Things that make you go "Ooooh!!": July 2022

28 July 2022

Illusory truth effect.

There's a phenomenon called the "Illusory truth effect". It's the tendency to believe false information to be correct following repeated exposure to it.

Most notably used in election campaigns, advertising, news media and political propoganda, we can see this in other areas of life.

When a controlling person repeatedly attacks the self esteem of someone they have a relationship with, they will soon start to believe that falsehood. Children especially but adults too, when repeatedly told they are stupid or unattractive will take on those ideas as their own.

We have all witnessed the effect of mass medical misinformation and how that takes hold and spreads like wildfire, despite it being clearly disproven.

But there's a positive use for this concept, if we know how. Its powers can be harnessed and used to a positive effect. Now I bet that's got you wondering.

On a number of occasions, I have, for the purposes of my health among other reasons, convinced myself to believe something that I know to be untrue, by repeatedly telling myself and those around me that I believe the lie.

For example, I wanted to quit eating chocolate (I was eating far more than is healthy in anyone's world). So I told myself every time I saw it, was offered it, saw it in a book, magazine or anywhere, that "I don't like chocolate". I told anyone who would listen "I don't like chocolate". Pretty soon, I was really believing my own lie!!

The problem arises when you actually try it again and realise you were as wrong as is possible. Which suggests it's more of a delusion than a "lie". But it's worked for a number of things.

There's the possibility this could be some psychotic or narcissistic personality trait, or possibly just the sign of a compulsive liar. But I promise, I am using this power only for good.

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The amazing feta cheese tin

I spotted a discussion about feta cheese, which reminded me, I promised to write a book about this seemingly little known phenomenon.

Years ago, before upcycling and repurposing, I lived in this remote little Greek village. There wasn't much to call entertainment, but one thing that always provided amazement and surprise was the many versatile uses for an old feta cheese tin.

It comes in these big square tins and I can't remember ever seeing one thrown away.. they seem to go on forever.

I've seen street cleaning done with a broom and a feta tin on a stick, builders fill a tin with plaster and get his grandma to carry it up ladders to be applied, farmers with them strapped to the back of a motorbike to collect stray goats, used to make a grate for a fireplace, beach parasols have their pole planted in a tin of concrete to stop them blowing away, as bins next to the toilet that can't manage a poop let alone anything else so you chuck everything in there, for restaurants to collect waste for the pigs, involved in a multitude of children's games along with a stick/boiled egg/rock/what looks like someone's homework, as some kind of cockroach trap/competition to see if you can guess how many are in it, for the totally soul destroying job of picking olives/ emptying ashtrays in the bars/ collecting water from the tap in the square (because it's only on in homes for a few hours a day)/ dispensing church bread (we label it "choke you to death bread"....you get the idea.

Additional reading/sites of interest:

https://www.inspiredbygreece.com/feta-tin-village/
https://ideabygs.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-evolution-of-feta-cheese-tin-in.html?m=1

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Going underground

The mysterious world under your feet.

The subterranean world is brilliant and you never know what you might find. I reckon it's a great option for those of us looking for some peace and privacy.

Takes a little getting used to because sounds travel in a certain way. Once you get used to it, nobody can creep up on you and if someone didn't want to be found, it would be just the place. Anyone trying to find them but not used to it, would be totally lost because it's hard to know exactly where a sound is coming from or how near it is. Also, it's easy to lose a sense of direction.

Best to take a map and a compass if you go exploring. Many places are closed off, but there's usually an outlet somewhere and you can get in that way.

I lived near a pub a while back, that was the halfway point between the Scottish border and London. So prisoners being transported to the city would be locked in their cellar dungeon. It's widely believed to be haunted. I did my share of haunting that bar and their excellent veggie carvery.

There's tons of subway that's either disused or never got used. Old sewers and a mass of not-so-secret secret subterranean weapons bases. Tons of bomb shelters from various times and various shapes and sizes are all still there. When Catholicism was rejected but Catholics had their own ideas about it, wealthier people would have a priest come to perform mass at their home. "priest holes" are all over those old houses...places to shove your forbidden clergy, but some actually have escape tunnels too.

There's loads I haven't had a chance to look at. There must be other people into exploring this hidden world with knowledge of ways in. We don't get earth quakes so they're pretty safe.

If we could establish an alternative underground community, maybe we could evolve into "mole people".

I don't fancy those sewers still in use though. It's not the potential of rats, ninja turtles, alligators or even monster poos. It's the dreaded fatburg!!!!

https://youtu.be/C0F8qWFL0_M

Useful links:

🔗https://www.loveexploring.com/galleries/68772/underground-britain-things-to-do-beneath-the-surface

🔗https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20201005-the-uks-rumoured-subterranean-network

🔗https://listverse.com/2023/05/27/10-truly-unsettling-underground-places-in-the-uk/

🗣️ Leave a comment. I read every one and will reply if requested to do so.

Pretty nasty Patel

***Update***She's gone!!! Will things be better? Only time will tell. But it's a tough act to follow, as you may already know...or not ~

"PrettyNastyPatel". That's what her friend's call the astonishingly racist and hateful secretary for state. The ever increasing catalogue of stories about her heartless, inhumane and evil policies and the tragedies resulting from them, reflects how successfully she modelled her life around her Thatcherite aspirations. Indeed, when she finally resigned, after being rumbled having secret meetings with various government and military interests in Israel, lying to the prime minister about it, maintaining these were "personal friends" and using her position to propose granting aid to Israeli military field hospitals, echoes of Thatcher's downfall abounded as a chorus of "Ding Dong, the witch is dead" rung out.

The bizarre irony is that she would never have even been British had her policies existed when her parents arrived her, fleeing the insane bloodthirstiness of Idi Amin with Britain's earliest refugees, the Ugandan Indo asians in the 1960s. Hey Priti!...put your money where your mouth is. You still have time to deport them. Maybe she could put them on one of her planned deportation flights to Rwanda.

Mirroring her idol, She's female when it suits her. Comparing her "Women for Britain" campaign for anti EU women to that of Emaline Pankhurst and the Suffragettes, she was cut down by great granddaughter Helen Pankhurst.

Similarly she will defend her racist policies like holding asylum seekers offshore, suggesting Ascension Island as an option (despite it's location, more than 4,000 miles from our shores) which shadow cabinet members condemned as "inhumane, impractical and wildly expensive", using her ethnicity as a shield. Where were her Hindu principles when she opposed European restrictions on tobacco (in the pocket of British and American Tobacco), or defending drug dealing (alcohol causes more harm and crime than any of her "illegal" drugs) practicing her spin skills cooking up PR for multinational Alcohol giant DIAGEO.

If you're thinking she plays both sides, those who know her have your back. She's been named multiple times as guilty of harassing, bullying and belittling in the workplace. Officials who witnessed her behaviour in the department for International development confirmed staff had "really suffered", "she had a reputation for being a bully" and that many had been "traumatised". However, they point out it's not her intention, but simply her personality...who she is.

Red flag!!! This is something you may have heard before. It's indicative of a psychopathic personality disorder. The fact that the same people explain how she can be "the most charming person. People can be drawn to her" is further confirmation of this fact.

Another characteristic of such people is a tendency to be drawn to criminal activities. Twice being discovered breaking the ministerial code of conduct would have ended her career in politics, but for crazy (poor man's Donald Trump) Boris, appointing her in her current role, where she can really delight in the misery of the most desperate and vulnerable as she exhibits her heartlessness, maybe we would have been rid of her already. She had already entered the employ of an American telecommunications company as an advisor, earning a whopping £5,000 a month for 5 hours of work. She might be more comfortable in the US, where the most damning of the revealations about her pschopathy- her lack of regard for the value of human life illustrated by her support for the death penalty- would fit the bill to a tee. Funnily enough, her initial loss against the labour opposition for the local seat she had been assigned, was conveniently changed to one where the borders could be carefully shifted in order to assure her ongoing success (this is referred to as "gerrymandering" kids).

Her "nationality and borders bill" has been condemned by Amnesty International. But as much as they cite her, it's Britain and the British people that will feel the backlash. "The UK government has ripped up the refugee convention-a longstanding international agreement", Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Director said.

Do we really want to follow America's example of trampling over International conventions as they did invading Iraq? Ask the question "Which country presents the greatest and most immediate threat to world peace?" and a huge majority answer "America". This includes 70% of the American population who rightly, don't want to send their young people to risk death, disability and psychological trauma, achieving nothing but, adding yet another enemy nation to the long list of those with a legitimate grievance. The only people who don't are those in Washington and those who support them. Having amounted a body count of as many as 30million since the end of WW2, there's a lot of people out there with a grudge. How long before they join forces and decide to have their turn? You can't go round punching people in the face without expecting someone to punch you back.

Scientists have revealed that power has the same effect on the brain as cocaine, releasing a surge of the pleasure giving neuroreceptor, dopamine. Like a drug addict, those actions that fuel the drive for omnipotence, are beyond their control and will increase in frequency and severity. One study explains, "Ethical standards of entire organisations can be badly damaged if a corporate psychopath is in charge."

Calls for Patel's dismissal from her position are abundant. UK employment legislation cites as grounds for fair dismissal "Bad behaviour, poor discipline, theft, or dishonesty." Taking £11million of taxpayer money and pouring it into shopping malls, 5 star hotels and restaurants in Pakistan qualifies her. This was money intended for humanitarian aid, with which she lined the pockets of rich businessmen. Unfortunately, such malfeasance are part and parcel of being a member of the British Conservative party. Given the Wikileaks exposure of countless American atrocities, poor Julian Assange didn't really ever stand a chance. The truth is getting harder and harder to see . Especially when their truth is going to flavour how the world perceives us personally. Yet, it's the product of a sick and evil mind.

But....how long before she disqualifies herself for leave to reside??

A good solicitor with a silver tongue, a taste for a challenge and a sense of moral gravity could save us from the curse of Priti.