@wstelk.bsky.social
As a systems thinker and psychologist, I explore the good, the bad, and the quirky aspects of what makes us human. Visit my website, Unpuzzling Life’s Complexities, at: unpuzzling.me. All posts are available in multiple languages.
When will we learn that human do not control Nature? It is Nature that ULTIMATELY controls human affairs.
Climate change deniers: TAKE NOTE! The ground on which we stomp our heavy boots is alive. We are killing it. Nature will reclaim its loss - at our expense
www.sciencefocus.com/news/deltas-...
Donald Trump’s foreign policy is built upon toxic pillars of greed, coercion, nativism, and incompetence.
His “gunboat capitalism” and spectacle-driven dominance do not demonstrate strength. Trump tantrums at our peril
Read about his poisonous Donroe Doctrine.
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
Populist governments are destroying democracies. Populist leaders have no interest in the “will of the people.” Then, why do people vote them into office?
Populist autocrats are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Learn about why voters are seduced by their lies.
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
Peace in Ukraine is not about people’s lives or Ukrainian sovereignty. For Trump and Putin, Ukrainians are expendable.
It’s all about Trump’s business plans vs. Putin’s imperialist land grab.
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
Skip, if you believe that people with few resources in life are lazy and personally responsible for their fate, then you should be able to find a welcoming home in the big MAGA tent. Try living in the shoes of those you judge, starting with their childhoods. You might not so quick to judge.
28.11.2025 13:14 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1
For the first time in 20 years, 91 autocracies outnumber 88 democracies, with 72% of the world’s population now living under autocratic rule.
Learn about the “why” and “how” of autocracies rising. Read this intro to my new series of posts, A Playbook for Autocrats.
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
Jason, I don't know how I missed your note from 11 months ago, but I apologize! You are absolutely right. I hadn't thought about anthropology as you framed it (living system science). Thanks for your keen insight.
05.11.2025 12:31 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Is Trump 2.0 building a fascist government? Author DiMaaggio’s warning is as true today as it was in 2021. Read this book review about how fascism came to America.
#politics
#bookreview
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
How can we achieve stability through change? This is a puzzle (koan) for your self-identity, your relationships, and our politics.
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
Check out my long list of Trump’s business failings. You know this story, but as Trump takes apart our democracy, it’s a story worth retelling.
Is this a man you can trust with the American and world economies? Without resistance, liberal values are in deep trouble.
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
If there is one book that illuminates the lethal trajectory of Donald Trump’s second U.S. presidency (Trump 2.0), it is Applebaum’s Autocracy, Inc.
Read my in-depth review of this book that is so relevant to the debacle of Trump 2.0.
#trump2.0
#politics
#dictators
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
Are you struggling to make sense of what Trump 2.0 is trying to accomplish?
Read my post - Playbook For America, Inc. – an outline for making sense of an autocrat tornado.
The Playbook is part of my free newsletter, Dispatches From America, Inc.
#politics
#Trump2.0
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
Donald Trump doesn’t like the title “President.” He prefers “King.”
America is his Golden Goose. Geographic expansion and the graft of other nations’ mineral rights will make the goose fatter.
Welcome to the making of America, Inc. Read about how this is happening.
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
Hitler destroyed German democracy by using lawyers to exploit and leverage every weakness in German constitutional law. He did this in 53 days.
Don't think it can't happen in the U.S. under a MAGA Trump-Musk administration.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
I'm looking forward to reading your book. My hope in joining Bluesky is to find a virtual community of thoughtful people who apply systems thinking to everyday problems. More ordinary people need to be exposed to the worldview of living systems principles.
11.01.2025 15:22 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Have you ever wondered how awful nobodies become shitty leaders with a lot of power?
No one can be a leader without followers. The real mystery is why people believe toxic nobodies who make false promises that destroy their way of life.
Why do followers follow?
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
Voting for a politician is not a rational decision – but it's not irrational. It’s emotional.
Liberals promise to make life better in five years. Autocrats tell lies and scare the shit out of you today.
Look for the lies. Read about gut messaging in politics.
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
I'm glad I'm old. I ducked that incoming bullet, but I fear for my grandkids.
05.01.2025 13:55 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Amen, Brother Tom. And what you describe is happening in all developed countries where gullible people are voting autocrats into public office. People believe their lies and are getting sick as a result. We live in crazy times!
05.01.2025 13:53 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1Instead of critical thinking, I suggest deliberative thinking, which is mode of cognition in contrast to algorithmic thinking. Daniel Kahneman writes about Systems 1 and System 2 thinking. It’s got a theoretical base, not just a meme.
04.01.2025 03:16 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0I'm not looking for a job. I just noticed that you are the only other Blueskyer using #adaptivesystems for your posts. Nice!
03.01.2025 14:47 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0BTW, anthropology is the study of living systems that are no longer living. It studies adaptive systems of the past. Every living system, from cells to neighborhoods, is complex and adaptive. The principles of living systems (such as self-organization, emergence, and interdependence) apply to all.
03.01.2025 14:21 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
I will commit to writing a series of brief articles more explaining these ideas. I’ll post links to these articles on my website unpuzzling.me. I’ll try to get the first article out in the next several days. Thanks for your enthusiasm.
#adaptivesystems
Every adaptive system, large or small, has agency and is productive. Operating principles include self-organization, emergence, inter-connections, inter-dependence. Entropy is the energy principle of life or death. Maximum entropy is death. Self-organization creates adaptive life.
#adaptivesystems
I’m loving your idea of building a community of systems thinkers who focus on living systems and their networks. Call it #adaptivesytems
You are a living, adaptive system. Your heart and lungs are subsystems. Your family is a supersystem, making you a subsystem within the system of your family.
We may be a rarity. I have not found any intro to adaptive living systems. A good book is Self-Organization in Biological Systems (Scott Camazine et al.). The Santa Fe Institute does good work. Check them out. Mostly, I read this and that - self-learning. I wish there were more of us on Bluesky.
02.01.2025 17:56 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Your journey is interesting. Consider expanding your systems thinking to complex adaptive systems. Understanding people and all biological life as living adaptive systems is rewarding and challenging.
Best wishes for your journey.
Thanks, Dani. My posts are mostly links to my articles. Any one is an example of my interest in sharing science with the general reader. Here is a link to one that I have posted. No rush.
I am also interested in connecting with other popular science writers. 😎
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...
Of the 14 past U.S. presidents in this chart, Trump is the only one who speaks at the level of a 4th grader. Does this have something to do with his popular appeal?
#literacy
d.newsweek.com/en/full/7743...
I'm not a researcher, but I write on the sciences of human nature as the research findings relate to everyday life. My mission is to make the fidnings of esoteric sciences available to the public.
Here is a recent piece:
unpuzzling.me/life_puzzles...