OpenTangent

There are a lot of new vegan faces in 2018 and that's fantastic, we seem to be on the cusp of critical mass and a global vegan takeover. I consider myself a latecomer to veganism, although I've been vegan for about four years now and vegetarian for eight.

All eyes are on Islam right now. The global acceptance or rejection of Islam hinges on the response of "everyday" muslims. Let me be very clear; we as non-muslims do not exist to serve Islam. On the contrary, Islam exists because we tolerate it and our tolerance is running thin.

Apparently my vehement atheism is becoming a real embarrassment for my family. I was advised (in a very caring and helpful yet condescending manner, as is Christian custom) that my sarcastic attitude towards the fairy tales that so many people hold so close, is putting a lot of social strain on those around me. It was suggested that i unfriend anyone on Facebook who may be embarrassed by me directly or anyone who may be embarrassed on behalf of those close to me.

Misunderstandings are far more common than people realise and i'd argue that they are the sole cause of all conflict in the world. Using the right words in the right situations is paramount to avoiding unnecessary conflict. Many people assume that the words "morals" and "ethics" are interchangeable. They aren't, here's why.

I've always said that role models are unhealthy for character development because one tends to overlook negative traits in influential and charismatic people. I might rethink that statement because one person in particular shares my perspective with regards to ethics, technology and society almost entirely. That person is Jacob Appelbaum .

The world is not black and white but our feeble minds tend to simplify the world around us in order to accelerate our interaction with it. Similar to how lowering the graphics in computer games results in a faster game but a less accurate picture. The fact that religion is still so prevalent in society is evidence that our societal GPU is woefully underpowered and is producing a poor reality.

Sometimes i want nothing more than to see the free market system burn but my impatience is unwarranted, the current system needs to run its course but it's end is inevitable. The financial industry, the legal industry, the arms industry, etcetera will all eventually disappear, not by force but through natural and predictable obsolescence.

We can’t blame politicians, bankers, corporate elite or anyone for that matter, for the problems in the world. Everyone is playing the role they see as fit under the current socio-economic system. Once you remove yourself from a perspective that is restricted by the constraints of the current system, the situation becomes crystal clear and the simple solution becomes apparent.

For thousands of years people have subscribed to culturally accepted actions and beliefs in order to achieve a sense of belonging . This is a natural desire in a social species but we now face a fork in our evolution since the information age has forced the emergence of global culture and at the same time has forced us to accept rationality through readily available information. It's community versus rationality and i'm sure everyone reading this knows that community will always win but there's hope in the fact that the community of rational thinkers is growing strong. The inspiration for this post was an article by Muhammad Karim  which was written as a reaction to Zapiro 's recent comic strip depicting Muhammad . That was of course a reaction to the "Everybody draw Muhammad day" group on Facebook which has since disappeared with no explanation but  censorship is another debate. I support "Everybody draw Muhammad day" because of my stance on f...

I've noticed a trend in corporate marketing towards a transparent/ethical company image . Most notable is Google and their unofficial 'do no evil' motto. As i've mentioned in a previous article , gaining so much trust is potentially hazardous in the long term but for the time being, we as consumers are benefiting from their ethical attitude. Even if the companies preach openness and honesty without actually practising it, they are publicly acknowledging that it is important and other companies will start to notice. The food and beverage industry still thrives on the 'cash cow consumer' approach to marketing but the financial industry for instance, is steeped devious dealings and an image of honesty can be especially beneficial to banks, insurance companies, etcetera. On the local front, there are two financial institutions that have come to my attention, who have taken to transparent marketing with full force; Capitec Bank and MiWay Insurance . Both Capite...