Free Speech and Its Limitations

A somewhat light-hearted article by Scott: Against Signal-Boosting As Doxxing And related: Don’t allow your hatred to cloud your judgment of what free speech is: But if you want to accuse Brown of violating Sobczak’s right to free speech, then you’re absolutely wrong. For a right to be violated, some sort of violence must be… Continue reading Free Speech and Its Limitations

Jordan Peterson and the Evolution of Marxism

Errata & addenda: Updated Steelmanning to reconcile confusion over inductive vs. deductive. Updated Defending Postmodernism to include Jean-François Lyotard and criticism of Whig history. According to Peterson, the Marxists changed their strategy in the 60’s and 70’s from embracing Marxism as a economic system, to a cultural one, which is called postmodernism. I don’t agree… Continue reading Jordan Peterson and the Evolution of Marxism

Patreon CEO Jack Conte Disingenuous Explanation for Lauren Southern Banning

How is that much different than being part of a protest and or leading a protest or demonstration? It’s like OWS or BLM holding hands and blocking traffic, except it’s a ship and not cars. From the comments, the boats weren’t recuse boats; rather they were intended to ferry migrants: Except they didn’t disrupt a… Continue reading Patreon CEO Jack Conte Disingenuous Explanation for Lauren Southern Banning

Silicon Valley is Eating the World

From Mark Perry: Amazon and Facebook were in the news this week for “joining an exclusive club open to only the richest companies in the world: both crossed the half-a-trillion mark.” Those two companies join Apple ($785 billion as of today), Alphabet/Google ($652 billion), and Microsoft ($564 billion) in the exclusive club of companies whose… Continue reading Silicon Valley is Eating the World

Not Worried About Tech Bubble (and how HBD can be used to beat the market)

As so-called ‘FANG’ stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) keep making new highs, predictably some say we’re in a tech bubble: Are Amazon’s Shareholders Suckers? The Silicon Valley Bubble TECH IN THE TRUMP ERA: IS THE SILICON VALLEY BUBBLE ABOUT TO POP? Is Silicon Valley in a bubble? It’s complicated Silicon Valley Sees The Pavement… Continue reading Not Worried About Tech Bubble (and how HBD can be used to beat the market)

The Meritocracy Analysis, Part 2:

Scott’s three-part meritocracy series: part 1: TARGETING MERITOCRACY part 2: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE COMMENT THREAD ON MERITOCRACY part 3: DON’T BLAME GRIGGS Skimming through the comments, here is what I gleaned: Companies and recruiters will default to Ivy League applicants, not necessarily because such applicants are more meritorious, but because it’s safer, so there is… Continue reading The Meritocracy Analysis, Part 2:

Grey Notes: Debunking STEM Sexism

Why Brilliant Girls Tend to Favor Non-STEM Careers Su et al (2009) performed a meta-analysis of studies including a total of over 500,000 people examining gender differences in interests. Despite claims that gender differences are typically “small” (Hyde, 2005), Su et al found a gigantic gender difference in interests. Women preferred working with people, whereas… Continue reading Grey Notes: Debunking STEM Sexism

U.S. home sales to foreigners surge 49% to new record

U.S. home sales to foreigners surge 49% to new record The National Association of Realtors released a report Tuesday that said foreign buyers and recent immigrants spent an estimated $153 billion on American properties in the year ending March 2017. That was a 49% increase over the previous year and the highest level since record-keeping… Continue reading U.S. home sales to foreigners surge 49% to new record

How the Media Sells Fear and Outrage for Profit

This Is How Your Fear and Outrage Are Being Sold for Profit This is the reason many of the news stories you see today lead with over-the-top, dramatic, attention-grabbing statements — they are trying to engage with you and rise above the competition. This is the ‘inside baseball’ of the news industry. They’ve been losing the battle… Continue reading How the Media Sells Fear and Outrage for Profit

Targeting the Meritocracy : Response

From Slate Star Codex: TARGETING MERITOCRACY: Prospect Magazine writes about the problem with meritocracy. First Things thinks meritocracy is killing America. Feminist Philosophers comes out against meritocracy. The Guardian says “down with meritocracy”. Vox calls for an atack on the false god of meritocracy. There’s even an Against Meritocracy book. Given that meritocracy seems almost… Continue reading Targeting the Meritocracy : Response