"This ties into something I’m extremely interested in that I like to call “message board rot”. I like looking for signs that social networks are dying or atrophying. I’m not sure why, but I’ve always found it fascinating that one day Myspace was the biggest thing in my social life and then one day it … Continue reading Message Board Rot
Category: articles
Misunderstanding as Mismatch
"...you can choose the people whose opinions you care about (and on what subjects), and you can choose the timescale you care about them on. Most people figure out the former [1] but the latter doesn’t seem to get much attention......You should trade being short-term low-status for being long-term high-status, which most people seem unwilling … Continue reading Misunderstanding as Mismatch
Joan Didion on Self-Respect
"Nonetheless, character—the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life—is the source from which self-respect springs......Again, it is a question of recognizing that anything worth having has its price. People who respect themselves are willing to accept the risk that the Indians will be hostile, that the venture will go bankrupt, that the liaison may … Continue reading Joan Didion on Self-Respect
Edward Norton on Trump’s Hand
https://www.twitter.com/edwardnorton/status/1329728889296355328 Sounds about right. Read the thread.
Exhibit A for Legal Realism: I’m Not in Washington Defense
"'Defendants maintain that because the state constitution defines Washington’s northern boundary in relevant part as the 49th parallel, the State does not have jurisdiction to prosecute them for crimes committed south of the international border between the United States and Canada, but north of the 49th parallel as currently located.'Perhaps not wanting to create 'a … Continue reading Exhibit A for Legal Realism: I’m Not in Washington Defense
Cain’s Jawbone
"Cain’s Jawbone, a 100-page-long murder mystery puzzle, was last cracked in 1935 when two puzzlers claimed £15 in winnings, just a year after it was originally published.Now a British comedian has solved the literary puzzle for the first time in 85 years, after submitting the correct solution shortly before the closing of a new year-long competition.—Jessica … Continue reading Cain’s Jawbone
The Road Map Back From Authoritarianism
"Experts in authoritarianism advise keeping a list of things changing, subtly, around you, so you’ll remember. Days after the 2016 presidential election, I started a list. Each week, I chronicle the ways Donald Trump has changed our country. This selection, adapted from more than 34,000 entries — or about 1 percent of the total — … Continue reading The Road Map Back From Authoritarianism
Art as Tool for Emancipation
"Although the age of community-based photography collectives and adequate funding for the arts is over, their principles are more salient than ever. As our lives become increasingly saturated with manipulative visual culture, questioning the social context of a constant stream of images could not be greater. By asking who images are currently produced for and … Continue reading Art as Tool for Emancipation
What is Amazon?
"So, what is Amazon? It started as an unbound Walmart, an algorithm for running an unbound search for global optima in the world of physical products. It became a platform for adapting that algorithm to any opportunity for customer-centric value creation that it encountered. If it devises a way to keep its incentive structures intact … Continue reading What is Amazon?
The Precautionary Principle and Innovation
"First, there are issues of scale: small-scale explorations by lead users are relatively harmless until they are scaled up to become the dependence of mass consumers. Innovations may grow so popular that their production and consumption affect the stability of ecosystems and democracies, such as plastic waste choking our oceans, or Facebook becoming an increasing … Continue reading The Precautionary Principle and Innovation
Cults: Dissociation, Group Psychology, and Cognitive Dissonance
""How does cult psychology work? How is it possible to persuade human adults to enter a weird cognitive landscapewith no basis in reality? To enter a fantasy realm so profound that they’ll willingly die for whomever has been selected as the local Messiah?"--Matthew J Sharps Ph.D, "Cults and Cognition: Programming the True Believer." Psychology Today. … Continue reading Cults: Dissociation, Group Psychology, and Cognitive Dissonance
Auden on Time and God
"'I've learned a little in my life,' he said. 'Not much. But I will share with you what I do know. I hope it will help.' He lit a cigarette, looked at the ceiling, then said, 'I know only two things. The first is this: There is no such thing as time.' He explained that … Continue reading Auden on Time and God
Turn to Hate by Orville Peck
Welcome to the 21st Century
"Once you’ve let loose your imagination, observe the world around you and watch for what scenario planners sometimes call “news from the future”—data points that tell you that the world is trending in the direction of one or another of your imagined scenarios. As with any scatter plot, data points are all over the map, … Continue reading Welcome to the 21st Century
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