Americans tend to be shocked when they learn that Germany has freedom of opinion, but not freedom of speech in the way the US has. The thing is, we KNOW what happens when speech like that has no consequences, and therefore the state has the right to punish it.

That was both funny and wince-inducing. I hope you‘re better now. And I get how important humor is to deal with a situation like this. Never threw my back out, but I got some good stories about kidney stones.

Not sure if it‘s right for his age anyway. But maybe when he‘s a bit older.

Ooh, I love Portland. Did you take him to the Museum of Cryptozoology yet?

If by „weird“ you mean „profoundly ignorant“. Guess this is what happens to people who are never told to just shut up and listen for a while.

I use the original gorilla video (version 2) and Wiseman‘s „colour changing card trick“ in the lecture. There is a LOT of serious psychology work behind this, but luckily the results can be entertaining enough even for engineering students.

I teach a course on critical thinking, and the first lessons are: You cannot trust your perception, memory or reasoning. I show people how that is true by making them see, remember and think things which are false, and they still don’t believe me.

Like most of Europe, you mean?

I‘m German, and we have four to five parties in the democratic spectrum you can choose from (and one which is outside of it) and still none are good enough.

A two party system is bad, not just because it limits your choices, but because it makes you forget that democracy is based on compromise.