• SOME TIMELESS LESSONS FOR DETECTING BULLSHIT – i.e. misinformation or disinformation which doesn’t align with factual reality – especially when relating to “emotional issues, playing on fears, hopes, preconceptions, preferences or ideologies – which make us vulnerable to grift, fraud, and loss of money, trust & relationships,” are from a Baloney Detection Kit developed by astronomer Carl Sagan, focused on separating fact from fiction: (1) Demand independent confirmation of facts from those who aren’t also stakeholders in the matters; (2) Judge arguments based on merits of underlying facts, as interpreted by experts; (3) Examine hypotheses critically, especially your own opinion, to avoid fooling yourself; (4) Examine quantitative analyses, expressing contributing factors & possible explanations in numbers more so than qualitatively; (5)) Ensure avoidance of hiding contradictive evidence by considering the link of every chain in an argument; (6) Avoid non-falsifiable and untestable hypotheses which are incapable of disproof; (7) Remember that when all else is equal, the simplest explanation is usually best (Occam’s Razor), but only if all else is equal.  https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/carl-sagan-detecting-baloney/

     

    • ONE-IN-THREE PET OWNERS PUT THEIR DOGS & CATS AS PRIORITIES, with nearly a third spending more monthly on their pampered pets’ health/ food/ grooming/ vet bills/ insurance/ toys than on personal health & self-care. A survey of 1,500 pet parents found 11% having visited the vet for ‘weird occurrences’ like hiccups or head tilting, 33% of pets which invested bones, socks, metal, yard debris or plastic toys, plus another 7% for emergencies from chocolate, grapes, raisins or Xylitol sugar substitutes (in candies, gums, toothpaste, peanut butter or baked goods) creating severe seizures and liver injury. More than two-in three owners also said they’ve faced unexpected vet bills of up to $3,000, most without pet insurance. [U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT]

     

    • CHAOS THEORY’ IS ABOUT HOW MINUTE FACTORS CAN HAVE DRAMATIC EFFECTS, more commonly known as the ‘Butterfly effect.’ Premise is that the simplest things can spiral out of control, such that our lives are determined by the small choices we make, the people who happen to be around at random moments in our lives, and small causal factors. So, rather than life being a series of interconnected events occurring one after the other, reality is rather a series of encounters, with any one event possibly changing all those that follow in a wholly unpredictable way. “While we make sense of the good and bad in everyday life by assigning particular causes and ignoring the hidden minutiae of everyday events, Chaos Theory counsels us to think twice before assigning blame or credit for any given situation and against judging others, since we control nothing but influence everything. Accordingly, we fail to appreciate that the words we utter and actions we take have potential to morph into events that affect others to a degree we are unable to fathom.” Since our everyday actions are the Butterflies, Chaos Theory cautions against judging others, assigning blame or credit for any particular situation.   https://www.realclearscience.com/2026/02/09/the_profound_life_lesson_at_the_heart_of_chaos_theory_1163607.html?utm_source=rcp-today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mailchimp-newsletter&mc_cid=a9384d2cb5&mc_eid=afc66dfbec 

     

    • BUSINESS SUCCESS DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN, it takes Knowledge, Experience, Discipline, & Imagination! A two-minute video describes what DCG can do to help any business — your business — achieve Next Level success, and improve your Work-Life Balance.   Click WWW.DUITCHCONSULTING.COM  

     

    THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK

               

    • The age of Robots doing every task a human can do is advancing exponentially. By as early as 2028-29, mass production and broad availability will likely enable Robots to sense their environment – homes, factories, warehouses, hospitals, senior care facilities, mining operations, space stations, wherever – and adjust autonomously in real time, without human intervention. Compared to minimum wages & benefits, leasing a Robot could be fifty times cheaper, working 24/7 without breaks or turnover. And within a decade, robots could be optimizing supply chains, managing logistics, exploring asteroids, even constructing orbital habitats – effectively replacing humans from drudgery, in an age of Abundance.  [PETER DIAMANDIS]

     

    • A dozen states comprising a quarter of the U.S. population (including Florida, Texas, West Virginia, Arizona) now recognize gold and silver coins as “Legal Tender” for buying/ selling/ debts/ taxes/ contracts, in parallel money to Federal Reserve Dollars. Since banks don’t handle ‘clearing’ payments with each other, actually using gold or silver in our economy is not functionally possible yet, but if/when this occurs, it would torpedo the fractional reserve boom-bust control by our Federal Reserve system.  [PETER ST.ONGE]

     

    • California’s high-speed rail project, originally budgeted at $35 Billion to connect LA with San Francisco, is now forecast (if/when ever completed) at $135 Billion. Now another underground rail line, Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project, has just been approved by LA Metro – a purported 15-year $25 Billion rail line running parallel to the 405 freeway which could connect the San Fernando Valley with West LA, and then on to LAX. California can’t build enough houses, refineries, or water storage facilities, but is determined to create years of traffic snarl in Los Angeles, building rail lines where usage of current subway ridership has dropped nearly 40% in the last two decades.