Maths and reading skills found to be 75 per cent genetic

no kidding Maths and reading skills found to be 75 per cent genetic Individual differences in cognitive ability manifest very early in life, long before thousands of hours of ‘practice’ can kick in. Even as early as kindergarten, teachers can readily identify the ‘slow’ students, who are often doomed to failure and or mediocrity in… Continue reading Maths and reading skills found to be 75 per cent genetic

The power of the alt-right is not to directly influence policy but rather to influence sentiment

There is a belief held by some that the alt-right, in making certain gestures and comments, is losing ‘respectability’ and therefore risks being excluded from having influence on Trump’s policies. This notion that Trump actually cares what the alt-right thinks is of course nonsense and is just more ‘concerning’ by people who don’t understand the… Continue reading The power of the alt-right is not to directly influence policy but rather to influence sentiment

Internet Journalism in a Post-2013 Era: Writing Articles that Go Viral

If the goal of writing is to be read, the success of writing can be measured by how many people read it. Yes, the success of writing can also be measured by subjective and aesthetic elements such as prose and pacing, but this is not of foremost importance. Getting people to read it, and hopefully… Continue reading Internet Journalism in a Post-2013 Era: Writing Articles that Go Viral

Alt Right Power Struggle

The ongoing alt-right ‘civil war’ is an example how how activism fails in the absence of a unifying cohesive goal and or concentrated power. Between 2015 and 2016, thousands of anonymous posters on 4chan, Twitter, and Reddit collectively worked on the same goal – getting Trump in office. Although they were loosely organized, they were… Continue reading Alt Right Power Struggle

More Tooleb Nonsense Debunked

Nassim Nicholas Tooleb, the angry flâneur who blocks and insults people on Twitter, continues to demonstrate being the intellectual-yet-idiot that he is, in a recent Medium post Inequality and Skin in the Game: The author Joan Williams, in an insightful article, explains that the working class is impressed by the rich, as role models. Michèle… Continue reading More Tooleb Nonsense Debunked

Drugs and Tariffs

I saw this linked from Free Northerner’s blog: An Economist’s Cautionary Note on Free Trade Targeted tariffs won’t raise consumption. They won’t spur economic growth. They will lead to more expensive goods, and less consumption. David Ricardo was right on all that. Comparative advantage still exists, and be very wary of anyone who talks about… Continue reading Drugs and Tariffs

Thomas Sowell Retires

Thomas Sowell Retires: My Farewell Column Dr. Sowell was right about the inferiority of communism and the superiority capitalism (you didn’t have to be a genius to see either, as if mass starvation under communist regimes wasn’t evidence enough it was a bad ideology). But he is almost literally (given his age) a relic of… Continue reading Thomas Sowell Retires

Identity, IQ, and Incoherence of the Alt-Right

‘Identity’, which not limited to just politics but also includes ‘BLM’ and the ‘big is beautiful’ movement, gives its members a stake in something, as being a part of a bigger ‘system’ or ‘process’, yet at the same time individualism and autonomy are retained. Identity is a way of signalling unity, with varying degrees obviousness.… Continue reading Identity, IQ, and Incoherence of the Alt-Right