A brouhaha has erupted between Tyler Cowen and the Rationality community over comments made in an interview with Ezra Klein, in in which Tyler Cowen, in an uncharacteristic outburst of candidness, lambasted the Rationality community for what he perceives as religiosity and homogeneity: But I would approve of them much more if they called themselves… Continue reading The Tyler Cowen-Rationality feud is getting out of hand
Author: smartistone
The Trump Syria Disappointment
There are grumbling among the ‘right’ about Trump’s demotion of Bannon and intervention in Syria. Bannon demoted Lion: This is bad news for Trumpism. This could be the beginning of a bunch of establishment Republican types taking over the administration steering wheel. Neoconning the God-Emperor Vox: No one actually gives a damn about Syrian children,… Continue reading The Trump Syria Disappointment
The ‘Earnership Society’
The ‘Ownership Society’ is a slogan coined in 2004 by former United States President George W. Bush describing what he viewed as an ideal society, where personal responsibility, economic liberty, and the owning of property are paramount. Fast-forward thirteen or so years, and as evidenced by the huge fortunes in web 2.0, the post-2011 housing… Continue reading The ‘Earnership Society’
The Real Truth about NYC’s Elite High Schools
Excellent article by Outook Zen: The Real Truth about NYC’s Elite High Schools A many have already noted, the left cares more about equality of outcomes than equality of opportunities. The left cares more about equality than helping the gifted and talented poor. According to the left, east-Asian, east-Indians and other high-achieving groups don’t count… Continue reading The Real Truth about NYC’s Elite High Schools
Reactionary Future, MacIntyre, and Communitarianism
This is many months old but deserves mentioning; in his penultimate post, Reactionary Future (RF) retires from bogging, expressing frustration with what he perceives as NRx decaying into just another derivative form of Protestantism/Calvinism in the tradition of Mises, Hume, Adam Smith etc. Here are some pertinent passages: I have become extremely convinced that the… Continue reading Reactionary Future, MacIntyre, and Communitarianism
IQ: More Than a Number, Part 3
Part 1 and part 2 Excellent post at the Slate Star Codex Reddit sub: Since HBD, intelligence, and heritability are such hot issues these days, I think it is worth analyzing why people are so fixated on IQ and heritability. The reason is actually incredibly obvious so I’ll just go ahead and say it, because… Continue reading IQ: More Than a Number, Part 3
Gnon’s Wager
‘Gnon insurance’ is a way to profit from the inevitability of techno-commercialism as one of the major constituents of the so-called ‘new world order’. This entails holding shares of companies that are most likely to accede to power under such a system, namely Google, Tesla, Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook, which are the most promising candidates… Continue reading Gnon’s Wager
Global ‘Power Vacuum’ Will be Filled by America and China
From Richard Fernandez Not a King, but the King of Beggars: The narrative that Russia — a country with an economy smaller than Italy — smaller than New York State’s — will take over the world is less compelling than than the alternative thesis: that the tide of chaos is rising across the planet. With… Continue reading Global ‘Power Vacuum’ Will be Filled by America and China
Defining and Understanding Rationalism
Rationalism can have two definitions: first, a community that call themselves Rationalists, that read ‘high-IQ sites’ such as Marginal Revolution, Less Wrong, and Slate Star Codex, and according to various surveys, identify as liberal, are atheist or agnostic, and, in general, hold a ‘realist’ philosophical worldview. Second, an epistemological approach–to try to see the hidden… Continue reading Defining and Understanding Rationalism
SJWs, Jordan Peterson, and Democracy
Jordan Peterson is right about IQ, gender pronouns, and SJWs…but wrong in other regards, and like his enlightenment brethren, clings to democracy and misdiagnoses problem. The only societies that are not slave societies are western enlightenment democracies. From my C2C interview: https://t.co/jdcmwbl5Cl pic.twitter.com/JcWNYn1LSm — Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) December 4, 2016 He’s right: SJWs and… Continue reading SJWs, Jordan Peterson, and Democracy