Category: Articles
-
Mass surveillance and AI: no longer a needle in a haystack
The NSA’s mass surveillance programs that extend all over the globe have been a target of criticism. Even former contractors, employees, and, of course, other critics pointed out that data collection is so huge. It is big so finding some useful information is like finding a needle in a haystack. However, mass surveillance in combination…
-
Can we recognize nationalities better by faces than DNA?
Nationalism brought nothing but gas chambers and we should get rid of it. Maybe I do look like a Czech, have Czech DNA, but I couldn’t care less. I don’t care whether you are white, black, South Asian, East Asian. I assess a person by his intelligence, talents, creativity, personality and moral values. However, despite…
-
Only one Richard Dawkins? Thousand of them
Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagan, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, Stephen Hawking, Isaac Asimov. I kindly pity someone who didn’t read their books (of course, except if he or she wanted to read a true science). So, how come these popular non-fiction authors have become disgraceful when I used to have them in high esteem?…
-
Socioeconomic achievement and greed: gift and curse
From an evolutionary psychology perspective, socioeconomic achievement is often viewed as a reflection of traits developed for survival and reproductive success. The drive for resources, status, and alliances, which enhance well-being, is deeply ingrained. In modern environments like capitalism or scientific research, these traits are adaptive, fostering innovation, competition, and progress. However, they can become…
-
Cancer cure? Rather an atomic bomb!
Since I am pro-democracy, I am completely aware that the time’s need (in the 1940s) was really more useful to create an atomic bomb to deter totalitarian enemies than to find a cure for cancer. But what about allocating the costly resources and the best brains now to cure cancer? No! Cancer cure? Rather an…
-
Only secular countries are rich
Countries that are rich but not secular include Saudi Arabia (oil), Qatar (oil and gas), Kuwait (oil), United Arab Emirates (oil and trade), Brunei (oil and gas), Oman (oil), Bahrain (oil and finance), and Malaysia (natural resources and manufacturing). And that’s it. Therefore, only secular countries are rich. This article explains why religion is a…
-
Censorship, auto-censorship, and post-Snowden era
I live in a country that experienced all of this. Hardcore censorship, auto-censorship, and – finally – the post-Snowden internet era. There is an ongoing, finitely not answered question of whether there are more naive people who grew up in totalitarianism or people who grew up in a functional democracy. We can be aware of…
-
Will Putin surpass the US presidents in death toll?
We have the free, democratic, pure, clean, freedom of speech US with presidents who wouldn’t hurt a fly. No death toll. Then we have a dictator-like evil Vladimir Putin who is a war criminal par excellence. While Putin is really what he is, I want to make the case that the US is worse in…
-
How religion thwarts scientific, economic and societal progress
Iran has been involved in nuclear development for nearly 70 years. Its suspected efforts toward a weapon have been ongoing for about 30 to 40 years. Do you think religion thwarts scientific progress? It would take the Czech Republic approximately 1 to 5 years to develop a nuclear weapon, depending on access to materials and…
-
If China ruled the world
Even my occasional readers know I am a fierce critic of the USA. And why the US? Because criticizing China or Russia won’t change anything, you will only get killed. I am not saying the US doesn’t kill people, see Donald Trump at his best: “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s…