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Sunday, August 14, 2016

Party

Pants On Fire. Heh.

'Party' may mean a political party or if might mean a celebration of some sort. The celebration sort of 'party' means different things to different people. For me a party was defined by the physical factors: food, drink, music, dancing. I suspect that for many people, a party is a chance to talk to a bunch of people and the physics are only something to comment on. Mormon parties, for instance, have no music or dancing or alcohol, just food and talking, and the emphasis is on talking, and they seem to have a fine time.
    There are different kinds of talking, too. For me, talking is a form of communication. I only speak when I have something to say, and I only listen when someone is telling me something I need to hear. Other people, like my family, seem to thrive on constant banter. Maybe I'm slow, or maybe I am preoccupied, or maybe fighting with computer programs has altered my thought processes. Thought can flow through the narrowest of channels using assumptions and obvious information to leap from one subject to another. Computers don't do that. They are machines and they follow their programs with machine-like rigidity. Trying to figure out why a computer program isn't doing what you think it should be doing requires questioning all of the assumptions you made when writing it. It can be a colossal pain in the Watusi.
    Politicians when they are speaking are not trying to communicate information, they are trying to establish an emotional rapport with their audience. Facts are mostly irrelevant, which is why they are often accused of lying by their detractors. Note that their supporters don't accuse them of lying, they got the emotional message and they are engaged. Facts are irrelevant.
    You don't suppose political parties got their name because of all the hullabaloo (partying) going on at their conventions, do you?

P.S. I posted the graph a couple of days ago. It's taken me this long to figure out what to say.

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