Ruminations: October 2020

Wednesday, October 07, 2020

The Paradox of Intolerance

I had to chuckle at this study by Skeptic Research Center. They call it "The Paradox of Intolerance". They're puzzled that people they deem "intolerant" are significantly more likely than people they deem "tolerant" to agree with the following four statements:

1. "The United States government should provide financial support to people in other countries who are in need"

2. "The United States government should do more to provide opportunities for American citizens that are women and ethnic minorities"

3. "The United States government should open its borders to all immigrants in need"

4. "Political conflict between liberals and conservatives is a major threat to society"

They do not stop to consider whether it's their definition of "tolerance" that is the source of this supposed paradox. According to "Dave's Dictionary", tolerance has nothing to do with agreement with particular views; rather, it's about TOLERATING views you disagree with. It's right there in the name.

They also don't consider the fact that tolerance is actual work. It requires rest and recuperation. Thus, while you may tolerate other's right to have their opinions even when you know that they're completely misguided, you don't want to have to work at it 24/7. This requires a place of retreat and relaxation. You should be able to create that space by exercising maximum control over your own personal environment: your home life, where you choose to work, which friends you hang out with. However, it's exactly this desire for such a retreat that they have defined as intolerance.

It's no puzzle to me why the "intolerant" people are generally NOT out looting, rioting, shooting up the place and otherwise engaging in socially destructive behavior; and why it's the people who think they are "tolerant" ARE.

https://www.skeptic.com/research-center/reports/Research-Report-SPAS-003.pdf?

TimeTool Update

After a very long time, I've updated Cratchit.org TimeTool.

To be sure, for the longest time I didn't update it because it simply did what I wanted. However, it was looking pretty dated on new platforms and was no longer being rendered properly. So... update.

DESCRIPTION

A quick description for those who haven't seen or used the tool:

Basically, Cratchit.org TimeTool allows you to list a number of tasks or projects that you're working on and simply accrue time to one of them at a time by pointing at it. People simply think they can multitask. In fact, they task-switch; and that's what TimeTool keeps track of: where your is attention focused. If, like me, you work in an environment where you have to bill time to multiple tasks, that's exactly what you need.

REVISIONS AND FEATURES

The new version has moved from Delphi to Lazarus, and adds just a few features:

The controls are all rendered properly on modern platforms.
Only one instance can run at a time. This prevents you from accidentally trashing a data file.
There is now a time calculator. I have a rather good physical calculator that does that, but the thing is over 40 years old, and I wanted the convenience of having it right there on the tool where I'll be recording the results. TimeTool's calculator is actually three in one:

Durations: Put two durations in (Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds), and the calculator will add or subtract them. Or put in a single duration (Time1) and it will multiply or divide it as you direct.
Time and Date: You can add or subtract a duration to/from a calendar date and see where it winds up on the calendar.
Time Between Dates: Put in two calendar datetimes and it will calculate the difference.

Calculator results can be copy-and-pasted.

As before,

There is no setup. Just extract the zip and run the appropriate executable.
There's none of this "clocking in" and "clocking out" nonsense. The clock is running, or it isn't. If it's running, just point to the task you're working on and it will start accruing time there. Doing something else...? Point to the new task. That's all. It's also handy for keeping track of overhead: just make a task for it.
Data is automatically saved when the program is closed.
The tool will accrue time even if the computer is turned off. The saved data file records whether it was accruing time when you closed the program, and will calculate the time elapsed until you start it again. You can start a task and shut down, reboot... whatever. It will still keep accurate time.
You can save your data to CSV for use in your favorite spreadsheet. This makes it pretty easy to keep up with your work when you prepare timesheets for submission or prepare invoices.
It's a tool, not your boss. You can edit times freely.
Help is included.

SCREENSHOTS