The Pervasiveness and Social Cost of Racism and Sexism

Scott Alexander, at Slate Star Codex, has compiled a handy summary of the evidence for pervasive and socially costly racism and sexism.

I also take Alexander's blog post as evidence of the continuing relevance of the blog as a medium, for four reasons.

1. Blogs offer a longer-form medium than tweets or social media updates.
2. Blogs can be referenced using a stable and publicly accessible URL.
3. It is easier and quicker to publish a piece as a blog post than as a piece of journalism or scholarship in a formal professional publication.
4. Blogs are a convenient medium for people making a contribution outside of their area of specialization. For example, the writer of the Slate Star Codex blog is a psychiatrist by trade, but here he is making a useful contribution to discussions about racism and sexism.

Grubergate

Economist Arnold Kling on Grubergate:

I think that the extent to which the attacks on Gruber have become personal is something that every economist, regardless of ideology, will come to regret. I am all for criticizing the ideas and the world view that underlie Obamacare. However, a world in which every economist who steps into the policy arena is subjected to opposition research and “gotcha” attacks is not going to be pretty.

A nice illustration of the Problem with Politics. When talking politics, we just don't play fair. The goal is not to investigate the truth impartially, but rather to cheer our team on. The emotional tail wags the rational dog.

And I say this as an opponent of the Affordable Care Act.

To be clear: the point I am trying to make is that even if Gruber deliberately distorted information, which is clearly immoral, this does not itself prove that the Affordable Care Act is a bad policy. Too many of the attacks on ACA via Grubergate have been merely of the ad hominem variety.

This is not to say that Gruber's admissions are wholly irrelevant to evaluating ACA, but attempting to connect the two must be done with great care to avoid inadvertently stepping over into the Land of Fallacy.

Brennan on the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP)

"It's an older code, but it checks out." Jason Brennan's blog post from last December critiques a common argument given in defense of libertarianism. Brennan is himself a libertarian, but regards the libertarian Non-Aggression Principle as a dialectical non-starter.

The Pink Gang

Philosopher Roderick T. Long on India's feminist vigilantes.

Bryan Caplan is right

Libertarian Economist as Civil Rights Advocate:

If the NYPD bombed Harlem to kill one rampaging murderer, we'd condemn the NYPD agents as murderers. But if the USAF bombs a town in Afghanistan to kill one rampaging murderer, we forgive the bombers - or cheer them on. If the state of Alabama made it a crime for blacks to take white collar jobs, we'd damn them as racist monsters. But if the entire U.S. government makes it a crime for Mexican citizens to take any U.S. job whatsoever, we accept and justify the policy. What's the difference between "fighting crime" and "fighting terrorism"? Between "Jim Crow" and "protecting our borders"? The mere fact that the victims are foreigners, so up is down and wrong is right.

Did too many regulations doom implementation of the Affordable Care Act?

So argues economist Tyler Cowen:

For instance, the tangle known as government procurement has exacerbated problems with the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges. The required formal processes made it difficult to hire the best possible talent, led to nightmare organizational charts and resulted in blurred lines of accountability. It’s hard to turn on a dime and fix such problems overnight, no matter how pressing the need.

Atlas Moved to Chile

Feminist and individualist anarchist Wendy McElroy is moving to Galt's Gulch in Chile.

This is surprising for two reasons.

Firstly, while individualist anarchists and Objectivists both value liberty, the former are vocal critics of state capitalism, while the latter are defenders of it. It's not immediately clear that living among a band of Objectivists in Chile is going to be preferable to living in Canada (McElroy's current home).

Secondly, there's a "Galt's Gulch" in Chile?!

Reasonableness of Christianity Round-Up

Is Christianity reasonable? The answer depends largely on what one means by 'reasonable': strongly rationally justified; somewhat rationally justified; permissible in public political debate and decision; meriting serious rational engagement. BGSU philosophy professor Kevin Vallier argues that Christianity is reasonable, and his initial argument has brought forth a bevy of responses.

At first, I took Vallier to be arguing for the weak thesis that Christianity merits serious rational engagement by non-Christian philosophers. But now, I think he might be arguing for one of the stronger theses involving rational justification. If he chooses the weak thesis, this is much easier to argue for, but its implications are less interesting and controversial (most atheists don't want Christians banned from public policy debates, for example). If he chooses one of the stronger theses, he will have a much more difficult time mounting a successful argument (for the reasons noted below by fellow BGSU philosophy professor Richard Yetter)!

1. Kevin Vallier's initial argument in support of the reasonableness of Christianity.

2. Richard Yetter's reply.

3. Jason Brennan's post about some of the different senses of the word 'reasonable' in play. Brennan notes that 'reasonable' has a technical meaning in the political philosophy literature that might be escaping some people engaged in this debate.

4. Vallier clarifies what he means by 'reasonable'.

5. Vallier's tries to prove that Christianity is reasonable.

To be continued!

Links for Writers

1. The adverb is not your friend.

2. Creative sleep.

3. Lee Martin's tips for fiction and nonfiction writers.

"Grit" Predicts Success More Than I.Q.

A summary of the research on motivation in student success by psychologist Angela Duckworth.

Among other findings, Duckworth's 12-point "Grit" self-test predicts the success of cadets at West Point better than the battery of measures developed by West Point for just that purpose.

Ripples on the Ocean

1. "Speculative Non-Buddhism": An intellectually stimulating but mean-spirited and petty critique of mainstream Western Buddhism. Recommended.

2. "Meditation and mindfulness are the new rage in Silicon Valley." Words to send shivers down your spine.

3.  When Buddhists and non-Buddhists attack. Harsh words in the comments thread between meditation teacher Kenneth Ford and his "non-Buddhist" (disgruntled Buddhist?) adversaries.

4. Biting "non-Buddhist" satire of the commercialization of Buddhist spirituality.

Tyler Cowen on Growing Income Inequality and Our Unequal Future

1. Cowen's new book on our unequal future: "Average Is Over." Economist review of "Average Is Over." Daily Beast review of "Average Is Over."

2. "The great reset": In 2012, real median household income was 8.3% lower than in 2007.

3. New results on labor market polarization.

Strange Synergy

1. Tyler Cowen's reflections on the economy and society in the new world of big data and ubiquitous computing.

2. "Billy Mordor"'s reflections on cyberpunk and the end of golden-age sci-fi: technology transforms our social problems, it does not solve them.

Critique of Barbara Frederickson's Happiness Research

Debunking Barbara Fredrickson's happiness research: it's a maths problem. Fredrickson collected the wrong kind of data to use with her co-author Losada's differential equations, and Losada's math is gibberish, according to a new paper by Brown, Sokal, and Friedman. (Hat tip to Marginal Revolution; Will Wilkinson blogs the story.)

Links

1. Amazing Bowling Green artist Dennis Wojtkiewicz.

2. Alchemy Goods: "upcycing" bags etc. from used bicycle tires.

3. Kenyan Reality TV: advice for farmers, served up with politeness.

4. Drinking coffee lowers suicide risk. And here is a summary of recent research on the health benefits of coffee.

5. David Sloan Wilson on how evolution can reform economics. And here is a page with articles from a special issue of the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization on this topic.

6. Who's who in the history of Western mysticism.

7. 16-year old pitching sensation Tomohiro Anraku, and the culture of Japanese baseball: "Only more throwing will allow Anraku to perfect his mechanics, and only perfect mechanics will prevent injury."

8.  Why singular "they" is grammatically correct.

9. Two book reviews for the price of one: on occultism during the Enlightenment. 

10. A summary of the evidence on supplemental vitamins and health: vitamins do not improve health, and seem to increase the risk of some cancers. This article also contains a profile of the role of Nobel-prize winner Linus Pauling's shameful role in spreading misinformation about the alleged benefits of vitamin supplements.

11. On German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk's reimagining of the Nietzschean Uebermensch: the Superman as supreme self-trainer, with Jesus and Socrates (Nietzsche's blood enemies) as prime exemplars.

12. Elizabeth Anderson on the relevance of 17th century Levellers and 19th century abolitionists to contemporary debates about equality; e.g., “An Arrow against all Tyrants, shot from the prison of Newgate into the prerogative bowels of the arbitrary House of Lords and all other usurpers and tyrants whatsoever” (1646).

13. Discovery of a 3,000 year old palace reignites debate about the historical nature of the kingdom of Israel.

14. David Lynch was so traumatized by the song "It's a Small World" that he insists on referring to it as "Flappy" rather than its true name.

Links

1. Noah Smith explains why neither the New Keynesian model nor Real Business Cycle theory can explain Japan's economic situation.

2. The Zimmerman case as one of overreaction and misinterpretation.

3. The reconsolidation theory of memory: memories are remade when they are recalled.

4. Barriers to increasing quinoa production.

5. U.S. STEM graduate programs depend for their existence on foreign students.

6. Republicans and the farm bill: "it doesn't count as spending as long as it redistributes upwards."

7. Henry James was not anti-immigrant.

8. Peak water (peak agriculture)? And this.

9. The "living rock".

10. Lou Reed reviews Kanye West's "Yeezus". 

11. The problem with clutter.

12. Against multitasking.

13. Scientist Carl Hart on myths about drugs.

14. "I find it hard to talk about what I love. Yet dislike summons an instant legion of words and sets them to work."

Links

1. On 3D printing as a "gateway drug", and other thoughts on digital manufacturing.

2. Book review of My Lunches with Orson: the mad genius of Orson Welles.

3. Kevin Vallier responds to Robin Corey on Hayek and Nietzsche.

4. An economist on 'the arithmetic' of space travel.

5. Lane Craig, theist philosopher and rhetorician extraordinaire.

Stephen Fry on Loneliness and Suicide

I have long enjoyed Stephen Fry's acting, and he has impressed me with his knowledge of and appreciation for literature (for example, see his surprisingly astute commentary on Lawrence Stern's Tristram Shandy, in one of the special features on the "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" DVD). In a recent blog post, he writes poignantly of loneliness and of a recent brush with self-slaughter:

"In the end loneliness is the most terrible and contradictory of my problems. I hate having only myself to come home to. If I have a book to write, it’s fine. I’m up so early in the morning that even I pop out for an early supper I am happy to go straight to bed, eager to be up and writing at dawn the next day. But otherwise…

"It’s not that I want a sexual partner, a long-term partner, someone to share a bed and a snuggle on the sofa with – although perhaps I do and in the past I have had and it has been joyful. But the fact is I value my privacy too. It’s a lose-lose matter. I don’t want to be alone, but I want to be left alone."

Links

1. A discussion of Jonathan Israel's controversial history of the 'radical Enlightenment', which highlights the role of philosopher Baruch Spinoza and a clandestine network of Spinozists in spreading the ideas of monism on the one hand and radical political freedom and equality on the other.

2. Neither barbequed nor grilled: Baltimore pit beef (slow cooked for around 2 hours over coals--less than traditional bbq, more than grilling). Traditionally served with horseradish on a roll.

3. Reading Tocqueville in Beijing. The political subtext: China's political elites seem to fear a revolution against their regime based in part on rising expectations--similar to what overthrew the Old Regime in France, according to Tocqueville's account.

4. Historical mystery solved: the recipe of Roman concrete revealed at last, and it could revolutionize construction and architecture. Roman concrete included lime and volcanic ash, which when combined with seawater produced a chemical reaction that created a powerful mortar.

5. Economist Felix Salmon summarizes some depressing facts about Detroit.

6. NYT review of "Confessions of a Sociopath," which purports to be a memoir of a noncriminal sociopath.

7. Hand-made Guinea-pig armor sells for $24,300.

Links

1. The effect of soil on sub-Saharan African agriculture and development.

2. What happens when you resubmit previously published journal articles to peer-reviewed psychology journals?

3. Are we breeding the nutrition out of food?

4. Teens' use of social media. 

5. Pictures of Finland from World War II.

6. In praise of New Zealand's health care system.