pam-mentations.com

March 10, 2025

Thoughtlets. LXVIII. We all do it. As sure as we breathe.

Just try to go a day without taking a pot-shot at another or some others’ rationality, particularly if you drive, gossip, watch the news, read opinion columns, attend meetings, surf the internet, or deal with bureaucracy. Continue reading

Thoughtlets

ad hominen, custom, dehumanise, habit, rationality

March 10, 2025

Thoughtlets. LXVII. When the term “motivated reasoning” is deployed in rhetoric …

Another candidate for the Department of Idiotic Redundancies is the term “motivated reasoning”. Assuming one wants to overcome motivated reasoning, in so-doing she is processing information to arrive at conclusions that suit her own needs and goals; i.e. her goals to overcome motivated reasoning. What non-motivated reasoning means I can’t imagine. Cf David Hume: “Reason Continue reading

Philosophy, Political Rhetoric, Thoughtlets

ad hominen, Hume, motivated reasoning, passion, political, politics, reason, rhetor

March 10, 2025

Thoughts. LXVI. Thinking in groups as opposed to group think.

We constantly seek out others to help us think. We go for counselling; we lose sleep researching; we lose sleep about big decisions, such as finances and health; we lose sleep worrying about whether we’ve done the right thing; we ask for advice; we gossip; we vent; we read self-help books, consumer reports, studies, news; Continue reading

Philosophy, Thoughtlets

dependence, doxa, epistemology, group think, Philosophy, rationality, research, social

March 10, 2025

Thoughtlets. LXV. Whoa Momma!

The so-called helicopter parent phenomenon is at least in part due to the helicopter research phenomenon. Parental anxiety might just be created in part by studies and expert advice, talk shows, and school report cards. True, some advice is reassuring and it’s nice to have guide books to turn to. But there sure are a Continue reading

Thoughtlets

advice, anxiety, experts, helicopter, mom, mommy, mommy wars, parenting, peer pressure

March 10, 2025

Thoughtlets. LXIV. Why should the young have all the angst?

One factor, for some, in the angst and drama of the teen years is discovering one’s identity and where one fits in. But adults struggle with these issues, too. Some learn to just ‘fit in’. Some happily. Others feeling suffocated, wearing a mask, harbouring regrets. The mid-life crisis is a common phenomenon, as is the Continue reading

Thoughtlets

aging, angst, mid-life, peer pressure

March 10, 2025

Thoughtlets. LXIII. Dadgum stereotypes.

An excerpt from some footnotes in my archives: Mind you, as one ages she is portrayed as having deteriorating rationality. What’s more, elderly people are often stereotyped as emotionally rigid, cranky, and prone to ‘irrational’ behaviours. Hence crones (witches) and curmudgeons. But then there are also the sweet-old-lady stereotypes, those ever-pleasant grandmothers bereft of emotional Continue reading

Thoughtlets

aging, crone, curmudgeon, rationality, stereotypes

March 10, 2025

Upcoming in my Political Rhetor Series.

I’ve published: 6.1. Intro. Pam and Aristotle on the Political Rhetor; The Political Rhetor and the Future: 6.2.a. The Poor; 6.2. b. Children; 6.2.c.i. Future Generations. The Political Rhetor and the Future, Future Generations: 6.2.ii. Who are the Future Generations?; 6.2.iii The Glimmer of Hope Move; and, 6.2.iv. Stewardship — are each in the editing Continue reading

Political Rhetoric, Social and Political Commentary

action, concepts, ethics, mental states, movement, ontology, oratory, perlocutionary, Philosophy, political, politics, rhetoric, speech acts

March 10, 2025

Aristotle and Pam on The Political Rhetor. 6.1. Series. Intro.

I’ve already published 6.2.a. The Poor, 6.2. b. Children, and 6.2.c.i. (of ii, iii, and iv) on Future Generations. So this intro is out of chronological order. The most important concept for political rhetoric is the “perlocutionary speech act” as described below. “The political orator* aims at establishing the expediency** or the harmfulness of a Continue reading

Political Rhetoric, Social and Political Commentary

audience, ends, oratory, perlocutionary speech act, persuasion, Philosophy, political, politician, politics, polity, rhetor, rhetoric, speaker, speech, speech act, ways and means, words

March 8, 2025

Thoughtlets. LXII.

Since political rhetoric hooks up with mental states that move us in one direction or another, it’s a good idea to examine the conceptual baggage we lug around. Continue reading

Thoughtlets

concepts, mental states, Philosophy, rhetoric

March 8, 2025

The Political Rhetor and The Future. 6.2.c.i. Future Generations: The end of ‘my’ world versus the end of ‘the’ world.

To help you navigate political rhetoric. This post is largely analytic compared to the previous two research dense entries in this series. In this entry, I examine a broad swath of the conceptual territory underpinning future generations. Since this topic is particularly content-dense, I’ve decided to break this blog entry into several posts under a Continue reading

Political Rhetoric, Social and Political Commentary

analytic, children, earth, environment, future, future generations, Philosophy, political, politics, rhetoric, stewardship, sustainability, world