Vous le savez tous, je pars lundi, pour six semaines. Je continuerai à vérifier mon email et je mettrai à jour mon weblog avec de croustillants détails de ma vie en asie du sud-est (enfin, j’y compte bien!). En attendant, j’ai découvert pour vous, lecteurs francophones en mal d’écrits de ma part sur ce pays dans la langue de Molière, les notes de voyage de Laurent, que vous trouverez sans doute comme moi fort appétissantes. Régalez-vous!
Category: Uncategorized
Read [en]
I’d forgotten how good creepsville is. The stories are very well-written, and just keep me reading on and on.
I really had forgotten how much I liked this site. The reason I found my way back to it is that when I found it, I subscribed to Josh’s notify list. I’ve been gettin his newsletter messages for ages, and for some strange reason I never went to check the site. But today I did.
And it makes me really glad I did join his notify list, a long, long time ago.
Have you joined mine?
Principe RDA: Répété, Déformé, [en]
C’est ainsi que nous parviennent la plupart des informations, que ce soit de bouche à oreille, ou bien via les médias. Réfléchissez-y une secode: qu’est-ce qu’on répète? Ce qui nous marque d’une façon ou une autre. C’est un fait accepté que l’on se donne la licence (pas toujours poétique!) d’exaggérer un tantinet les paroles que l’on rapporte, afin de garantir que notre interlocuteur les trouvera également marquantes, et verra l’intérêt que nous leur avions trouvées.
Il n’y a rien de mal à ce comportement innocent – mais il fait parfois bon de rappeler son existance.
Truth [en]
Another thing I’ve wanted to note for a while was pointed out by Kristin
Thomas concerning the Kaycee affair. Although I may not agree with everything Kristin
says, her article makes a very interesting and thought-provoking read.
Kristin points out that a story
more often than through
becomes true through mere repetition
facts.
We are more likely to believe something because we have heard it many
times, than because we have actually had proof of it or learnt it by
observation (and here, can you smell a tinge of Quine’s
Web of Belief?)
Now, think about it. How many things to you hold true simply because
enough people have told you? Well, don’t think about it too hard, it might
make you dizzy. It’s making me dizzy, in any case. If it came
public tomorrow that no man ever walked on the moon, I’d
only be half-surprised (yes, I’m aware that “conspirationists” have
gathered plenty of evidence to prove the hoax).
There are some famous examples. Besides the one Quine cites in his book
(about the area of Monaco, which turned out to be falsely
stated in all the major encyclopedias and atlases), do you remember this
thing about spinach containing incredible amounts of
iron? Well, it all started off when somebody messed up one decimal in
their calculations – and it was copied for years ever after without a
double-check.
So these are examples where academics and books get it wrong. But
normal people do the same thing, of course. How much of what you know
about economics, politics, religion, history and the like
is based on repetition? And how much is based on your direct observation?
Or on proof which has been demonstrated to you?
I don’t mean to say we should stop believing what we are told. I really
hope I don’t mean that. But I find it a little scary –
unsettling, for the least.
Indecision [en]
I’ve been wanting to post a note about this for ages (at least as
web-time goes). As Matt puts it very well concerning the blogger fallout,
indecision
.
is a decision
Not taking a decision is already taking a decision. Think
about it. It’s probably much more important than you think at first.
Cinéma [en]
Si vous ne l’avez pas encore vu, courez vite voir Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain. C’est
un film comme on devrait en voir plus souvent projetés sur nos écrans.
Il vous fait aimer les êtres humains dans toute leur étrangeté, et
sortir de la salle illuminé d’un sourire qui vous encouragera à voir le
monde autrement. Je n’ajouterai rien de plus, si ce n’est que je l’ai vu
deux fois, et que je suis moralement prête à le revoir une troisième si
l’occasion se présente. Comme ces bons livres qu’on termine pour
recommencer à les lire aussitôt.
Un autre film qui vaut la peine d’être vu, c’est Le
chocolat. Un très joli conte, que ceux qui se débattent dans
des schémas familiaux dont ils tentent de se libérer apprécieront tout
particulièrement. Et bien sûr, la présence de Johnny Depp et Juliette
Binoche contribue aussi à rendre l’expérience tout à fait…
comestible!
Cool [en]
Do you know that mtnsms allows you to send short messages (SMS) to a cellphone – and receive the answer too?
CSS [en]
In the process of converting my pages to the table-less layout, I’m also doing some revising. The CSS basics tutorial has been significantly updated. Tell me if any obscurities bother you.
Kaycee [en]
My reaction upon learning that Kaycee Nicole Swenson had died. We learnt very soon after that she had never existed.
People… [en]
…sometimes really disappoint me.
Not all of them, of course. Not you. But most people – sometimes.