To confirm or not to confirm? That was not Hamlet’s question, partly because he was pondering weightier matters and partially because people, including presumably even Hamlet, have a very strong tendency to subconsciously choose “confirm.” We simply tend not to ask ourselves my opening question. We tend to confirm. “Confirmation bias” as it is technically […]
To confirm or not to Confirm? Read More »
I thought that since my last two posts had been about preserved landscapes and preserved buildings, I ought to make it three of a kind by writing about preserving things, something that genealogists not only can take advantage of, but can actually do. Fortuitously, last weekend I attended a program about preserving objects at the
Last week I wrote about looking at preserved landscape to get a glimpse of what our ancestors saw but last weekend I had some personal experiences with preserved buildings, so I will turn from the natural to the architectural landscape. My family and I went to the village parade, which is always an “Americana Moment,”
Building for the Past Read More »
As I write this, I’ve just finished a twenty-mile bicycle ride with my daughter. There are many reasons for taking a long ride. It is time together. There is the mind-clearing relaxation, fresh air and exercise. Of those twenty miles, about 1 block in total was spent on streets. The rest was bike paths—a wooded
The Three-Mile-Per-Hour World Read More »
I have been giving quite a few talks of late—three in seven days in fact. One was “Quantum Mechanics for 5th Graders,” which my wife and I did for our daughter’s class at school. The kids were excited and asked a lot of good questions and had a lot of good answers as well. It
The Stories at the End Read More »
If there might be Three Laws of Genealogy, I wonder if there could be Seven Deadly Sins as well. As I was thinking about what they might be, my wife happened to show me an article she had seen concerning the Seven Deadly Decorating Sins. That, and the possibility of illustrations from Hieronymus Bosch, clinched
Seven Deadly Genealogical Sins? Read More »
Back in March, I wrote about a wonderful conversation I had over the phone with my dad. I was looking at a Sanborn map that showed the neighborhood where he was born. I had a few questions about it for a presentation I was preparing and thought I would give him a quick ring. I
Interview with Dad Read More »
I’ve been analyzing some letters between a husband and wife. The wife’s brother is someone I’m researching and the siblings ancestry isn’t clear. Researching her should help me with him. She is also important in her own right to the story I want to tell. In these letters, they mention relatives and that should be
Less Is More, More Is Less Read More »
I’ve gotten several requests lately to do an introductory presentation on genealogy. That got me to thinking about what is truly basic to getting started. People seem to like rules that come in threes. There are Kepler’s Three Laws of Planetary Motion, Newton’s Three Laws of Motion, Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics and the Three
The Three Laws of Genealogy Read More »
A few things related to bias and understanding data have recently hinted to me that it is time to return to Mathmagic Land. Bias is something that scientists and historians need to think about. It can be in the data, or it can appear in what we do with the data and how we think
Return to Mathmagic Land Read More »