Scott reminisces about the rise and fall of the online culture wars The whole process was a very clear example of a respectability cascade. There’s some position which is relatively commonly held, but considered beyond the pale for respectable people. In the beginning, the only people who will say it openly are extremely non-respectable people… Continue reading The Culture Wars Online, Revisited

In trying to explain the enduring success or Dr. Jordan Peterson in spite of concerted efforts by his detractors, the answer, I believe, is that many young people are seeking authentic voices, advice, and stories, that modernity, social media, and popular culture are unable to provide. Videos of old people telling their stories often go… Continue reading The Return to Tradition

Came across two interesting papers which pertain to and agree with some of my earlier posts. The first: The role of verbal intelligence in becoming a successful criminal: Results from a longitudinal sample. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a free version of this paper. From the abstract: Intelligence has been linked with success across… Continue reading Two Interesting Studies

Not a whole lot going on now. I sense that discourse is becoming angrier and more contentious online, after a brief one-month reprieve following the inauguration of Biden. The Critical Race Theory (CRT) meme/debate, which has erupted over the past month and in the headlines everywhere, has to some extent pulled apart old wounds and… Continue reading The CRT Debate

Scott discusses rationalism. If anyone is an expert on rationalism, it would be him, but I disagree with some parts. It’s easy to find people who are especially bad on all these axes. For example, Alex Jones – the conspiracy theory guy who says school shootings are fake – is “irrational”. I strongly believe this.… Continue reading Whose rationality

It’s still hard to believe that Trump was permanently suspended from twitter. Trump , afik, is the first and only public/government official  to have ever been banned from the site. It is easy to forgot just how important Trump’s Twitter account was, especially in 2020 during the pandemic, the BLM protests, and the U.S. presidential… Continue reading Trump’s Twitter Suspension, A Retrospective

Over the past few years or so, or at least as back as I have been paying attention, there have been a plethora of viral articles about the supposed ‘loneliness epidemic ‘ in America, or how Americans are lonelier than ever and how this is a major problem. Since Covid, there have been more of… Continue reading Skepticism about loneliness epidemic

Over the past few weeks have gotten some comments , which I would like to address as a single blog post in detail. Aren’t you worried about the Nasdaq president’s idea of racial/sexual quotas on all company boards trading there? Thomas Dell tried all this woke stuff around 2004 and destroyed his company in about… Continue reading Answering Questions

All over Google, there are stories of ‘millions of job openings going unfilled,’ often attributed to unemployment benefits and other purported disincentives for work. My thoughts on the issue: 1 A job opening does not imply that said company is in urgent need of labor, but rather it is more like an audition process in… Continue reading Why the jobs are going unfilled

There as been considerable debate about the so-called ‘growth mindset’ versus the ‘fixed mindset’. Scott has written many posts comparing and contrasting the two. From the article Why Grit Is More Important Than IQ When You’re Trying To Become Successful: While comparing career accomplishments, you were shocked to learn that the kid from school with… Continue reading Why Talent Beats Grit (‘growth mindset’ versus the ‘fixed mindset’)