Nov 10
Asking questions to me is a mysterious art, impossible to ever get a full grasp on. A single well-placed question van change a life; it can solve misunderstandings or break down stereotypes that a have lingered around for years and create or bridge gaps between people. It can even instill both shame or bliss. Social consequences of asking questions can be immense: parliamentary hearings, scientific research, psychological treatments, philosophical debate.. they all depend on asking the right questions.
For me, the power of asking questions is beyond doubt. Yet many times in life, we choose to say instead of ask. Somewhere along the way, asking something became the same as saying "I don't know": A sign of weakness. While in reality, a good question can be the ultimate proof of intelligence. Big advice to anyone, including myself: ask more!
Don't you agree?
Jun 1
Polderen in Nederland, altijd leuk
Mar 23
Great overview of the expansion of the international space station here, via USA Today.
Mar 17
A while ago I came across a beatifully simple, elegant and completely useless concept: A more-or-less-social site where people list what they would do for $5. Other people can then order these services. The beauty of course, is that $5 is a magic amount that makes most people willing to do a little thing, and yet is small enough to be spent without too much thinking. It's easily spent, just for laughs.
Inevitably, the place becomes hilareous:
Slapstick capitalism FTW!
Mar 3
Today are municipal elections in the Netherlands and I live in one of the only two cities in which the extreme-right party PVV (by Geert Wilders) is participating. With all eyes on those two cities, there's been a media frenzy in my neighbourhood for weeks now.
I thought I would manage to stay clear, but
a local newspaper caught up ;-) (link is Dutch)
Mar 2
CNN has an interesting report from
NASA saying that last week's earthquake shifted the earth's figure axis about 8 centimeters. Speeding up the earth's rotation and thus permanently shortening our days by about 1.26 microseconds. This all after the major 2004 eathquake that shortened our days by 6.8 microseconds. That proves it:
I'm not getting older, the days are really getting shorter! ;-)
