About PRA 2010

Ben Franklin’s original Poor Richard’s Almanack was a “mixture of seasonal weather forecasts, practical household hints, puzzles, and other amusements…”  along with a lot of witty wordplay, colorful colloquialisms and Franklin’s favorite aphorisms, such as:

“There are no gains without pains.”

or

“You may think, perhaps, that a little tea, or a little punch now and then, diet a little more costly, clothes a little finer, and a little more entertainment now and then can be no great matter but remember what Poor Richard says “Many a little makes a mickle; beware of little expense for a small leak will sink a great ship.”

Excerpts from Poor Richard’s_Almanack

Excerpts with 1756 edition facsimilie pages

Poor Richard’s Almanack 2010 (PRA 2010) is my attempt to illustrate various subjects related to human cognition, behavior, and opinion in the context of current events, popular culture, and the weather in as witty and sarcastic a style as I can. A recurrent theme will be that most human error can be attributed to some form of bad mental hygiene. Before we can save our world we must heal ourselves. Unfortunately our leaders and activists, along with all the rest of us, are a few marbles short of being self-aware, rational agents.

Benjamin Franklin wrote in his 1750 Poor Richard’s Almanac that “There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.” (Quoted in “Know Thyself’ — Easier Said Than Done” by the Association for Psychological Science)

Comments and ratings

Please rate the articles you read here and comment on them if you have time.  The comment link is easy to miss–its at the very bottom of each article after the list of “tags” (categories and keywords).

As a compulsive generalist, I am painfully aware of my lack of depth in any particular subject. I don’t mind putting plenty of color in my remarks, but I don’t want to publish factual errors. If you find any, PLEASE point them out.

You don’t have to register to rate the PRA 2010 posts or leave comments (though I will delete comments that are too obnoxious or just plain spam).

NO TREES  OR ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS BLOG

Image via Wikipedia

In addition to the weather, household tips, folk wisdom, and insights into human nature and mental health in general, featured subjects include:

• Logical fallacies (see category: Fallacy of the day)
• Cognitive biases (see category:  Cognitive bias of the day)
• Implicit associations
  
• Information quality control
• Predictable Irrationality
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Experimental Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Evolutionary Religious Studies
• Ideological Fundamentalism
• Intentional Community
• Economic vs political activism
• Human cognitive re-engineering
• Climate change
• &etc.

This blog is dedicated to the memory and rational example of Benjamin Franklin, and to Dr. Thomas J. Sandy, PsyD, who challenged me to “write something”...

 

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