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k-dramas & movies
[Drama 2019] Arthdal Chronicles, 아스달 연대기
By marykarmelina, July 20, 2018 in k-dramas & movies
kim ji won
asadal chronicles
tiger457_stv 2,875
1 hour ago, Gumiho9 said:
Saya looked like a vampire with that makeup and cloak And the way he just walked in and out of the castle in the night with no problem was so funny.
And it's the second time he murders someone with no second thoughts or regrets. With all the scheming, cold blooded murders and manipulations he really does act like Tagon's son.
The last two episodes of part 2 should be very interesting. I think Tagon will be forced to do what Saya wants him to do which is embracing his Igutu identity and naming Saya his heir after becoming king of Arthdal.
@Gumiho9 said Saya looks like a vampire.
Saya is a creature of his environment, seeing how the elders kill without regret (he saw Tagon killed his own soldier when they found out that Saya is an Igutu), as long as it serves their purpose. So killing other doesn't bother him. Note that he always looks so weak, letting Tanya beat him up and not practicing martial art when Hae Tuak was trying to teach him... but he is a sly Igutu (who is not as weak as he pretends). He was able to learn to kill bird with a sling shortly after Tanya taught him.
In many way he is an innocent child who doesn't know right from wrong (he is not sure why Tanya was horrified that he kill some one unimportant, because it's not in the strategy book that he has read)...much like a young boy would burn an ant or step on a lizard without 2nd thought. Tanya who came from a simpler and fairer background, and had suffered brutality at the hand of the strongs, is slowly teaching Saya to do the kind thing. Guniho9 is right. Saya does look like a vampire!
The 2 neanthals at the end of episode 10 are well dressed in modern Arthdal clothing. One of them may be the child that Asa Rin talked to in the 1st episode after her her neanthal husband was killed. Who fed, clothed and taught them civilized habits all these years? Probably the Society of White Peak Mountain's Hearts who seemed more peaceful (like the Wahan themselves) and probably opposed to the extermination of the neanthals. This sect is probably the original religion which was hijacked by Asa Ron and his group. Tanya would fit in well with these folks.
Kind of remind this reader of early Christianity during 1st century Roman time where it's teaching of love thy neighbors was suppressed. The irony is that what they practice was probably the original religious teachings!... but how can you expand an empire and enslave others with that kind of religion?
Lukijong 385
15 minutes ago, vangsweetie637 said:
Okay. So my eyes didn't deceive me right? One of the two neanthals is played by Nick Khun?
Yes, Rottib is played by Nickhun.
bebebisous33 115,921
Certified PAC Member
35 minutes ago, tiger457_stv said:
In many way he is an innocent child who doesn't know right from wrong (he is not sure why Tanya was horrified that he kill some one unimportant, because it's not in the strategy book that he has read). Tanya who comes from a simpler and fairer background, is slowly teaching Saya to do the kind thing. Guniho9 is right. Saya does look like a vampire!
The Roman Empire only authorized Christian religion in 313 AD and not before. From 64 AD to 305 AD, there were several waves of persecution against Christians (1st Century to the 4th century). The reasons for the persecution against Christians were multiple: socio-economical, political and religious. First, rumors against them were spreading making them suspicious, like f. ex. cannibalism, incest, disrupting the pax deorum because they didn't worship the imperator. People thought that disrupting "pax deorum" led to calamities, like civil wars or disease, invasions from the East aso.
Furthermore, christian religion preached equity which was quite new in such a hierarchical society. Only in 394 AD, Roman Empire became Christian and all the other religions became targeted and were forbidden. Actually, what you are describing fits more the Middle-Age. During the Middle-Age, many crusades (even against their own population like f. ex. against the Cathars in France) were proclaimed in the name of God, although love and tolerance are in the center of their theology. Strangely, Muslim State in Spain in the Middle-Age was far more tolerant than the Christian church back then. They let Jews and Christians practice their religion, whereas after the "reconquista", Jews and Muslims were forced to adopt Christian religion or were cast out/deported.
Sorry for the History lesson but as a History teacher, I couldn't help myself intervening here.
5 minutes ago, bebebisous33 said:
Furthermore, christian religion preached equity which was quite new in such a hierarchical society. Only in 394 AD, Roman Empire became Christian and all the other religions became targeted and were forbidden. Actually, what you are describing fits more the Middle-Age. During the Middle-Age, many crusades (even against their own population like f. ex. against the Cathars in France) were proclaimed in the name of God, although love and tolerance are in the center of their theology. Strangely, Muslim State in Spain in the Middle-Age were far more tolerant than the Christian church back then. They let Jews and Christians practice their religion, whereas after the "reconquista", Jews and Muslims were forced to adopt Christian religion or were cast out/deported.
thanks bebebisous33 what happened to the cathars of southern france as part of the crusade was truly regrettable. Unfortunately with the religious zeal of the crusade period, nothing short of orthodoxy was tolerated. Every religion went through such period, even peaceful one like buddhism (during Japan's Sengoku warring era of the 15-16th century so many militaristic sects abound).
It is unfortunate but when a group feels threaten they often use religion as a pretext for mayhem.
Religion has always been a tool to legitimate power. An absolute monarch was supposed to be sent by god and a rebellion against such a sovereign meant that people were rioting against God. Even in the nazism, we could say that the national-socialist ideology is a pseudo-religion. Hitler was sometimes presented as a sort of messiah who was supposed to come to help Germany to survive. Deep down, Hitler even wanted to replace Christian religions with his "own religion" that's why he used a cross as symbol: the swastika.
In AC, the fight between Tagon and Asa Ron reminds me of the investiture controversity from the Middle-Age. In the German Empire, the imperator and the pope were fighting against each other because one saw himself superior to the other. The pope was powerless without the imperator/king's support, on the other hand the German King couldn't receive the title imperator, if the pope refused to crown him. The pope didn't like the meddling of the king in the investiture of bishops. However, it had become a tradition that the king would choose the bishops in his kingdom so that he would be sure to be supported by them. He needed the support of bishops in order to reinforce his power. At some point, one pope wanted to put an end to this tradition and even threatened the king Henri IV to excommunicate him if he kept meddling in the investiture of bishops. Henri IV. was forced to lower himself in front of the pope as he walked to Canossa in simple clothes and barefoot. Just like Tagon in the last episode... Here, we witnessed how the future king legitimated his ruling with religion and how the head of the church reacted as he felt his position threatened. In History, the German king and imperator lost the fight in the long term.
thank you for the above.... Ultimately the reformation in Germany split it into catholics and noncatholics camps... so I guess the Pope lost too! Hope this arthdal political struggle won't split them into little bickering tribes again or else it's the stone agge again!
3 minutes ago, tiger457_stv said:
Yes, the pope lost the fight in the long term too against the lords. With the reformation, the true winners were the lords.
In other words, first the German king had to fight against the pope (Christian Church) and lost some power due to the investiture quarrel. Then, the German king had to fight against the rising of lords and he also lost the fight against them. That's the reason why the German Empire wasn't united at all... little by little the sovereign lost his power and had only a title without much power. It disappeared with Napoleon in 1806.
Sorry for the History lesson again. On the other hand, this drama is really interesting because you can connect it to real History: genocide, slavery, investiture quarrel, evolution of humankind (Stone age - Bronze Age), the Neanderthals etc.
bwnnygirl 3
ARTHDAL CHRONICLES THEORY
*contains spoiler*
All this time I thought that ES is Arammun but today something came to my mind. Like said before when the world was created the three heavenly objects were sent to this world and also when the world is going to end they will come back. I believe in form of reincarnation. That means Tanya is reincarnation of Asa Sin and I think ES might actually be Risan's ik people will not agree I also want him to be Aramun but thinking about it they both loved each other and lived down in lark and also Saya might actually be Aramun. Because when u think about it the sword that will slay the world might be Risan if I am not wrong he was a warrior and also the bell is Asa Sin and her psychic powers and also the mirror might be Aramun so Saya. But I really don't know and I hope that Es is Aramun. Still the way the horse reacted "he's a weak one" really left me surprised I was wondering if there's also someone else.
Edited June 30, 2019 by bwnnygirl
Kyo1991 77
3 hours ago, vangsweetie637 said:
I just realized it when my friend told me!!
I thought he was Jang Geun Suk!!!
But, after I rewatching it, finally I can see Nickhun there, hahaha
Shame of me, I am 2PM fans but cannot recognize him in the drama!
iamlatika 6,520
lebeaucouple 1,993
On 6/30/2019 at 5:37 AM, tiger457_stv said:
This reader hopes for a realistic ending, not an utopian one where the tribes break up and each go their ways happily ever after. That just doesn't happen.
My dear chingu, yes, it will not happen for utopian system, not in history and not in this era. First we need to understand why in primitive days, the tribes were already started killing and exterminating other races for what reason? The strong ones can say whatever reasons like combining or exchanging resources with other race, ultimately their aim is not to stay harmony or form alliance, it's to take over their land and resources out of greed for power, if you recap the Ep1. The history has been repeated by itself, even until now, we still can see countries fighting for land ownership.
Utopian is just an ideology for mankind hoping for this type of ideal society formed aiming for a fair and equal system (it's not what you mean break out the tribes and each go their own way happily ever after), and I know it will not happen, simply because of human nature. However, Somehow human need to stay positive to make things happen in a slow and steady approach but a compromising way. My home country can accept diversity of race and embrace people otherness, giving credit to the first country leader and his powerful and enduring team. Having say that, it doesn't mean it will be forever happiness for his country people, it took many years of hard work to sustaining it, with the on-going education system for the people to understand the importance of staying harmony together with different races in the same country.
Back to the drama, I am sure writer intention is not just simply exposing on the killing or wipe off other tribes, history had proven to us that any tribes (in today context call small countries) once they form alliance, it will be combined into one and then break away. Look at the strong one, Soviet Union previously, and broke into small one again and now we have Russia, Estonia, etc.
In my opinion, (I may be wrong) there may be two possible answers to come out at the end :
1. A new kingdom forming that likely an imperialism one (a realistic one)
2. Another positive and "perfect world" forming (since its a fantasy drama) that is hoping all the tribes staying in harmony that may run by ES (no more killing).
My guess is the writer spent 7 years to complete the story, he should have done enough researches. i would think he may give a positive msg at the end, just like we can see "some light at the end of tunnel". I really enjoyed this drama so far... .
Raquel Bastian 6,452
pretenred1
hi Chingus,
i really love this drama and happy that netflix is uploading the drama very timely
however, there are only 2 episodes left and then we will wait for September.
i like it when ES snapped when Tanya already thought he died, and in the preview for the next episode, ES will bring his spirit to have a life back when Tanya learned that ES is not dead.. they are really connected with each other.
I just want Taelha and Tagon to be forever (haha cheesy it may sound) i love their chemistry.
Sanya is a bad richard simmons...
and I hate the Wahan tribe people :/
The writer keeps surprising me. First, I didn't expect Saya to realize that Tanya had been using him so soon and to propose a deal with her. Although Saya has a twisted view of the world due to his upbringing, I was pleased to see that there is still some goodness in him. Unlike his father who is obsessed with ambition and power so that he doesn't value human's life any longer, Saya can not accept to be alone again. We can see that Saya hates Tagon in reality because he enjoys thinking how Tagon was upset after he left the note. He wants to create chaos around Tagon so that the latter is not able to achieve his goal. Saya is not different from Eunseom in a sense that both accepted their own identity from the start. Both wondered about their origins but they wanted to belong to a family and place. That's why Saya didn't want Tanya to leave his side.
Tanya is Eunseom's strength... so when he had a dream, when he heard her saying that she regretted having met him, it really pained him so much. However, the hurt brought him back to life in my opinion. I would like Eunseom to take revenge on those people who tormented him so much.
Mubaek is my favourite character right now because he is the only sane human here in Arthdal. Furthermore, I like him to be acting like a double agent.
I was expecting Asa Ron's downfall this week but it looks like he will be dethroned next week.
LSGLMH_88 4,189
@bebebisous33 also i don't think that neanthals will go jumping on every saram now.. Ragaz has motive.... he wants to take revenge... though mubaek was shocked but looking at how calm ragaz is , Mubaek & Ragaz will surely come up with some solutions...
23 minutes ago, LSGLMH_88 said:
But Ragaz died 20 years ago. The two Neanthals are the kids who survived the massacre and the hunt. They felt that CE's sister is an igutu that's why they approached her.
I guess, Mubaek will tell them what he wants to do so that they will work together. I can see that the White Mountain Heart will join Mubaek's side. Right now, Tagon wants to destroy the White Mountain Heart but the moment Tanya joins them, Tagon can no longer do it. Tanya represents a thread to Asa Ron. I doubt that Tanya will let Tagon use her...
Gumiho9 161
7 hours ago, bebebisous33 said:
We can see that Saya hates Tagon in reality because he enjoys thinking how Tagon was upset after he left the note. He wants to create chaos around Tagon so that the latter is not able to achieve his goal.
He thinks Igutus are superior than others and wants Tagon to embrace his Igutu identity and rule Arthdal as a proud Igutu king with himself as his son and heir. so for now he wants Tagon to succeed and he is helping him in his own twisted way. He wants power but he needs Tagon to achieve it, without Tagon he is nothing and he knows it but of course things could change if he becomes the crown prince.
Btw, I think the older Neanthal is Itzrub, he was present in the meeting between Sarams and Neanthals that happened twenty years ago. We don't know where the second Neanthal kid is yet.
andy78 136,830
Looking forward to the next episode.Great story and the actors are very good...who will be Tanya husband?
herina_90 6,107
20 hours ago, Lukijong said:
The other Neanthal guy is Yiseuroobeu I think, he was also there at the meeting of Sanyeoks and Neanthals. Hence the other child that Asa Hon and Ragaz saved and raised still has not appeared yet.
Ahhh thanks for clearing that up! I must have missed his face in the earlier episodes. Saw some comments stating the other child was a girl.... which I never noticed in ep 1 either The only disconcerting thing was how pale Nickhun was compared to the other Neanthal.... maybe he spent the past 20 years hiding in a cave?
I am hoping though they don't have Tanya hiding for the next 2 episodes - which seems to be the case with Tagon activating everyone to find her and her only shots being in the tree house... I want to see her out and about doing things! We already have ES stuck in a deep deep hole, at least let 2 out of 3 sacred objects be roaming about.
stella77 1,910
I am late since this weekend was too busy. These last two episodes moved the plot so fast! I love it when the writers don't drag things out or dumb things down for the viewers. So much has happened in these episodes that by the end is episode10 - I was like noooooopo. Waiting for new episodes is really painful lol.
I cried along with E and his captured friends. That whole suicide and the trauma E scenes was hard to watch. I lost it when he started to say the lines (´༎ຶོρ༎ຶོ`). The drama does remind us once again that we humans can be the most inhumane creatures to our own kind. The dream scene he had of Tanya was well done and yey - it snapped him out of the trauma. I pray to the drama gods that we get a reunion scene at the end of this season because can you imagine us all waiting until the last season?!?! Happy that Tanya will find out soon that E is still alive and ohh how will this change her dynamic with S?
All of Saya & Tanya scenes were amazing. I am loving their dynamic of who is really in control (the true master) and how it goes back and forth between them. Kudos to the writers for keeping us on our toes and making things NOT predictable.
This show proves again why I support separation of state and religion lol. It is bad enough that power corrupts but when you add in the manipulation of faith and religion, sigh - it never works out well. On this note I was enjoying Saya's strategic manipulations but at the same time he is totally endangering so many innocent lives (his own fellow White Heart ppl!) to spite his father for being ashamed + indirectly protect Tanya. I find his character most interesting at the moment.
Yey N kids are grown up, still alive and back in the plot!! I like the idea of them and Mubaek joining forces to help E down the line.
nikir 2,339
Ep 10 was just awesome.. loved all the interactions between Saya and Tanya.. very impactful .. loving Saya's character.. wow what a discovery it is to find out his various shades.. a skilled strategist n manipulator yet a needy child when it comes to Tanya.. he will not be willing to give up Tanya to ES. And I wonder how he will react when he finds out that Tanya is still not honest with him.. he believes Tanta dreamt abt him.. and Tanya has still not told abt ES esp the face being alike.. she almost told him. N wonder why Says didn't try to find out what she meant... can't wait for Saya to find out all this!!
And while ES seems like childhood sweetheart for Tanya.. the attraction n the vibe with Saya is powerful.. whom will she choose.. ? I hope the series doesn't end with Saya dying though it seems likely... looks likeSaya may go to abby extreme for Tanya.. like how Tagon wants power..Saya may want Tanya...
In season 1 we had saya suffering for 3 episodes n her growth in season 2..now ES is suffering in season 2 ..season 3 we will witness his growth in strength..
We still don't know the real reason why Tagon took Says..i doubt he wants him as his successor.... maybe he wants him not to live in shame like him..?
Too many thoughts ant season 3..Neanthals.. wil share in next post..
PS: why is season 3 in September? Despite the agonizing wait.. isn't it too risky as ppl may lose interest in 2 months ?


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PFT Score Charts
PFT Score ChartsUSMC Officer2014-02-24T07:45:45-08:00
The Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test scoring has, for the most part, remain unchanged for years. However, there are likely to be more frequent changes occurring as the Corps better understands the impact of female scores due to the new pull-up requirements.
The minimum performance requirement for Marines to pass the PFT is to achieve a 3d class score, by age group. Marines must complete the minimum performance requirements in each event and achieve an overall combined score, as shown in Table 2-1.
PFT Minimum Performance Requirements
Pull-Ups/Flexed Arm
Abdominal Crunches
3.0 Mile Run (Min)
Min Score
Additional Points Needed
17-26 3/15 (SEC) 50 28 (m) 105 135 30
27-39 3/15 45 29 (m) 94 110 16
40-45 3/15 45 30 (m) 88 88 0
46+ 3/15 40 33 (m) 65 65 0
The minimum performance in each event will not achieve the overall points required for a passing score. Additional points must be earned in at least one event in order to achieve a 3d Class PFT or better, as shown in Table 2-2. Failure to meet the minimum requirements in any one event constitutes a failure of the entire test, regardless of the total number of points earned. Table 1-2 shows the minimum score required, per age group, to earn each PFT classification score. Marines should be encouraged to continually strive to perform their best and not merely accept minimum performance.
PFT Classification Scores
PFT Class
1st 225 200 175 150
2nd 175 150 125 100
3rd 135 110 88 65
PFT Score Chart
Points Pull-Ups Crunches 3-Mile Run Pull-Ups Crunches 3-Mile Run
100 20 100 18:00 8 100 21:00
99 99 18:10 99 21:10
95 19 95 18:50 7 95 21:50
90 18 90 19:40 90 22:40
65 13 65 23:50 4 65 26: 50
47 47 26: 50 47 29:50
45 9 45 27:10 45 30:10
40 8 40 28:00 3 40 31:00
39 x 28:10 x 31:10
35 7 x 28:50 x 31:50
14 x x 32:20 x x 35:20

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Review: Miss Virginia
Miss Virginia is based on a true story about a Washington D.C. mother who wanted a chance at a better education for her son. It stars Uzo Aduba as the inspirational Virginia Walden. There are spoilers ahead.
Miss Virginia begins when Virginia learns that her son James (Niles Fitch) is cutting school. She gets a glimpse of how dangerous and dysfunctional the public schools are. She realizes her son is learning nothing and is afraid to go to school.
She enrolls him in a private school. He loves it. He's thriving. But Virginia can't raise the $7000 tuition. She needs a scholarship, but none is available.
She tries to earn more money with a second job in the office of Lorraine Townsend (Aunjanue Ellis), a politician who claims to be working to better the education of D.C.'s children.
She quickly realizes that her additional paycheck is pitifully small and Lorraine Townsend isn't really doing what she claims.
Then she goes to see Congressman Williams (Matthew Modine), who created a program in his home state to provide scholarship money for needy kids. He informs her that D.C. is not a state and it literally takes an act of Congress to make any changes in the educational programs in the city.
Miss Virginia starts collecting signatures on a petition. Through fits and starts and with help from other parents, mainly the very effective people-person Shondae (Amirah Vann), a movement begins.
They deliver petitions. They get thousands of signatures. The nervous Virginia makes speeches. They march. They mob meetings. Eventually they are heard. Congressman Williams creates a scholarship bill and it comes to a vote.
The day of the vote the protestors are behind bars, the kids in public school are watching C-Span during the vote, and Lorraine Townsend is gloating because she thinks the vote will be defeated.
You know, of course, because a movie based on a true story is always about triumph over the odds, that the bill will pass. Since that day, thousands of D.C.'s kids have benefited from the work begun by Virginia Walden and her neighbors.
Uzo Aduba is brilliant at everything she does. She very effectively shows the frustration, pain, and slow growth of this single mom who takes on the US government and wins. The story is told with tension, suspense, and many human moments showing just how desperate parents are to secure better opportunities for their kids. I absolutely recommend watching it.
If you can pin the poster above on Pinterest, that would be much appreciated. Also, have a look at the trailer.
I think you'll be inspired by Miss Virginia . I certainly was.
Amirah Vann, Aunjanue Ellis, Matthew Modine, Miss Virginia, Niles Fitch, Uzo Aduba, Virginia Walden
Now for an entirely unrelated rant
Name Your Favorite Supporting Character from Orange is the New Black
Watch This: Trailer for Tallulah


Did God Really Harden Pharaoh's Heart In The Bible?
The Bible is the most powerful and life-changing book you can read. Those of us who love God, just call the Bible 'the Word'. In John 1 as well as the book of Revelation, Jesus is called 'the Word'. Jesus and the Bible are one in the same. There are some that hate God and futilely try to stand against the Word. These people don't know the dangerous ground they attempt to stand on. Some people that don't understand the Bible, much less God the Father, consider the Bible to be filled with contradictions. Other people have incorrectly concluded the Bible is filled with violence and depravity. The article, "Is The Bible Filled With Violence and Depravity?" clears that up for the honest person.
Is The Bible Filled With Contradictions?
People who don't really read the Bible often say "The Bible is filled with contradictions", in an effort to discount or negate the truths of the Bible. They often quote passages from the Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John and don't realize these books of the Bible are telling the eyewitness accounts of men who walked with the Son Of God (Jesus!), from their different perspectives. What a doctor observes will certainly be different from what a tax collector is going to notice when recording the same event. God wants us to see things from the eyes of others. However, there are some phrases in the Bible that are more of a challenge if you don't know about the historical and cultural backgrounds of the people written about.
In the Book of Exodus, we read about the King of Egypt (Pharaoh) and Moses. Moses came and told Pharaoh that he must let the people of Israel go. No boss is willing to let his staff go if they are working. In the case of Israel, they were slaves so they were free labor to Egypt. Moses used his faith and the power of God to confirm that God was with him by turning a river to blood, a staff into a snake, bringing pests on Egypt, and many other things. Finally, the last plague of Egypt was when the firstborn of every animal and human died, notice none of the Israeli's children died (Exodus 11:4). When Pharaoh's firstborn son died, he finally let God's people go in Exodus 12:31. He still had the pride and ignorance to attempt to recapture them after they departed. Pharaoh paid dearly for attempting to challenge God.
During the various plagues that were brought on Egypt by Moses' faith, there is a difficult saying in Exodus 9:12 that says that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh. It is repeated several times in the historical record. People who subscribe to the Dark Ages Mentality quickly latch on to this phrase saying, "Look, God is in control. He controlled Pharaoh." Did God really harden Pharaoh's heart? We must understand the language, culture, and way of writing a bit in order to understand the answer to this question.
In Japan, when we get really mad people sometimes say, HARA GA TATSU. Literally, that means "My stomach is standing". It may make sense in Japanese to someone who was raised in country, but it makes no sense to a foreigner. In English, when we want to get someone out and working we sometimes say, "Hit the streets", but does that mean they go outside and pound the pavement with their fists? Of course not.
Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He did mighty things among them, did they not let the people go, that they might depart?
Generations later, Samuel, an Israeli who understood his culture, the scriptures, and the sayings notes that it was Pharaoh that hardened his heart. God is not a human that looks just at our outward appearance. God is looking at our hearts. He wants to have a personal relationship with you and is controlling nothing unless we allow Him to, through our prayers. When we work against God we are heading for disaster. Romans 1:21 illustrates how God lets go of those who let go of Him and work against His Kingdom.
The better we know the Word of God, the better we shall know the God of the Word!


"Why can't Spurs win the Champions League?" Ronaldinho told the Daily Star. "Because they don't have history in the competition? Or because they have never won it before? Every team who has won the Champions League had to win it for the first time once.
"Their result against Manchester City, who are one of the best teams and have some of the best players in the competition, showed that they can compete with the best. At this stage, they will believe they can go all the way.
"If they play as they can then maybe they will."
"Why not?" the Argentine told a press conference, before stating: "Wow - he knows a lot about football and I'm going to respect him. He was a great team-mate when we played together at PSG. We spend some amazing times together on the pitch and the training ground.
"I learned a lot from him - laughing, smiling, dancing. If you want to play well, you have to be happy and smile. I learn a lot from Brazilian players but spending nearly three years with Ronaldinho was amazing.
"In football, anything can happen, just like in life. You must believe and have trust in yourself and your ability and quality. It is good that people like Ronaldinho think you have the quality to win. That increases our belief.


text:
December 6, 2018 / 12:38 PM / 7 months ago
Hammond says too late to negotiate new Brexit deal
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond arrives in Downing Street, London, Britain, December 4, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Chancellor Philip Hammond said it is a delusion to think that the government will be able to negotiate a new divorce deal with the European Union if the prime minister's agreement is defeated in a vote in parliament next week.
"The idea of renegotiating at the 11th hour is simply a delusion," Hammond told parliament. "We need to be honest with ourselves - the alternatives to this deal are no deal or no Brexit. Either will leave us a fractured society and divided nation."
Reporting By William James. Writing by Andrew MacAskill; editing by Stephen Addison


by Mason James, on September 4, 2014 — 2 minute read.
This is a cautionary tale with a very happy ending resulting in a dramatic increase in monthly income, and it all came down to this one simple change on their website.
Whenever we start working with a new client, one of the first things we do is to perform an audit of their current site with a focus on business growth.
We do a deep dive into various aspects of their sites including the technical structure, the design being used and whether or not that is helping to drive conversions, and of course…the hard data metrics, including visitor traffic via Google Analytics.
The result of any audit should give you a clear picture of where your business is currently positioned in comparison to your goals for growth.
Knowing exact numbers and avoiding guess work or "gut feelings" is the proper way to make decisions about what tactics you should be using to drive more traffic, conversions, and ultimately…revenue.
These numbers can come not only from knowing your traffic statistics and acquisition channels, but also from looking at your current cash flow and where exactly it's coming from.
After completing our audit, we identified several opportunities to increase engagement and conversions, but one thing stood out.
This business had implemented AdSense on their site a couple years prior and were making enough in ad revenue to make anyone jealous.
This isn't too surprising given the fact that Internet ad spending beat broadcast television for the first time last year.
But what we learned they were missing was quite shocking.
60% of their website traffic was coming from mobile devices and they had not implemented mobile advertising of any kind.
Obviously, missing out on 60% of any opportunity isn't good and this is especially true when it can be corrected with one simple change to their AdSense settings.
The increase in revenue was immediate and dramatic.
Within the first two months revenue from mobile ads went from zero to over $10,000 monthly and this number continues to climb every month.
It's often the case that when we're so focused on building our business, we tend to get tunnel vision on individual aspects of growth and forget to periodically slow down in order to take a breath, and look at the business as a whole.
This is easier said than done, especially when your team is small and everyone is focused on successfully completing their individual daily tasks.
But I hope by reading this you'll take a moment to do your own overall business auditing and be able to identify these types of small changes that can have a lasting affect on your bottom line.
Of course, if you do need a qualified team to help you identify opportunities and will be invested in your growth, you can always drop us a line right here.


IPAM carries out its mission with the assistance and support of many people in a variety of roles. The IPAM community consists of the directorate, staff, Science Advisory Board, Board of Trustees, and of course, program organizers, speakers, and participants, which are unique to each program. You can read about current members of the directorate and staff below. Openings for associate director will be posted on this site every two or three years; staff openings are advertised on UCLA Campus Human Resources. The Science Advisory Board approves all scientific programs sponsored by IPAM. The Board of Trustees approves the budget and plans for the upcoming year. Each board meets once a year and communicates with the Director regularly. Members serve four year terms. IPAM's directors are ex-officio members. The building directory includes all directors, staff and participants of the current long program with offices at IPAM.


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Kimberly Benston to Serve as President
By Staff on May 1, 2015 |
News and The Latest
In a campus-wide email sent earlier today, Board of Managers Chair Howard Lutnik announced that provost and Frances B. Gummere Professor of English Kimberly Benston has agreed to serve as Haverford's president for an initial two-year term starting on July 1.
The appointment comes a little under two months after Dan Weiss announced that he was leaving Haverford to become the next president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Weiss served as the College's president for two years, the shortest stay in the position in school history.
Benston joined Haverford's faculty in 1984, and has since been invaluable in the establishment of the Hurford Center for Arts & Humanities as well as the recent Health Studies and Tri-Co Environmental Studies Programs. Prior to Haverford, Benston taught at Yale University, where he also earned his B.A. (1974), M.A. (1977), M. Phil. (1978) and PhD. (1980).
Before becoming provost three years ago, Benston served as chair of the English Department, director of Africana Studies, and director of the Hurford Center for Arts & Humanities. As provost, Benston has overseen the hiring of sixteen new faculty, fifteen of whom are women and/or people of color.
Also a member of Haverford's senior staff, Benston has been a driving force in the College's already effective Plan for 2020 as well as the Lives That Speak fundraising campaign, which has raised over $190 million to date.
According to Lutnik, Benston "lives the values of Haverford and [he] has done much to advance our mission. Nobody could be better positioned to build on the College's momentum in the coming years."
Published in News and The Latest
Dan Weiss
Howard Lutnick
Kim Benston
Lives that Speak
More from The LatestMore posts in The Latest »
Editorial: A Note about Transparency
Film Review: The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)
Haverford Students Among Hundreds of Thousands at Women's March on Washington
Haverford's Andy Warhol Collection Spectacularly Unveiled


The air we breathe is essential for life itself, but cooling and conditioning to create a comfortable climate is also important as is ventilation and circulation.
Air Cup brings you an information resource on clean air solutions that you can use to gain a more comprehensive understanding of our life giving atmosphere and how we can condition it to make our lives more comfortable as well as improve health by reducing pollutants that may harm us.
There are many appliances available that can do these jobs for us and provide us with a clean and unpolluted medium to breathe in our homes and workplaces while helping to maintain a comfortable climatic environment worthy of our technological advancement.
The more commonly seen kind of climate controlling systems in offices and public buildings are large HVAC or heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems that replenish the air, circulating and cooling and in many cases purifying too.
It really depends on the make and model as to the kind of air processing that is done, but most of the time the chances are the air you're breathing in public buildings and workplaces is clean enough.
Fixed air conditioning installations are fine for larger buildings and public places and they are even cost effective to a point.
But for smaller buildings such as domestic homes and small offices, it can become uneconomical to run a large AC system especially if multiple rooms are used by lots of different people and chances are units will be left turned on in vacant rooms.
While there isn't much that can be done about people simply forgetting to turn off AC units in a room when they leave aside from reminding everyone of their civic and environmental duties, a more economical solution can be found in using smaller, standalone portable or free standing units.
A single, small portable AC unit sited in a room that is occupied can be more economical simply because it uses less power than a larger fixed unit. There is one major drawback with portable units and that is they need to be vented to the outside and this is generally done using a length of flexible plastic ducting hose connected to a window venting kit.
Needing to limit a portable unit's actual portability by needing to have its vent fixed to an external wall outlet of some description sort of negates its usefulness as a mobile unit. However, since purchase costs are usually much lower than a fixed unit and there are no installation costs involved, many people opt for this kind of appliance to keep cool.
The problem with air conditioners is they do use a lot of power to effectively cool a room to a comfortable temperature. Two or three kilowatts or more is common and when this amount of power is consumed over the space of a full waking day, costs can soon mount up.
There is a more economical cooling solution for those in the right circumstances.
There are cooling appliances that don't use the refrigeration process that true AC utilizes to produce old air, but instead rely on cooling the air by evaporation of moisture, circulating this chilled air around a room using a powerful internal fan. These units are much cheaper to run since they have no compressor to power, typically running at between 100 and 200 watts.
This is as much as 1/20th of the amount of power used by ACs, meaning energy costs are that much lower as well! There is a major drawback to these appliances that is very different to that of air conditioners.
Evaporative coolers only work in dry climates. If the air gets humid in your location, you are out of luck as they simply don't produce any cooling effect at high humidity levels. For more detailed information, we recommend you visit: https://ventlessportableairconditioner.intervalinc.com which is a highly specialized and informational resource on ventless portable air conditioners (better known as evaporative or swamp coolers).
These are coolers that have no need of a vent or exhaust hose, making them completely self-contained, compact and portable.
Everyone has a choice as to how they elect to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature in homes, offices and other buildings. If you can afford air conditioning, this is generally the best solution except in areas that have naturally dry heat in which case you can save a small fortune by opting for evaporative cooling.
Of course, there is the even cheaper option of having no cooling at all, but in some areas that have punishingly high temperatures, it all comes down to how comfortable you want to be, or not as the case may be.


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FFDA at a Glance
1-Vulnerable Group Development (VGD)
2-Pregnant Mother allowance program
3-Pre-primary School
4-Technical & Vocational Training
5-Health, Family Planning and HIV/AIDS
6-Water and Sanitation
7-Gender and Development
8-Rights and Social Justice
9-Day Observation
10-Disability and Development
1-Advocacy & Networking
2-Co-ordination with the NGOs and Civil Society
3-Monitoring & Evaluation
Report & Publications
Donated Us
In fact, one of the important support program of FFDA is the Coordination with GO, NGO, Civil Society, development activists and other stakeholders. The main purpose of the coordination is to build up rapport, relation, linkages and exchanging views and ideas for increasing the program performance and development impact as well as managing all sorts of support and services for the community people.
We know that at the Upazila level there exist 22 government departments to provide the support and service to the community people living in different part of the Upazila even in remote part. The department's main role and responsibility is to provide services for all level of the people but in fact they are not proactive and responsive considering the service requirement of the community people. They are generally non-responsive and indifferent about the development of the poor people and have very little engagement with the community. As a result the community people are deprived from the services available in government departments. Most of the departments have enough potential to contribute to the development.
FFDA has been working with government as a development partners and making all out effort to supplement and complement in their development initiatives. So, FFDA participated in all sharing session and meeting organized by the government and continuously exchanging views and ideas with the development actor and government as well. Further, to increase the program impact FFDA always ensured the government participation in its program activities to ensure the services for the community. FFDA has established and strong rapport and relation with the government officials and has been assisting the people in establishing linkages with government representative as most of the department has assigned responsibility to serve the people including poor and hard core poor people.
Again, the NGO representatives, development activists and Civil Society members can play significant role for the community people. As a result, FFDA has been maintaining close relation and coordination with the civil society representatives to make them committed and responsive towards the development of the community people. During the year, several meetings and sharing session have been conducted with the civil society members, community leaders; Local Government officials, Imam and Local Elites. Again, FFDA participated in most of the meeting and sharing session arranged by the government officials and contributed significantly in making the meeting and session successful and seeks support for poor and hard core poor people. However, it can be opined that the organization all necessary support and cooperation from the NGO representatives and civil society.
www.ffda.org.bd
Forum for Development Association(FFDA)
13/A,7/A, (G.F), Babor Road, Block - B, Mohammadpur
City: Dhaka. Postal Code: 1207
Web Address: www.ffda.org.bd
Email: ffdassociation@gmail.com
Phone number: +001680058248 (whatsApp), +8801790090701
Mamoo IT(Since-2004) || RafeeMasud


Sample of REX volumetric clouds running in PREPAR3D v.2.4 REX Soft Clouds is the new volumetric-like soft cloud texture add-on for FSX, PREPAR3D and FSX:Steam Edition. Get ready to be amazed! This soft cloud pack gives a true volumetric feel to your flight simulator clouds. REX Soft Clouds takes advantage of the core features of PREPAR3D v2 while realistically enhancing the FSX, FSX-Steam Edition and PREPAR3D v.1.4 cloud environment. This package is compiled from years of feedback from current REX customers to meet a specific demand! You will truly experience volumetric haze and fog as never before seen within a flight simulator environment.


Daniel Weiner, Ph.D., Vice President for Global Affairs at the University of Connecticut, spoke about the ways in which UConn is fostering global connections and making an economic impact in Connecticut.
UConn students in Bradenburg Germany, participate in the EuroTech German International Engineering Program.
NAN PRICE: Tell us about your role at UConn and the importance of cultivating global affairs.
DANIEL WEINER: When I came to UConn six and a half years ago, I was offered a job to lead "International Affairs." I requested that the title change to Global Affairs because phrasing as "international" creates a false dualism between domestic and international, whereas global embeds the local.
The way we approach global affairs is to start at home. So, while my job is to establish and nurture the global footprint of the University of Connecticut, we're very conscious of the reality that a global perspective needs to start locally.
If you look at Greater Hartford—and Connecticut more broadly—there's a lot of global business. We also have a remarkable diversity of people from all over the world speaking multiple languages.
We need to think of this as a comparative advantage. There's a structural labor shortage throughout the country and the types of labor we need are going to require immigration. Multicultural Greater Hartford is part of our attraction. In Connecticut overall, one of our advantages is we are viewed as an open, multicultural, tolerant, global space. Diversity and innovation are the oxygen of this country—we need the best and the brightest from everywhere, whether they come from Willimantic, Bangladesh, or Singapore.
NAN: In what ways does UConn create a global impact?
DANIEL: UConn is global. We have more than 225 MOUs in 163 institutions in more than 50 countries around the world. As part of our global strategy, we partner with cutting-edge research universities around the world and develop top-notch locations for students to study abroad.
And UConn draws in students from all over the world; one example is the UConn School of Business in Hartford, which provides a global feel and changes the character of the city.
One of the reasons international students come to Connecticut is because we have exceptional universities. They also come with the hope that they can stay in Connecticut, get jobs here, and either live here permanently or stay for part of their career.
Hartford used to be a place where you came to work and left at night—maybe on the weekend you would come to the city to see a performance or attend a sporting event. Greater Hartford is finally becoming a destination for young people to consider as a place to live, engage with the city, and develop a career.
When I hire someone from out of state to come work at UConn, I always enjoy talking them about Greater Hartford because they're usually very positive. It's important that people coming here have a positive feeling about the place and give us a fresh perspective.
Upward Hartford is one organization that's helping with our positive message. It's bringing in more startups and helping change the culture. Upward's partnership with Connecticut Innovations is transformative. It enables them to invest in new companies and new ideas.
NAN: In what ways does UConn support job placement in Connecticut and contribute to the state's economic development?
DANIEL: More than 1,000 UConn students a year participate in educational programs all over the world. We help prepare them for careers in the global market, because companies are looking for skilled labor that is also culturally competent. They are seeking global citizens.
I don't think people realize the extent of the relationship between Connecticut and Germany for economic development. We should be talking about that—and we're starting to.
One example is our German International Engineering Program, Eurotech, which offers a dual degree in engineering and German. In the fifth year of this program, students do an internship in Germany. These students are fluent in German and gain experience interning at an engineering firm in Germany before they return to Connecticut. There's a lot of German industry in the state of Connecticut. These young folks receive multiple job offers.
We are now building on the successful EuroTech model blending engineering, the humanities, and language acquisition and creating new programs in China, France, and Spain. If UConn can provide those types of experiences to prepare students for the global workforce, it adds an additional incentive for global companies in Connecticut to offer jobs that keep graduates here in the state.
NAN: You recently visited Israel. Can you tell us about some of the partnerships with universities there?
DANIEL: UConn is really pleased about the relationships we've built with universities in Israel. We partner with their leading research institutions to create potential impact on economic development for the state and the Greater Hartford region.
I was in Israel in November for two weeks. One of the universities I visited was Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, which is one of the leaders in cybersecurity. The state of Connecticut views itself as a potential place for leading cybersecurity companies. We're now connecting cybersecurity researchers at UConn with cybersecurity researchers at Ben-Gurion. Hopefully, those types of relationships lead to people launching companies, creating intellectual property, and potentially having companies move to Connecticut from Israel.
UConn is also working with the American Technion Society, which is a fundraising branch of The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. A UConn alumnus donated $500,000 to The Technion as a challenge. UConn and The Technion had to raise another $500,000, which we did. We now have Technion scientists and UConn scientists working on alternative energy research projects. We funded three projects this year, one of which is around fuel cells, an industry that's very important for the state of Connecticut.
And UConn is part of the Metabolic Research Alliance (MRA), a consortium formed in 2016 that includes The Jackson Laboratory, Yale University, and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Researchers from all four institutions are working on metabolic research, specifically regarding diseases leading to obesity and diabetes, which is becoming a global epidemic. It's another example of how UConn can bring top scientists together to develop innovative scientific discoveries and potentially lead to concrete economic development and new drug therapy regimes for patients.
NAN: As chair the Global Business Council for the MetroHartford Alliance, what message do you feel needs to be shared with the region?
DANIEL: I think part of what we need to do is have good data that helps us tell our story. Because at the end of the day, economic development for every state has a global component. Connecticut has some important advantages—our schools, universities, labor force, locations, and quality of life. We need to understand our state in a global context, feel proud of it, and promote it.
Fuel Love Creator and Founder Melissa Muszynski.
Fuel Love is one of many innovative startups participating in the 2019 reSET Impact Accelerator. The program is designed for entrepreneurs in the early stages of business development.
Fuel Love Creator and Founder Melissa Muszynski recently shared her startup experience with Innovation Destination Hartford.
INNOVATION DESTINATION HARTFORD: When and why did you launch your startup?
MELISSA MUSZYNSKI: I explicitly remember the morning Fuel Love launched. I was getting ready for work and closed my eyes for a minute to send positive energy to a relative going through a difficult time. Suddenly, the words "fuel love" came to my mind. It felt like the "ah-ha moment" so many business owners describe.
I visualized a logo on a shirt. It must have been my intuition saying, "launch a business to help connect people through love." It was a surreal moment.
I followed my intuition and within days we were designing shirts. A few weeks later we were selling them in stores throughout the state. I'm a spiritual person and I don't believe in coincidence. I believe we're destined to do something greater than we could imagine. That's why I created Fuel Love.
IDH: In your startup process, did you connect with any Connecticut business resources?
MELISSA: Yes. Early on, I connected and collaborated with other women-owned businesses, which has been critical to Fuel Love's growth. Establishing these relationships early on enabled my brand to grow organically with the support of talented, successful business owners.
I've learned and grown as a business owner because of these women and the inspiring relationships we've created. We all see the importance of supporting one another and we're creating a community of business owners who genuinely want to help each other. It's positive and empowering. I hope someday I can give back others like they have to me. Larissa Lake, founder of Larissa Lake and Co./Linden and Kimberly Pedrick, founder of dwell New Haven are two business women who believed in my brand from the beginning. I cannot thank them enough.
In addition, I'll begin two major endeavors as a new business owner this year. In February, I joined reSET's 2019 Impact Accelerator Program, which is designed to provide entrepreneurs with access to the knowledge, networks, and resources they need to grow their businesses and their social impact. The program focuses on connecting entrepreneurs with early-stage customers and industry-specific experts and mentors, while providing them with coaching along important startup milestones.
Later in the spring, I'll attend Cornell University to participate in its Women's Entrepreneurship Program in partnership with Bank of America. This first-ever pilot program and strategic partnership will provide women entrepreneurs with the skills, knowledge, and resources to build, manage, and scale a successful business.
IDH: Who is your target client and how are you marketing?
MELISSA: Our customer base is primarily women in their 20s to 60s who shop for themselves and young children. Many are mothers who want to teach their children about love and kindness and believe our merchandise offers them a good starting point to have those conversations. Some of our customers have gone through challenging times in their lives and feel connected by our clothing.
We're marketing on social media and via social media influencers, as well as in person and at major events throughout the state. We're also growing the brand by establishing retail partnerships.
IDH: How did you develop those partnerships? And do you intend to find additional distributors?
MELISSA: Our products will be available at more shops in Connecticut (and one in Rhode Island) and we'll be growing that list in the months to come. I made those connections by having in-person conversations with the business owners about the brands they look to collaborate with as they gear up for their fall and spring buying. We're also selective about the stores where we sell. They all have the mindset of empowering people with merchandise that does the same.
IDH: What's your biggest startup challenge?
MELISSA: Time! I have an enormous amount of energy, but not enough hours in the day. Being a wife and a mother to two little girls who have bigger social lives than me, while growing this company has been a major balancing act. However, with it comes the learning lesson of how to prioritize and manage deliverables in all areas of my life.
IDH: What are you most proud of that you have accomplished in the last year?
Fuel Love is one of innovative startups participating in the 2019 reSET Impact Accelerator.
MELISSA: Since our launch, Fuel Love is empowering people to offer more love, kindness, and compassion into their daily lives. We receive stories about how people are making a difference and that's what our company strives for—seeing people fuel love.
MELISSA: We would greatly benefit from collaborations with major retailers and social media influencers while creating robust and interactive communications and developing marketing and public relations campaigns.
IDH: Any advice to others thinking of launching a Connecticut startup?
MELISSA: Don't think, just do it. Take the leap of faith and believe in yourself and the product/service you can provide. We have one life to live and we have to make it count. None of us want to look back and have regrets.


text:
package com.podio.sdk;

import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.FutureTask;
import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue;
import java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public abstract class QueueClient {

    /**
     * The queue executor service that manages the request queue.
     */
    private ExecutorService executorService;

    protected QueueClient(int corePoolSize, int maxPoolSize, long waitTimeSeconds) {
        executorService = new ThreadPoolExecutor(corePoolSize, maxPoolSize, waitTimeSeconds, TimeUnit.SECONDS, new LinkedBlockingQueue<Runnable>(Integer.MAX_VALUE));
    }

    protected void execute(FutureTask<?> request) {
        executorService.execute(request);
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
More From Ideas 2017
Explore This Series
Is It Possible to Predict the Next Pandemic?
Ed Yong
Why Young Americans Are Questioning Democracy
Brianna PresseyNicolas Pollock
Does Technology Need to Be Ethical?
Tynesha ForemanSophia MyszkowskiNicolas Pollock
How Just Six Words Can Spark Conversation About Race in America
Nicolas PollockSophia Myszkowski
How People Like You Fuel Extremism
Discussing politics in groups of similarly minded people can be enough to stoke polarization—a frightening prospect in an era of social media.
By Conor Friedersdorf
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
For Cass Sunstein, a challenge that social media poses to democracy was clarified by a social-science experiment that he conducted in two different communities in Colorado: left-leaning Boulder and right-leaning Colorado Springs. Residents in each place were gathered into small groups to discuss their views on controversial topics, like climate change and same-sex marriage. Afterward, they were asked to report on the opinions of their groups as well as their own views on the subjects.
The results were the same in both communities.
The effect of gathering into groups composed of mostly like-minded people to discuss controversial subjects was to make participants more set and extreme in their views:
(1) Liberals, in Boulder, became distinctly more liberal on all three issues. Conservatives, in Colorado Springs, become distinctly more conservative on all three issues. The result of deliberation was to produce extremism -- even though deliberation consisted of a brief (15 minute) exchange of facts and opinions!
(2) The division between liberals and conservatives became much more pronounced. Before deliberation, the median view, among Boulder groups, was not always so far apart from the median view among Colorado City groups. After deliberation, the division increased significantly.
(3) Deliberation much decreased diversity among liberals; it also much decreased diversity among conservatives. After deliberation, members of nearly all groups showed, in their post-deliberation statements, far more uniformity than they did before deliberation.
Sunstein, a Harvard faculty member, and Reid Hastie, a professor at the University of Chicago, wrote about their findings in "Wiser: Getting Beyond Groupthink to Make Groups Smarter." And Sunstein returned to them Monday in a talk on social media and democracy at the Aspen Ideas Festival, which is co-hosted by The Aspen Institute and The Atlantic, where he ran through some of the explanations for group polarization.
Why does group polarization occur? There are three principal reasons, according to his research, which he once laid out at greater length in a Harvard Business Review article:
The first and most important involves informational signals—but with a few twists. Group members pay attention to the arguments made by other group members. Arguments in any group with an initial predisposition will inevitably be skewed in the direction of that predisposition. As a statistical matter, the arguments favoring the initial position will be more numerous than those pointing in another direction. Individuals will have thought or heard of some but not all the arguments that emerge from group deliberation. Thus deliberation will naturally lead people toward a more extreme point in line with what they initially believed.
The second reason involves reputation again. As we have seen, people want to be perceived favorably by other group members. Sometimes their publicly stated views are a function of how they want to present themselves. Once they hear what others believe, they will adjust their positions at least slightly in the direction of the dominant position in order to preserve their self-presentation.
The third reason stresses the close links among three factors: confidence, extremism, and corroboration by others. When people lack confidence, they tend to be moderate. The great American judge Learned Hand once said, "The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right." As people gain confidence, they usually become more extreme in their beliefs, because a significant moderating factor—their own uncertainty about whether they are right—has been eliminated. The agreement of others tends to increase confidence and thus extremism.
There are Americans who wonder why this big, diverse country should try to stay together. Wouldn't it be better, they argue, for cosmopolitan cities and coastal Blue States to go one way, while Red America goes another way, with both jurisdictions moving closer to the culture a majority of their members prefer?
On college campuses, too, there are those who wish that there was less diversity of viewpoint and belief, and seek to "train" everyone in the views that they regard to be settled and enlightened. And almost all of us belong to at least one social network where our feeds are disproportionately composed of content produced by people who are a lot like us.
But for all the benefits of agreement, solidarity, and spending time with like-minded people, there is compelling evidence of a big cost: the likeminded make us more confident that we know everything and more set and extreme in our views. And that makes groups of like-minded people more prone to groupthink, more vulnerable to fallacies, and less circumspect and moderate in irreversible decisions they make.
Conversely, if we can harness the strengths of viewpoint diversity, our collectives can reach better decisions. We can, in fact, be better off together than we would be apart.