Despite being on the ‘right’, I’ve long been a critic of the fashionable and perennial assertion that America is ‘dumbing-down’ or in a state of intellectual decline. Purported dumbing-down is refuted by counter evidence. There are 7 billion people alive. Assuming IQ does not fall much, that means there is 2x as much brainpower as… Continue reading Evidence America is not (yet) dumbing-down
Month: October 2017
Internal and external value systems
In the post Individual Ideological & Philosophical Classification System, I discuss internal and external value systems: External value system: “How society & culture should behave.” External things such as political, societal, and culture issues, position on left-right spectrum; moral realism & prescriptivism; value-based. Internal value system: “How I and those close to me should… Continue reading Internal and external value systems
The Over-hyped Purported Efficacy of Australia’s Gun Laws
A certain political tribe likes to make the augment that if America adopted Australia’s gun control laws that gun homicides would fall. From Vox The Weeds: Australia solved its gun problem. Could America? Through that program, the government was able to get rid of about 650,000 guns. But as Sarah notes, the program went further… Continue reading The Over-hyped Purported Efficacy of Australia’s Gun Laws
To change the world, invest; don’t start a business
Taleb in the post The Merchandising of Virtue says that to change the world, you must start a business. 1) never engage in virtue signaling; 2) never engage in rent seeking; 3) you must start a business. Take risks, start a business. Yes, take risk, and if you get rich (what is optional) spend… Continue reading To change the world, invest; don’t start a business
Donald Trump Does Not Like to Read (but so what)
This is kinda old but still interesting: Trump ‘does not read books’: report Additionally, a July Washington Post article reported similar information, first noting that Trump had not read any biographies of U.S. presidents because he didn’t have the time. The article also reported Trump as saying that he does not read extensively because he… Continue reading Donald Trump Does Not Like to Read (but so what)
Individual Ideological & Philosophical Classification System
Inspired a Quilette post Universalism Not Centrism, I’m working on a classification system that can be applied to ideological groups and individuals, and to summarize key points. The goal is to create a classification system that encompasses most individuals and ideologies. Defnitions: Intersectionality: a concept in social theory in which the whole is greater than… Continue reading Individual Ideological & Philosophical Classification System
Asset-based capitalism
Asset prices are high across the board. Is it time to worry? As discussed in Late Stage Capitalism Part 1, perhaps people are becoming weary of the asset-based, winner-take-all system of capitalism we have presently, instead of the build-and-make version of capitalism that was present decades ago. With the exception of apps and other intangibles,… Continue reading Asset-based capitalism
Grey Notes: Liberal Hypocrisy
Liberals protesting imagined sexism in STEM (and James Demore is vilified for merely noticing gender differences), but covering up actual sexual abuse in Hollywood..not a surprise.
The revenge-of-the-nerds economy (in 18 charts)
If it seems like the less intelligent have gotten the shorter end of the stick in the post-2009 economic recovery, then your suspicions would be correct. So how is this the revenge-of-the-nerds economy? The wage disparity between college graduates (if we use college completion as a proxy for for having a high-IQ and for being… Continue reading The revenge-of-the-nerds economy (in 18 charts)
The Devil is in the Comments
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, a.k.a. the “Muslim ban” as commonly referred to by the US media. When I awoke to the news on the 28th, it was absolute pandemonium. People were protesting at major airports such as LaGuardia, Newark, JFK, and Heathrow. Twitter was in a frenzy. Civil rights lawyers… Continue reading The Devil is in the Comments