Mitch Wagner

Every crazy fake conspiracy theory in the world has a counterpart that’s true. #pizzagate is nuts but Epstein and pedophile priests are real. Anti-vaxxers are nuts but the tobacco industry, crash diets and climate deniers are real.

How the Epstein Case Explains the Rise of Conspiracy Theorists

Surveillance Cameras Debunk the Bystander Effect. Richard Florida writing at The Atlantic:

It’s one of the most enduring urban myths of all: If you get in trouble, don’t count on anyone nearby to help. Research dating back to the late 1960s documents how the great majority of people who witness crimes or violent behavior refuse to intervene.

Psychologists dubbed this non-response as the “bystander effect”—a phenomenon which has been replicated in scores of subsequent psychological studies. The “bystander effect” holds that the reason people don’t intervene is because we look to one another. The presence of many bystanders diffuses our own sense of personal responsibility, leading people to essentially do nothing and wait for someone else to jump in….

Previous studies were based on artificial laboratory conditions, but a new study published this year in American Psychologist looked at real emergencies around the world, as recorded by surveillance cameras.

The study finds that in nine out of 10 incidents, at least one bystander intervened, with an average of 3.8 interveners….

Instead of more bystanders creating an immobilizing “bystander effect,” the study actually found the more bystanders there were, the more likely it was that at least someone would intervene to help. This is a powerful corrective to the common perception of “stranger danger” and the “unknown other.” It suggests that people are willing to self-police to protect their communities and others. That’s in line with the research of urban criminologist Patrick Sharkey, who finds that stronger neighborhood organizations, not a higher quantity of policing, have fueled the Great Crime Decline.

I Can’t Stop Winning!

Now that a decade has passed, I thought I would have some Yoda-like business wisdom to impart, but I don’t. It feels just like last year. The journey of 10,000 steps begins with 9,999 steps!

My grandpa sometimes said “you have to help your fate along,” and I always liked this worldview very much, for the way it bolted a work ethic onto fatalism. Things happen, but you can always take credit for tenacity.

A one-person business is an exercise in long-term anxiety management, so I would say if you are already an anxious person, go ahead and start a business. You’re not going to feel any worse. You’ve already got the main skill set of staying up and worrying, so you might as well make some money.

Running an online service solo puts one in the coffin corner between the Dunning Kruger effect and impostor syndrome. On some days you feel the correct but paralyzing sense that you are in way over your head. On other days, you’ll feel like you’re surfing on waves of liquid competence, doing flips, until you destroy something important.

In between the two is a zone of narrow, focused productivity that I hope one day to find….

What does the future hold for Pinboard? Death! The bus that one day comes for us all! The skeletal, icy hand on an unprepared shoulder! Pain, a flash of light, then numbing darkness. So back up your bookmarks.

The Shrink Next Door: Marty Moskowitz, a successful New York businessman and attorney, was having personal problems, so he went to see a prominent psychiatrist, Dr. Isaac Steven “Ike” Herschkopf. That began a bizarre relationship that lasted nearly 39 years.

Good podcast series by ex-New York Times columnist Joe Nocera. Too many commercials and promos though.

Gab moved to Mastodon servers recently, leading Mastodon admins and developers struggling with the question whether to ban Gab.

There shouldn’t be any struggle. Free speech includes the right – even obligation – of the owners of platforms to block speech they find hateful. That’s a particularly easy decision for Mastodon, which is not Facebook- or Twitter-scale.

Adit Robertson on The Verge: How the biggest decentralized social network is dealing with its Nazi problem

Here’s the preview on YouTube.

Looks good! I never got into “Battlestar Galactica.” I became a Sackhoff fan watching “Longmire,” although I didn’t like the way her character was written. 📺