December 6, 2024
Scott Flansburg is the Human Calculator. Consider his skills. You may have known that one is the loneliest number, but did you know that nine is the most important number? Also, what are your views on his fix to the calendar?
Do you agree with Mike Huemer that Han JUSTIFIABLY shot first?
July 4, 2024
The value of advice is precarious, but it can be helpful. Truth as discovered and held is more fluid than we would prefer. Consider these with care:
- New/updated findings in psychology
- 101 additions to Kevin Kelly’s advice list
- 23 truths Gurwinder wishes he had at 23
- 30 useful concepts
April 27, 2024
Are you in a bog? Caught in the mire? Adam Mastroianni has a way out.
Rob Henderson has 34 lessons he learned the hard way.
Some things work. Lots of things don’t. Dynomight lists 43 from the latter category.
January 11, 2024
Gurwinder supplies two links:
- First, he offers five heuristics that can help in decision making.
- Second, he has 30 useful principles for us to consider and understand.
Although I don’t entirely agree with this at least in the conclusion/implications, I still find this post about tyranny of the marginal user very interesting.
September 25, 2023
Why is Scandinavia home to so much heavy metal? Tim Brinkhof at Big Think explores as if it is culture or economy and perhaps both.
Nat Eliason wants you to go after big goals knowing you can handle much more than you think.
Anthony Gill has a three-part essay on tipping echoing conversations we have recently had ourselves.
August 2, 2023
Two from DYNOMIGHT:
- First he considers some strange “bongcloud philosophy 101 though experiments” revised for the age of AI.
- Next he explains how there is a little accountant in his head that is responsible for his procrastination, and how this might not be a bad thing.
Two from Morgan Housel:
- First he gives a long list of short things he thinks.
- Next he discusses paying attention including when and why you should and shouldn’t.
Michael Huemer argues against The Vice of Crappy Moralism.
Gurwinder rounds it all off with 40 Mind-Expanding Concepts.
May 22, 2023
Following up on a podcast link from March 25, again Andrew Heaton and friends gather to discuss Star Wars. This time they focus on how The Sith are Emo Fascists.
Nat Eliason turned 30 and offers 40 Lessons from 30 Years.
We should not overlook the value of not having what we don’t want. So argues David Epstein at Range Widely.
March 25, 2023
On the podcast Alienating The Audience Andrew Heaton discusses with friends why the Jedi Order failed. In it they touch upon the topic we return to time and again about how the Jedi’s weren’t always admirable to the extent of not always being on the side of most right.
Something Josh among others might relate to with sympathy, David Friedman has some ideas about education including using World of Warcraft as a multidisciplinary tool for education.
Gurwinder shares the 10 best ideas he learned in 2022. My favorite of these might be #7 the Shirky Principle:
To ensure survival, institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution. For example, arms suppliers lobby politicians to push for new wars, and light bulb manufacturers deliberately make their bulbs shorter-lived so you buy them more often.
Michael Huemer argues that the current apocalyptic thing is usually just a doomsday cult that can be safely ignored.
While your quitting your doomsday cult, why find some more things to quit? Annie Duke would certainly approve.
January 15, 2023
Check out these unlikely simultaneous historical events from Jason Kottke. For example: “The first wagon train of the Oregon Trail heads out the same year the fax machine is invented.”!!!!
For all you doom-scrolling, pessimistic fans of catastrophizing life, I give you The Extinction Clock. Notice the track record for all those where the prediction time has passed.
Did you know the simple secret of runway digits? Now you do.
The much more likely though much less exciting or fulfilling explanation for UFOs.
Gurwinder gives us 40 useful concepts that we should know.
October 6, 2022
I’m sure this doesn’t apply to Fribrarians, but Nat Eliason makes the case that modern people are MUCH weaker than previous humans.
We may be much weaker, but we are fabulously wealthier than even the previous recent generations. And our abundance doesn’t look to end argues Marian L. Tupy.
Where does Fribrary fall in Scott Alexander’s cyclic theory of subcultures?
July 27, 2022
Three from Michael Huemer:
Morgan Housel offers 17 aspects of how people think.
The Three Idols by Scott Alexander. What would you ask them?
Good news, everybody! Nuclear weapons are likely not as bad as you think they are.
Think you know why people stand on escalators and walk on stairs? Steven Landsburg bets you don’t. Be sure to click at least the short video link to see him explain it directly.
Kevin Kelly offers 103 bits of advice on his 77th birthday. These are excellent.
March 16, 2022
Bad news: humanity was likely born way too early. Also, consider these predictions about grabby aliens.
3Blue1Brown is attempting to ruin Wordle with math–and don’t miss the addendum.
How many of these modern heresies do you believe?
February 6, 2022
Can you become addicted to the sun? Watch this video on the mystery of vitamin D.
Two quite different ones from Holden Karnofsky. First, tool-assisted speedrunning (through video games). I had no idea this was a thing. I bet Josh did. Second, what counts as death?
November 16, 2021
Ripped from Josh’s demented mind: biohackers are now encoding malware in physical DNA. So a virus can now unleash a computer virus!
These people do not exist. Hit refresh to get a new AI-generated fictional person.
October 24, 2021
Here are some Rules, Truths, Beliefs from Morgan Housel. One of my favorites: “Don’t debate someone if the outcome can’t be objectively measured.”
September 6, 2021
With as much power as we assign to government and hence the need for good governing, are we asking too much of citizens via the vote? Specifically, Jason Brennan asks if politics is beyond the grasp of many people’s capacities.
Michael Huemer wants to know if Reincarnation > Heaven.
Derek Sivers asks if we have too many “pets”.
July 24, 2021
Do you know the difference between a bog, a fen, a swamp, and a marsh? Do you know the two ways to have a first cousin once removed? Can you read dog body language? Get all that and much more with these infographics.
Fribrarians will have various parallels with the Resident Contrarian’s explainer on Christian culture.
For what has become a regular feature, Michael Huemer explains that there ARE aliens, but they are probably NOT here.
Heaton fixed the Jones Act–’bout time!
June 21, 2021
Perhaps we should move to Próspera–great overview by Scott Alexander.
Jason Crawford explains why nuclear energy, the most economically efficient (this means environmentally desirable) energy source, has been a flop.
Sorry Lucas and Josh, the recent UFOs (UAPs more accurately) are very, very likely not real.
Polygamy explainer, where everything goes.
Email tips from Tim Harford.
April 25, 2021
Robin Hanson has been thinking about UFOs and aliens A LOT lately. Here are two of the more interesting of his many interesting contributions: Do Foo Fighters Show Our Snafu Fubar Future? & Explaining Stylized UFO Facts.
If aliens are out there, we may need to (and they may want us to) store 6.7 million species DNA on the Moon.
This is why we don’t “fix” in post every time some one says ‘um’, ‘uh’, or ‘like’.
Three short, awesome videos:
March 22, 2021
Check out this solid 15 minutes of science facts.
Michael Huemer asks “What should students learn?” and answers in three parts (1, 2, 3) and follows up with why he hates Shakespeare.
The Resident Contrarian writes what was for me an eye opening piece on the experience of being poor-ish.
Regardless of how you feel about helping the poor, helping the relatively well off vis-à-vis forgiving student loans is a bad idea as argued by Art Carden.
February 18, 2021
Eli Dourado is fairly optimistic on technology in the 2020s. Let’s hope he is right.
NASA, on the other hand, just delivered some pessimistic news on the chances of aliens front.
Can you sell a kidney to yourself? If so, Jason Brennan wants to know why you can’t sell it to someone else.
January 17, 2021
Ah, come on. 2020 wasn’t all bad, right?
You cannot give from your excess. You’ll only be forcing others to do the giving.
December 12, 2020
Steve Landsburg has a vaccine puzzle for us to solve.
Even for those of us in our extremely late 20s, it is time to stop aging.
November 22, 2020
Here are some good suggestions for an advanced stage of The Lightning Round.
October 13, 2020
This may disappoint Lucas: Why is there something rather than nothing? Well, math.
This philosopher makes a moral case in support of Kevin’s position on politics.
The poker scandal that ripped the poker world apart.
Would a parliamentary system cure our political ills?
September 22, 2020
Ivor Cummins has a take on COVID that is quite thought provocative.
Work your way through this four-part series on China’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic. Quite interesting and thorough.
September 13, 2020
The solution to California’s wildfires is not a mystery–it is just politically inconvenient.
August 30, 2020
Against environmental pessimism
Do This! The guide to being better.
July 26, 2020
The problem with “just asking questions”
A list of things that are a LOT better in the last 20-30 years.
This is how you can put a price on human life.
June 12, 2020
Three about meat eating: What do humans owe animals? The climate impact of meat. Is meat eating a net harm?
May 9, 2020
April 19, 2020
Here is how big (and small) countries really are.
Don’t know much about chemistry? Start with 5 facts everyone should know.
Perhaps we are doomed after all?
Sooo, are high-saturated-fat diets good or not so good?
Four geoengineering solutions to help the climate.
March 8, 2020
We will NOT run out of resources.
Alienating the Audience – The Tarkin Doctrine and Imperial Apologists
Alienating the Audience – Let’s Argue About “The Rise of Skywalker”
December 16, 2019
Implementing science-based policy is fraught.
David Siegel’s favorite narcotics–ones he loves.
From the self help files: How to ask for a raise.
Prohibition is always a failure. Sports is yet another example.
October 9, 2019
The Past Is a Nice Place to Visit. You Wouldn’t Want to Live There.
Where have all the great songwriters gone? Long time passing . . .
September 10, 2019
The myth of American middle-class stagnation
Lightsabers are implausible not impossible.
I found this and other samples humorous. Your mileage may vary.
July 8, 2019
Andrew Heaton on The Fermi Paradox
Don Boudreaux on why it is good that firefighters and teachers command relatively low pay
Remember, kids, recycling is garbage.
Designer babies to stop entropy?
Here is a real problem to worry about.
Two from Mike Munger: Is Capitalism Worth Saving? Well, It Saved Sweden.
May 18, 2019
That thing you think you know, that stuff I believe, those practices we follow . . . yep, you, I, we are wrong. READ THIS!
Some pessimism/optimism for you:
How good is the Universe? (pessimism)
How good are we? (pessimism)
You should have been happy on the recent Earth Day. (optimism)
Economics and happiness (little column A, little column B)
May 7, 2019
So… Asteroids are like bad news, dude.
The Battle of Winterfell: A Tactical Analysis
April 8, 2019
More reasons for optimism (except for Big Old MacDonald)
On a more somber note, why do army ants commit suicide?
One idea to help reduce carbon would be to buy coal.
The latest in AI-created content has spurred Scott Alexander to some deep thoughts: How do they dream?, At what point is it general intelligence?, and Who’s to say what is ‘meaningful’?
February 7, 2019
The world is getting better, you pessimists. Better for humans. Better for the environment.
But perhaps that is to no avail since people prefer pessimism.
Tyler has a one hour to teach you economics–he does so in several short videos.
52 things learned by Kent Hendricks in 2018.
52 things learned by Tom Whitwell in 2018.
Tips for political debate from philosopher Michael Huemer: part 1 and part 2.
Do you stand on stairs and walk on escalators–which kind of thinker are you? There are wrong answers here and right answers for wrong reasons. I know Kevin won’t believe until he sees the math.
November 14, 2018
There Are No Natural Resources.
What’s Really in Your Fish Oil?
Julia Belluz on Epidemiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism
The New Science of Seeing Around Corners
Never, and I mean NEVER, talk to the police.
While we would all struggle being true to the recommendation in this podcast, I think Kevin would have the most difficult time.
Speaking of things Kevin (and Josh and others) might find interesting…
September 3, 2018
Frank Abagnale (“Catch Me If You Can”) spoke at Google. The talk and the Q&A were excellent.
A four-step process for making difficult decisions.
Grumpy has three links to make you depressed about the current state of public policy.
July 24, 2018
The man who cracked horse racing and made $1 billion.
What Earth looked like through the ages with current day political boundaries drawn in.
I guarantee you that politician cannot guarantee jobs.
Our innate tendency of moving the goalposts means we can never not have bad things.
Perhaps the truth lies somewhere between the absolute truth and truth denial.
June 19, 2018
What level is your thinking at? And don’t tell me, “Ours go to eleven.”
Surfing the Internet is not dead; it has only changed form.
How did Anna con all of New York?
With apologies to disappointing Josh, the lack of one simple ingredient is making the probability of E.T. look very low.
May 22, 2018
Did you hear what the hell happened in Havana?
Peeling back the layers of a city
How would we communicate to and impress the others in the Universe?
Bootleggers and Baptists in the puppy trade
April 21, 2018
Two from Seth: Be glad when they steal from you and get the default settings right.
A good reminder that we are biased toward a sensitivity to bad news.
April 10, 2018
When the sheriff can get paid to take food from prisoners.
April 3, 2018
This is how to pay college athletes. & The silliest economic claim ever.
Test your conspiracy theories.
Friston’s Free Energy and Predictive Depression.
Buying local: the impossibility.