A bunch of small thoughts from an old notebook

1. Listen to the "autism isn't what I signed up for" episode if Death, Sex, and Money podcast. Oh god! That's the most terrifying thing I've heard recently (b/c possibility times harm is really high).

2. Apparently there are people who pretend to be soldiers, wear combat gear, etc, just around town to get discounts, praise, etc. Uh, OK. And apparently there are people who like to find these people and discover that they're lying and publicly and loudly embarrass them. Again, uh, OK. They call their crusade "Stolen Valor." Predictably, sometimes they're wrong, and they just make a scene screaming at some poor old guy who couldn't answer their impromptu inquisition to their satisfaction.

I guess this is a perfect example of all kinds of terribleness that happens on the internet, ostensibly for a noble cause, but in reality caused by people's love of feeling superior and casting out the infidel.

3. Is there something to intermittent fasting? For general health and living longer because your body cleans up all the nasty damaged pre pre pre cancerous cells?

4. I just have one sentence written down and I forget the context: "the political discourse is more dangerous than ISIS." Upon reflection... Yeah, I can see that. Like if you pull some trick to get elected but then it also lessens public trust in government, and then we fail to pass a carbon tax or something. Like, if you're trying to drive a car a thousand miles, the most dangerous thing that can happen isn't a bumpy road, it's if you let your engine degrade. Eh, this requires some kind of large scale thinking to look at relative risks of various large problems. Gosh, wish I knew someone who did that :P

5. "You have to do a hard thing in your 20s. Grad school was/is OK for me I guess." - tongue in cheek, but like, one of the real upsides of grad school is I know I've been challenging myself and haven't wasted the last 5 years, career wise.