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Lectures: Ton o? lectures this
week, so the quick rundown:
Preparing for and Recovering from Survey, Oct 4th, free, and
Coping with Nerve Damage from Chemotherapy, Oct 11th, free;
Forgotten Early Explorers of Puget Sound, Oct 4th, $8. Sure, we all know
about good ol? George Vancouver, but what about the lesser explorers who
only discovered a measly island or two? * Forest of Words: The Evolution of
the Japanese Writing System, [need link] Oct 4th, free but RSVP required. *
Age, the Greatest Carcinogen, Oct 4th, free, discussing how the
breakdown of cell reproduction deteriorates all of us over time. * Also
The Father of Botany:
Carl Linnaeus, Oct 5th, $10, a lecture on the man who, among other
items, gave us the word "homo sapiens." * Also,
Lepidoptera and
Bats...What is the Connection?, Oct 3rd, free. After you get over to
wikipedia to read what a
lepidoptera is, learn how they interact with bats. * Also,
King
County Prosecuting Attorney Debate, Oct 3rd and 10th, free.
Prosecutors discuss and debate, so you can decide who's worthy for the job.
Theater:
Women, starting Oct 5th, $35+. This is the woman's version of
Mean Girls,
circa 1930. The emotionally devious ways of a group of ladies comes out, all
over the brouhaha from some manicure. This is probably the best show of the
year over at ACT. * Also, The
Importance of Being Ernest, until Oct 27th, $25+. This is one of Oscar
Wilde's top works, a foolhardy society comedy of love and romance in
Victorian times. This play has been shown for a century because it's
everlastingly good.
Ethnic:
Scandinavian Heritage Festival,
Oct 5-7, $8. It's the celebration of the food,
dance, and songs of those folks from this chilly region. * Also,
CroatiaFest, Oct 6-7th. You can't
keep these Croatians off the dance floor, so expect a lot of dancing lessons
and demonstrations.
Health:
One Race One Village 5k Run, Oct 6th, $25. These 5K runs are actually
pretty easy to knock out. There's a party afterwards with nibbles and
entertainment. * Also, if you'd rather walk the 5K than run it, then
Heart Walk 2007, Oct 6th, free. These are fun to do with family or small
teams. * Also,
Dance to
Wellness, Oct 5-7, $349. Become a better dancer while improving yourself
through better health, coordination, and self-confidence. * Also,
Spinal
Health and Aging, Oct 11th. Seems like everybody has a bad back. For the
geriatric set, this class discusses ways to improve posture, movement,
strength, and balance. Afterwards, there is a healthy-cooking demonstration
class.
Open Homes:
Concept Homes Tour,
until Oct 14th, $10. If you missed the Street of Dreams, here's the backup.
See what a couple of million buys in a home nowadays. The cool thing is
seeing one or two luxury items you can then incorporate into your own place.
* Also, Pilates Seattle hosts an
open
house, Oct 5th, 7:30 PM, with guest speakers and demonstrations. Pilates
continues to edge into the mainstream. Pilates isn't exactly for weenies,
but if you're into mind/body control, this can be a way to go.
Instruction:
Essential Cheese, Oct 3rd, $25. A zillion cheese flavors are boiled down
to the eight essential cheese notes you should know, and how to pair them
with wine and food. Good class, but if you make a joke about "cutting the
cheese", you'll just be a predictable stooge. * Also,
What's Love Got to Do With It,
Oct 6th, $25/couple, a husband/wife counseling team share their advice for
building loving and supportive relationships. * Also, Doing the One-Step
in Ancestry.com, Oct 8th, at the Stroum
Jewish Community Center, of using this tool to access U.S. census and
immigration information.
Eating: Fried Chicken
Frenzy at Union Restaurant,
Oct 7th, $50. Local chefs cook up all you can eat fried chicken, potato
salad, coleslaw, and beer. Wear pants with an elastic band and a shirt that
you don't mind wiping your fingers on. * Also,
MS Luncheon, Oct 4th, $125. Chairman Weyman T. Johnson Jr. talks about a
world free of multiple sclerosis. * Also,
Safe Passage
Breakfast, Oct 2nd, $150. Former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper
discusses the critical effects of domestic violence on children, family,
healthcare, businesses, and the community.
On the Farm:
Farm Tour, Oct 6-7th,
free. Tour 19 working farms and get your fill of live animal and crafting
demos. Stick around until night for the pie buffet and contra dancing. *
Also, Remlinger Farms opens on
weekends for the pumpkin harvests. There so many great kid activities at
this farm, one wonders if they make more money from the tourism than the
farm itself.
Environmental:
Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center
opens fall classes, including Intro to Green Living, Oct 2nd;
Saving Green: Customer Generation, Green-Up and Energy Conservation,
Oct 6th; Finding Your Inner Green, Oct 9th; Natural Water
Catchment for the Home, Oct 29th; and What?s Good for You Is Good
for the Watershed, Nov 8th; cost varies. They probably have at least
one class you'll be interested in. * Also,
Sustainable Industries
Economic Forum, Oct 3rd, $40. It's easy for a business to either be
profitable or environmentally sustainable, so here's how to bring these
goals together. * Also, Learn How Plastics Go from Garbage to Useful
Stuff, Oct 8th, free, a lecture at 6 PM in room 201 of the college?s N
Building, at the south end of Bellevue
Community College
main campus. Environmental chemist Dr. Carroll discusses the plastics
recycling process from start to finish, including the four essential steps
of collection, separation, reprocessing and remanufacture.
Organization:
Conibear Rowing Club, a rowing club
for women aged 21-70+. Did you ever see the arms on these gals? They have
biceps that could take an arm wrestler down.
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How Thinking Goes South
Why people believe what they believe is certainly an interesting study.
Here are common ways people form erroneous conclusions:
![Thinking]()
Confusing coincidence with
causality. When A and B appear to act in a
dependant manner, does that mean that A influences B? The population of
Europe has been declining for years along with the number of storks, but
does that mean that Europe's population decline is because of fewer storks
being available to deliver babies? Or, when you see a bunch of fat people
drinking diet soda, does that mean the Aspartame is somehow causing their
fatness?
Not Considering Missing
Evidence. There's a 2nd-century
artwork of sailors fervently praying for deliverance to their god as their
little boat is ravaged during a storm. Since they returned, the
implication is praying to their god works. However, what happened to other
sailors who also prayed to the same god during a storm, and the ship went
down? The evidence supports two mutually exclusive interpretations, yet
people draw conclusions on the power of prayer based upon only the
interpretation that supports their preferences (see below).
Confirmation Bias.
When people form a hypothesis, they're biased in favor of evidence
confirming the hypothesis. Instead, they should be searching for the
evidence disproving it. During medieval times, Europeans believed all
swans where white. When they got to Australia and saw the first
black swans,
it took only one single negative observation to overrule a million
positive observations.
Clustering Illusion.
People dig patterns, so they tend to make them where none exist. When
people are shown completely random sequences, they often formulate
imaginary patterns.
Recency Effect:
We remember what happened last week better than
what happened last year. Give people a list, and they remember the
begriming and end of the list, and have difficulty with the middle.
Relying on evidence based on its recency often leads to an incorrect
conclusion.
Cool Video: A tour to the Seattle Public Library
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