Item #1: Who’s to Blame for White Poverty?
The post is paywalled, so I am basing this in response to the title. It’s not who is to blame, but what is to blame, that being low IQs. Almost every social problem in America–whether it’s poverty, crime, low educational attainment, obesity, healthcare spending, low-quality schools, or insufficient retirement savings–it’s all downstream from low IQs.
Regarding poverty, a lot of poor people get caught in the loop of renting, bad luck, and healthcare spending, and hence never have much money left over to save. They are always one emergency away from losing what little they have saved. Or bad habits like fentanyl. They just never seem to get it together. Half the population has an IQ below 100. I imagine these people will naturally struggle at saving compared to the other half.
When you look around, it’s remarkable how society still functions despite so many useless/non-contributing people (e.g. homeless, drug addicted, mentally ill, incarcerated, etc.). Which goes to show the importance off having enough competent people to hold society together. The quality of people tends to determine the quality of life, so it is little surprise that areas with higher IQ populations tend to be better overall, such as better schools, less crime, and nicer and more abundant public resources such as parks and libraries.
Item #2: This went viral: Good ideas don’t need bayonets.
There is no Chancellor of Science who gets to reform research by fiat, nor any Science Gestapo to carry out her wishes. So when you’re like, “We should make sure that science is good!”, there is no one to receive your request.
Science is not as decentralized as the author assumes. There is considerable centralization, such as editors for major journals, who have the sole discretion to decide which results see the light of day. Or admissions officers of elite universities. Or deans in regard to who gets tenure. Because the ‘impact factor’ of journals follows a power law, these handful of editors for top journals impart enormous power.
Item #3: Just say ‘no’ to calories:
I stand by my position that everyone would be better off if the word “calories” never existed.
We would be forced to talk about the type of food.
— Seed Oil Disrespecter™️ (@SeedOilDsrspctr) August 8, 2024
Find a way to reliably and safely lose weight for a general population which does not involve reducing calories and you will be rich and famous. Sure, one can modify macros here and there at the margins for some weight loss, but at some point calories have to be reduced for weight loss to occur.
Item #4: 52 Reasons to Fear that Technological Progress Is Reversing.
As much as people complain about technology, we also love to use it and many make a living with it, as he and others do. Complaining about technology is as old as technology. He makes some good points, but this feels like yet another example of rage bait or audience capture. The early 2010s ‘listicle’–a mainstay of the pre-Trump era–has been replaced by rage porn or rage bait of the post-2020s. The idea is to maximize engagement. The listicle is usually better–it’s more cheerful, shorter, and easier to read. A listicle is not like a rant written to maximize engagement or to push the buttons of the captured audience–but instead to inform a general audience or anyone who is curious. There is no audience capture in the article “The 10 Best/worst Faces/heels”. If you enjoy wrestling, you’ll probably get some value out of it, but even readers who don’t care about wrestling may still find it interesting.
Item #5: Tim Walz stolen valor claim goes viral.
Accusations of solen valor or dodging/evading service are as old as American politics. I am sure some can recall such charges leveled against Kerry in 2004. Or Trump’s ‘bone spurs’ in 2016. It would not surprise me if he was replaced. He seems like an especially weak choice, not just over stolen valor, but other issues. The major criticism it that he’s too radical, which is like criticizing water for being wet.
Yet again, whether it’s the exceptionally early debate which led to Biden being replaced by Kamala, Trump agreeing to lots of debates, and now this, there is no need for the Harris team to to hire expensive and useless consultants when they can just use Twitter. By the time the election comes around they will have refined their candidates and platform to perfection, thanks to free Twitter feedback. The Harris team has figured out that speed-running the process is working to its advantage, with the help of Twitter, by lessening the possibility of the dreaded October surprise. As it’s said in Silicon Valley: fail fast, fail often.