In an uncharacteristically short post, Scott discusses the state of the so-called rationality community. What is rationalism, anyway, or at least in the context of this internet movement and community? What makes someone or something rational? Rationalism, in my opinion, encompasses more than object-level topics such as AI risk, human psychology, or effective altruism. Although… Continue reading The Craft of Rationality
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Why Scott Adams is so popular
From Scott Adams’ Periscope https://www.pscp.tv/w/1yNGaXyVWDDKj I agree with the beginning of the video, that America’s system of government has proven to be surprisingly resilient. But more interestingly, Scott takes a neo-liberal view, praising America’s ‘checks and balances system’ and how the media (by acting as a defacto branch of government) shaped Trump’s policy regarding his… Continue reading Why Scott Adams is so popular
Wealth, Intellectualism, and Individualism, Part 16
From Paul Graham: Economic Inequality and The Refragmentation: Economics is a social science, which means, to some extent, it affects everyone, allowing anyone to participate in the debate. Wealth inequality touches everyone, including the rich, who are often blamed for wealth inequality. People have observed how much things have changed in this ‘new era’ we… Continue reading Wealth, Intellectualism, and Individualism, Part 16
The death of neoconservatism? Unlikely
Repeating something over and over does not make it so. For the ‘left’, for example, it’s the narrative that Trump is bad for the economy. The evidence suggest his contributions are positive or, at worst, neutral. Nearly six months later, the tariffs have had no deleterious effects on GDP or other metrics. One can argue… Continue reading The death of neoconservatism? Unlikely
Wealth, Intellectualism, and Individualism, Part 15
As an example of contrarian journalism and the post-2013 mainstream backlash against democracy, an article by Vox.com, 3 reasons the American Revolution was a mistake, went hugely viral and was shared on Facebook over forty thousand times. As recently as two decades ago, such a contrarian and potentially controversial article would not have appeared in… Continue reading Wealth, Intellectualism, and Individualism, Part 15
Thomas Piketty Analysis, and the US Economy
Scott recently published a 2-part series on Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century: BOOK REVIEW: CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY (he also wrote two follow-up posts) When one includes the thee posts but also all the comments on Scott’s blog and on Reddit, that is a considerable amount of reading. By my estimate, over… Continue reading Thomas Piketty Analysis, and the US Economy
Trump, threats, & the news cycle
The news cycle has been pretty slow as of late. Although there is a lot of stuff going on, it falls under the predictable/ongoing quadrant, than being surprising or unexpected. It’s not like “OMG..this is totally unexpected!” There’s gonna be more immigration, like it or not. The people who are in charge are powerless to… Continue reading Trump, threats, & the news cycle
Dr. Peterson vs. Jim Jeffries Interview
here is the video clip or Jordan Peterson: From The Weekly Standard: What Jordan Peterson Doesn’t Understand About Religion and Free Speech Recently, Jordan Peterson was interviewed by Australian comedian Jim Jeffries’s show on Comedy Central. The interview did not go particularly well for Peterson, who, among other things, has had a meteoric rise as… Continue reading Dr. Peterson vs. Jim Jeffries Interview
Trump: he’s still in office as impeachment hopes evaporate
I was also correct about Trump not being impeached. So far, 18 months in Trump’s presidency, impeachment efforts have not just stalled–they are nonexistent. The left was sure that by now there would be a case against Trump or at least some tentative impeachment proceedings, but so far nothing has happened. The Muller investigation, as… Continue reading Trump: he’s still in office as impeachment hopes evaporate
Bitcoin plunges below 6,000
Bitcoin resumes its plunge, falling from 6700 to 6400 (now at 5900). A week ago everyone was ecstatic on Twitter that Bitcoin was coming back, only to watch the gains evaporate in the span of just 20 minutes. There are all these idiot Bitcoin daytraders on Twitter, and you can be sure none of them… Continue reading Bitcoin plunges below 6,000