend to carry a weapon, and you shouldn't brandish that weapon near or at a cop.
  2. Don't act aggressive near or towards a cop.  Cops are like grizzly bears.  Strong and powerful, but generally harmless unless provoked.
  3. Don't resist arrest.  You won't win.  Yes you might be treated unfairly or racially profiled, and that's not cool.  But when you fight back, you get killed.  When you run away, you get killed.
  4. Stop doing illegal things.  I agree, laws are stupid.  Certain things shouldn't be illegal.  But when you make the decision to engage in a little civil disobedience, however righteous your intentions,  you're still breaking the written law of the land, and you'll likely face the consequences of your actions.  Death isn't necessarily a consequence, but your chances of getting killed are greatly reduced if you simply don't break the law.
#law