July 2, 2026
Random Thoughts
A series of disconnected recent thoughts
7 min read
There’s been no consistent theme in my thoughts lately. Recent experiences have created numerous random thoughts to form. Here they are in no particular order. All comments are anecdotal in nature; little to no research has been collected regarding any of these points.
The lady doth protest too much, methinks
I truly believe that the most under appreciated phrase is likely “The lady doth protest too much, methinks,”, spoken by Queen Gertrude in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. The basic premise is that someone who strongly denies something, protests that some action is undeniably wrong, or advocates for a belief a bit too passionately may actually be hiding a truth of their own. One that they are likely ashamed of.
It’s the emphasis or emotion that’s used to support someone’s argument that is the giveaway. Life has taught me that this is especially true when what they are hiding is sexual in nature.
I lived through the period of the rise of a new brand of conservatives between the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. Numerous instances occurred where people advanced legislation, rallied for their social cause or just spoke of a certain moral baseline regarding the sanctity of marriage, against gay rights…whatever. And inevitably their own skeletons were revealed.
Federal Political Sex Scandals in US
My mother used to tell me that everyone has things they’d rather keep hidden in their closet so I should keep my nose out of other people’s business. I think we’d be better off if we were a more secular and less puritan society.
Car Culture
Point #1
What’s up with the second, third or fourth car in line at a red light honking their horn immediately upon the street light turning green? They don’t hesitate even a portion of a second. If you are watching the street light like such a hawk…isn’t it possible that the first car in line is doing the same thing? Wouldn’t you at least allow a second or two to transpire before honking your horn? I get it if we are in Boston (sorry, but Bostonians have a unique sense of intensity), but this is becoming the norm in more and more cities.
What’s especially irritating about this is that they can’t see what may be occurring in front of the first car. Numerous times I am in a crosswalk and a car is waiting for me to get far enough across to initiate their turn. Three or four cars back someone is honking incessantly, as if this will have a positive effect. Is this simply people acting out with excessive masculine aggression to over compensate for their endowment, like with large pickup trucks? ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Point #2
Getting rid of my car and leaving the car culture has made tremendous improvements to my day to day mental health. My anxiety and anger/frustration level has plummeted since I began to walk and use public transit for my movement. On nearly every walk around my city, I shake my head at the constant honking of horns and behavior of drivers. The impatience, the quick trigger to be angry and the urgency to be somewhere else are all behaviors that I don’t miss.
If It Walks Like a Duck and It Quacks Like a Duck, Then It’s a Duck
My parents used to tell me that ‘you are the company you keep’. Eventually, we will be judged by the people we decide to associate with.
Our current administration and Supreme Court are exactly what they claim not to be. And so are their supporters. Spare me the rationalization and explanations - see the section above titled, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks,”.
What am I talking about? The removal of women and people of color from leadership positions in the military and elsewhere in the administration. The gutting of protections and legal precedents to remove the voting rights of our black citizens. And the desire to make our population less diverse by expelling minorities, but advocating for additional Nordic migration.
Don’t try to hide it, wear the badge proudly. Extol your belief that women and people of color are less than capable and second class citizens.
Justice Alito epitomizes this behavior best. The Supreme Court decided not to hear a case in 2024 concerning Thomas Jefferson High School in Virginia, allowing a lower court’s ruling to stand supporting the high school’s use of a non-race based selection process.
In his dissent, Alito faulted the plan for having what he called a “discriminatory purpose.” Even though race was never used in the process. What bothered Alito was the fact that the school’s make up became more diverse (less white) when their plan was in effect.
In the court’s most recent session, the Supreme Court decided in Louisiana v. Callais that it would be racist to not allow the state of Louisiana to eliminate a majority black voting district.
Dan Serwer in The Atlantic explained that “In that case, Alito insisted that forcing the state to draw a second majority-Black congressional district would be an “unconstitutional racial gerrymander” because Republicans were entitled to discriminate against Black voters if they argued that their purpose was partisan instead of racist.”
Alito supports it as long as the outcome would be a less diverse one.
I’d recommend a better philosophy is to love your neighbor. Even if they don’t happen to look like you.
Be Safe Out There
As I was looking to buy so a hat from a specific athletic manufacturer, I found what I thought was their ‘sale’ website - xxxxxoutlet.us. The US top-level domain (TLD) didn’t concern me as they are a worldwide retailer and I knew language selection was one of the requirements for viewing their website. Long story short, this website was a very well crafted and branded website that appeared to have inventory, but its essential purpose was to harvest personal information and credit card data. After I realized that I got stung, research showed that it had been created in April 2026 and is owned by a person in Germany.
I assume that this may become more common as more people utilize AI tools to quickly create the content they need to pull off this type of exercise. If this is the direction that our interaction with AI is going to take, I will not be a fan.
Man On The Corner
Why does the man on a city corner shouting and yelling obscenities always think that he is Jesus or otherwise screams overtly hostile religious messages? If you live in an urban setting, you know what I am talking about. A couple of thoughts on this one:
- Is there a correlation between mental illness and hyper religious beliefs or acting out?
- I’ve always wondered if there is a portion of our brains where purpose/meaning of life/religious beliefs are centered. If so, then the correlation mentioned in point #1 sort of heads in this direction and makes sense.
- In addition to point #2, this would also explain religious experiences being personal and physical in nature (a function of the human brain) and not supernatural.
There are studies, books and intellectual discussions trying to understand why evolution hasn’t seen to it that certain diseases have been eliminated. For instance, how could schizophrenia or bipolar be advantageous for evolution to maintain their presence; why do they still exist?
Julian Jaynes in his 1976 book, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, suggests that in history, and within religious communities, it may have been valuable to communicate with higher powers or to have visions. If the community thought people were communicating with gods could it be that their value would increase and hence the desire to reproduce with them increase? If so, an outcome would be for evolution to support the continuation of this disease and not make it go extinct.
Previous Reading:
Serwer, D. (2026, June 27). The court that will believe absolutely anything is ‘race-neutral’. The Atlantic. https://theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/06/scotus-asylum-racial-discrimination/687710/?amp=&=&=&gift=Je3D9AQS-C17lUTOnl2W8H_BlxOeZnlyrtUd1nOgfEE
Patel, D. (2026, May 8). David Reich – why the Bronze Age was an inflection point in human evolution. Dwarkesh Podcast. https://www.dwarkesh.com/p/david-reich-2