Three Disturbances

[jducoeur]

I've received three pointers this morning, each of them disturbing in a different way. Three being one of Those Numbers, it seems worthwhile to pass them on. In order of receipt:

In the sca community, reabhecc posted a link to an article about the British understanding of history: a poll illustrating just how badly confused people are about what did and didn't actually happen, apparently as a result of the media treatment of history. I'm not surprised by the number of fictions that people believe did happen; I'm rather more disturbed, though, by the number of historical events that many people think didn't. It's a fine illustration of the sad state of critical thinking in modern society: many people just don't have the tools to understand what's real and what isn't.

siderea passed along a deeper and more interesting article on the relationship of religion and politics. As she says, it's a fairly long article, and deserves to be read carefully and thoughtfully. Frankly, I find it comforting to know that there are conservatives out there who are serious about the subject of religion, and just as bothered by this cynical mixing as I am.

And just to remind me that one can be disturbed in ways that are far less intellectual, laurion put up a simple pointer to one of the creepiest bits of geek humor I've seen in quite a while: instructions for Installing Linux on a Dead Badger. Yes, it's pretty much exactly what it sounds like...