From Quillette The Poverty of Cosmopolitan Historicism: Cosmopolitanism hasn’t been confined to the academic ivory tower, however, but has exercised considerable influence in key policymaking circles as well. A year after the Berlin Wall fell, George H.W. Bush declared to the United Nations that he envisioned “a world of open borders, open trade and, most… Continue reading Cosmopolitanism elite losing power? Hardly
Month: November 2017
there is an underlying reason for everything that happens
People who are really smart can still fall prey to even the most obvious, in retrospect, cognitive biases and blind spots. That is the difference between someone who understands how things work and applies rationalism, and someone who doesn’t. But one doesn’t need to understand everything either. Why does Bitcoin keep going up? Who knows,… Continue reading there is an underlying reason for everything that happens
Twitter purge 2.0
Now Roger Stone is gone ROGER STONE, BANNED FROM TWITTER, VOWS TO SUE IT INTO OBLIVION, which shows being a major public figure who has documentaries, bestselling books, and even close ties with the President, won’t make you immune. And also Baked ‘Macho Man’ Alaska is gone too. But apparently Wil Wheaton calling House Speaker… Continue reading Twitter purge 2.0
How High-IQ Millennials Make Money
Among boomers and even gen-x, the correlation between wealth and IQ isn’t very strong, or at least it isn’t nearly as strong as it is with millennials and gen-z. There are plenty of rich medium and low-IQ boomers–often blue collar entrepreneurs, pensioners, real estate owners and developers, or those who simply saved and invested money.… Continue reading How High-IQ Millennials Make Money
There are always at least two possibilities
Aside from sex scandals and the occasional shoot-up, the news cycle has been tumbleweeds for much of 2017. The gaps between Trump administration events and progress are wide, and successes and far and few between. The U.S. Yield Curve Is Flattening and Here’s Why It Matters Bond Investors Are Stock Investors’ Latest Concern Many on… Continue reading There are always at least two possibilities
The Overblown ‘Retail Apocalypse’
This article for some reason went hugely viral a few weeks ago: America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning – Bloomberg The virality, I suspect, is due to some sort of nostalgic fondness for retail stores, even though Amazon offers a superior retail experience in every regard. Rather than a retail apocalypse, in agreement with… Continue reading The Overblown ‘Retail Apocalypse’
The Decline of ‘New Atheism’
Spurred by a recent Scott post, Why Did New Atheism Fail So Miserably, there has been a lot of discussion about what some perceive to be the decline of ‘new atheism’. The new atheism movement arose mainly, I think, in response to George W. Bush and what some on the left perceived as the imposition… Continue reading The Decline of ‘New Atheism’
The Bell Curve is becoming reality, part 2
This went viral a few weeks ago: Ray Dalio on the two economies in America (the top 40% and the bottom 60%) It’s sorta like this (http://greyenlightenment.com/the-revenge-of-the-nerds-economy/) but replace top 40% of wealth with top 40% IQ (but I think it’s more like top 10% of IQ, because a top 40% IQ is only 105… Continue reading The Bell Curve is becoming reality, part 2
Dumbing-down & policy
Over the years, despite being on the ‘right’ and a proponent of HBD and HBD-based policy myself, I’ve contested the belief commonly held by many on the alt-right and even some on the rationalist-left that America is ‘dumbing down’: Evidence America is not (yet) dumbing-down America’s Intellectual Renaissance Cambrian explosion’ of intellectualism Is America Really… Continue reading Dumbing-down & policy
How to Predict, part infinity
A question is, how do you know this. The answer is, how can you not when it’s laid bare. MIT math courses are hard. This stuff, by comparison, is not. Related: A systems-based approach to rationalism “Simple Systems” It’s easier to predict things where a lot of capital is at stake, but social predictions are… Continue reading How to Predict, part infinity