The Buzzword Blog #4 : Irrational

What does 'irrational' mean?

The term 'irrational' is too often just another  buzzword.  It is used very loosely, even by scientists, to imply that somebody has formed an opinion without thinking about it 'properly'.

Random Noise #12.5 : Irrational  Numbers


I'm far too rational to blog about other people's irrationality.

I'll just get on with writing my next article and leave writing about silly superstitions to others.

Random Noise #12 : Freedom of Speech and of the Press


Freedom of speech is a right and a duty.

Faced with injustice, we have both a right and a duty - a duty-right - to speak out against it.

Politically motivated censorship can only do its dirty work in absolute secrecy.  But once that censorship becomes public knowledge, it achieves the opposite of its desired effect when it amplifies and unifies the voice of outrage.

Stick It In Your Ear!

People's reports of inner mental processes are not considered to be reliable enough to validate theories.  (Some would say formulate, even.)  Such reports are only accepted in general, as when a medicine is reported by a patient to alleviate the pain of migraine.  Theories in psychology based on the detailed 'inner awareness' of phenomena are often dismissed as 'mentalese'.

It would be very useful to be able to look directly at the human brain's many operations and so discover if our 'mentalese' theories have any scientifically demonstrable validity.  Over the course of time, methods and instruments have evolved to test these theories by proxy.

The Art Of Torture

More than 28 million Americans, and many more people throughout the world, suffer from migraine headaches, one of the most debilitating of pain disorders. Symptoms like excruciating pain, visual disturbance and disorientation are often compounded by long-term emotional, physical and financial costs.

I am a migraine sufferer.  A migraine attack can trigger visual hallucinations of great beauty, but all too often accompanied by great agony.  It is absolute torture.

The Buzzword Blog #2 : What is a Buzzword?


A buzzword is a word with a vague meaning, and which is commonly used in speech or writing to express a vague idea.  The buzzword category includes words which are commonly used, and commonly over-used in bureaucratic and managerial environments.

Buzzwords give rational thinkers the impression of being used merely to impress the hearer or reader with the user's apparent knowledge.

Buzzwords should be distinguished from jargon words.  All words coined for use in science, law and the arts to express a rationally explainable meaning are jargon words.