This paper answers why confident idiots run the world. Cornell University published a psychological paper that explains every terrible boss, every loud influencer, and every broken corporate hierarchy. It’s called “Unskilled and Unaware of It.” they tested participants across logic, grammar, and humor to measure the gap between actual performance and self-perception. And the results are wild. participants scoring in the bottom 12th percentile consistently believed they were operating in the 62nd percentile. they were not lying. they were literally incapable of recognizing their own incompetence. the paper revealed a brutal paradox: the exact skills required to master a domain are the exact same skills required to accurately evaluate your own competence in that domain. if you lack the skill, you inherently lack the cognitive capacity to realize you are failing. this creates a dangerous systemic loop. the incompetent are blessed with absolute, blinding certainty. their brain protects them from their own ignorance, allowing them to speak first, demand authority, and never second-guess their decisions. meanwhile, the actual experts suffer the exact inverse. top performers in the study consistently underestimated their rank. because a task was easy for them, they falsely assumed it was easy for everyone else. they hesitate. they obsess over nuance. they assume they have nothing unique to add. we are biologically wired to confuse confidence with competence. the loudest person in the room gets promoted, gets funded, and gets the microphone, not because they know what they are doing, but because they are physically incapable of seeing what they don't. the only defense mechanism is building systems that stop rewarding absolute certainty and start demanding proof of work.

The "Conservative Bohemian" has a hard time finding a place to lay his head. Doesn't really fit in bourgeois conservative circles, nor in Bass Pro America, nor in the crunchy lib enclaves. Lib enclaves sometimes seem most appealing but very quickly you are remined exactly why you don't live there.

My 13 year old has a friend over and I told them to please quiet down because the baby is sleeping and he (friend) told me to shut up?? My kids all froze and my son looked at him like wtf?? And my husband who was on a call in his office was like, "Joe, I need to call you back." They're now on a walk discussing respect, kid was still smirking until my husband walked out and told him to get his shoes because they were going to go have a talk. Weird afternoon.

How should Christians approach Halloween? Christians tend to fall into four different camps when it comes to participating in Halloween: - Total abstinence - Full participation - Partial participation - Redemptive participation Some abstain from Halloween altogether. Others fully participate in the festivities, while some enjoy the family fun without participating in the glorification of evil. I believe the better alternative is redemptive participation. My mom has set this example for me for years. She uses Halloween as an opportunity to share the gospel by attaching Bible verses to candy, making Scripture signs for her front lawn, and sharing the love of Jesus with the families who come to her door. As she says, “What other time of year do you have people coming to your home and asking you for something? This is like the easiest evangelism opportunity possible.” A night associated with darkness can actually be an opportunity to shine the light of Christ.

I must confess, I find journalism a strange field. Its practitioners seem to believe they shouldn't have to answer to a boss, that they can publicly criticize their employer, and often they take their ball and go home loudly complaining when they don't get their way.

HERE WE GO.

My strongest “vibes not evidence” belief is that remote work is a cancer that’s making (most) people miserable even though it seems better in the short term.

These last six months feel like some kind of breathless void in the discourse. Most of the sharpest thinkers I know of appear to be on some kind of hiatus, or are depressed, or took a job somewhere, or are doing some kind of religious hermetic thing. Many are "going through the motions" and privately admit they are losing their direction. If you look at each person's life trajectory and whatever appears to have diminished their output as writers, artists, thinkers and so on, it all seems just personal on the surface: but I suspect it may actually be a broader kind of 'exhaustion'. Their personal difficulties in their work seem only to be manifestations of a much wider cultural exhaustion. We appear to be in a transitional era that goes on forever. Many have attempted to keep track of or to influence the general direction that culture is going in, and appeared to be doing so fairly well for a while. But by now, everyone who has attempted that task has been humbled deeply by a series of vague and inscrutable cultural shifts that have snuck in with quiet haste. The result has been total discombobulation and a wearying sense of empty instability. Nobody knows what is next, and nobody appears to be in a strong position to shape what comes next either. Our compasses are failing us. Meanwhile the publishing industry continues its spectacular death, reading itself is collapsing, and even the anthropological realities of what it means to be human are now in question. We've felt the "something's gotta give" feeling for so long that we are now numb, and any attempt at saying what will or could or might "give" now feels pointless. Building niche sideline underground IRL projects feels extraordinarily distant. Deep traditional religion appeals, but its logical endpoint is for each of us to shut up, withdraw, and embrace a life of silent devotion. And above all -- spectacle is now boring, redundant; the wider culture is tired of LOOKING and clicking and subscribing and so on. Writers are tired of marching to the 24/7 tempo of that environment as well. Burnout is the chief export of this system -- for author and reader alike. Whatever this is, it's clear to me that an era has very quietly ended and that whatever's "next" may not come at all, at least not for a long time yet.

It's literally true that for true long-term-thinkers of a conservative type -- bedding down in a deep blue state and just biting the bullet for the next 20 years might be the top-tier long-play. The libs in states like NY, NJ, IL, HI, CA, and so on are aborting all their kids. They are abdicating their place in the future. And sure, they might be importing migrants but the migrants can't hang. They are not civilization-builders or civilization-managers. Stick around, have tons of kids, run for office, and you will win and hold ground on what many present consider to be "enemy territory." Once the boomers pass on, and the abysmally-low lib TFR catches up to them, the future is realistically ours in the "blue states." This is no doubt a 100x more strategic move than moving to TN or TX or SC like every other Californian is doing -- because if you do that, you'll wake up in a newly-minted blue state with newly-minted blue state problems.

Boomers keep getting happier while literally everyone else does not

Do you have evidence to back this up? If so can you explain what “good night”, “good morning” and “good evening” are alterations of?

Attention Young Women: I am surrounded by 20ish-year-old guys who want to date and get married. They are smart, capable, hard working and cute. They're hesitant to ask girls out or don't know where to find the good ones. If you are one of the good ones, here's what you need to do. Step 1: Change your expectations about how you'll meet. You might've built a story up in your head about the first look that resembles a plot line from Gilmore Girls. It won't happen like that, and your insistence that it be instantly Instagrammable is knocking a lot of good guys out of the dating pool. Step 2: Get fit. You don't need to be a size 4, but this generation of young men is serious about stewarding their bodies and they want a woman who cares for hers. Step 3: Grow your hair out (and don't dye it blue). It may sound superficial to you, but these young men want a girl who is feminine, and long locks are an indicator that you are. Step 4: Go clean your list. You are probably too selective about who you say yes to because you evaluate a coffee offer with the seriousness of a marriage proposal. So you say "no" when he asks for your number if he's an inch too short or three years too old, or does not yet make six figures, or wants to have a farm someday or doesn't want to have a farm someday. Ditch your list. As long as he does not creep you out, if he has the guts to ask you on a date, say yes. Step 5: Sign up for any event where you know like-minded guys will be. The local Young Republicans mixer, a hiking group, a lively singles youth night at church. If you're not seeing these guys, it's because you're not situating yourself where these guys are. Change your routine. Step 6: Get a gym membership and dress modestly. That not only accomplishes step two, but it puts you in regular contact with a lot of guys who are working to better themselves. But don't set a thirst trap. Stand out by wearing workout gear that draws attention to your face, not your cleavage. Step 7: When the guy who you see every Wednesday and Friday, who has given you pointers on better form for your RDLs, asks for your number, unless you genuinely feel unsafe, give it to him. Step 8: When he calls you two days later and asks you out for coffee or dinner, say yes. Even if you don't "like" him. This matters for two reasons. 1. You are conditioning him to initiate, and that will benefit you if you date long-term, or benefit other women he asks out in the future because you conditioned him to associate the risk of asking with the reward of a "yes." Hopefully some other girl is building up your future husband's confidence by saying yes when he asks her on a coffee date. 2. You don't actually know who you like. 50% of women marry a guy where there was no initial spark. They did not know they liked him until they saw him for a few weeks or a few months. Step 9: IMPORTANT - learn to flirt. That doesn't mean licking your lips suggestively or wearing a miniskirt. It means singling him out for attention. A guy is much more likely to ask you on a date if you've signaled that you will say yes. You do that by making eye contact, smiling at him, and responding to any small "bids" for connection. Step 10: He may not get all the dating etiquette exactly right that first time. He may not show up with flowers or open the door for you. But whatever he does that is commendable, notice it and thank him for it. A woman's greatest power is not bossing and directing, it is responding to and encouraging masculine energy in the right direction through sweetness and precise validation. Don't knock a sincere guy out of the running because he didn't execute a date perfectly. On the first date, the third, the fifth, you are evaluating for worldview alignment and character. Not elaborate planning for your night out. 1/2