The Compact article, “The Lost Generation,” by Jacob Savage, went massively viral. It was even shared by JD Vance. The author recounts being unable to find a writing job in Hollywood, which he attributes to being white, and then relays this to other examples, such as the media. But his examples are not really applicable… Continue reading “The Lost Generation”

I have argued that average-IQ people benefit from what I call ‘lottery systems of wealth’, in which the median income is low or even negative, the failure rate is high, and the mean is positively skewed by huge outliers (e.g. athletes, e-celebs, or famous entrepreneurs). Examples include investing/gambling crypto, podcasting, or starting a YouTube channel.… Continue reading Meritocratic Wealth vs Lottery Wealth

Last week it came to light that famous author and neurologist Oliver Wolf Sacks had fabricated patient stories in his popular books. Steven Pinker, in a viral series of tweets, called it a bombshell, asking, “Why did The New Yorker, which perpetuates the myth that they employ an army of meticulous fact-checkers, pollute our understanding… Continue reading Lies can persist when it’s not worth investigating the truth

High-minded critics have frequently deplored the state of popular culture as being derivative, stale, stagnant, or stuck. The popularity of comic book movies and superhero franchises is a commonly cited example of this trend. Or an over-reliance on sequels or prequels by creativity-starved writers and profit-maximizing studio execs. Popular writers and commentators have called popular… Continue reading Culture hasn’t stagnated; rather, it has become more niche.

From, “On 10 Years of Writing a Blog Nobody Reads” Using this “careful” language just softens your ideas to the point of being inarguable. If you start a sentence with “I feel…” then no one can dispute anything that follows, since it’s just your feeling. This is boring to read. There is nothing inherently wrong… Continue reading Defensive writing thrives because everyone is a critic

Hedge funds are struggling due to AI supposedly making markets more efficient, “AI is making hedge funds unable to hedge:” The 12-month correlation between composite hedge funds and the S&P 500 is 0.955, at the 99th percentile of historical readings. Multi-strategy hedge funds show a 0.819 correlation, also near a record high at the 98th… Continue reading Systems beat AI (Bitcoin case study)

I thought I would recapitulate some of my notes on gatekeeping, and why it exists. Gatekeeping involves the unintentional breach of implied or otherwise unstated/unwritten social rules or etiquette. There are few measures that can be taken ; even lurking is not always good enough, as the rules can be subtle or capriciously enforced. The… Continue reading Gatekeeping and Cringe

Item #1: “A positive-sum outlook on the World.” I usually agree with him but disagree here: All the best people have an incredibly positive-sum outlook on the world. They help other people to achieve more, do better, find love, and so on. And their lives are enriched by it. — Crémieux (@cremieuxrecueil) December 6, 2025… Continue reading The Daily View 12/8/2025: Positivity, AI vs. Math, Bitcoin vs. QQQ, Undigested Calories

I saw this going viral from Reason, “Why Are 38 Percent of Stanford Students Saying They’re Disabled?” This follows an even more viral article from The Atlantic, “Accommodation Nation,” by Rose Horowitch, who broke the story. I have never seen anything this viral in a long time, even eclipsing major AI product rollouts, for a… Continue reading Why the College Accommodations Debate Has No Easy Answers

As someone interested in true crime, this story is fascinating: Jan 6th pipe bomber arrested. This concludes a five year investigation. Some are arguing that the Biden administration suppressed the investigation. I disagree. There was so little evidence to go on. To gather sufficient evidence to ensure a ~100% conviction rate, as typical for the… Continue reading Jan 6th pipe bomber suspect arrested: analysis