I recently saw a person publicly declare he is rejecting the Zero Aggression Principle (ZAP) after years of following it. The reason: Someone had insulted his girlfriend and he decided that the ZAP was inconvenient and “pacifist” because it informed him that using violence against the insulter would be something he didn’t have a right to do. He didn’t like this and started posting links claiming that words cause real harm.
Tag: change
What Children Reveal About Human Nature
When a child doesn’t follow through on a promise to “never do it again,” it’s because of Social Desirability Bias, not because they lack self-control. Kids say stuff that sounds good to avoid negative consequences. In other words, they’re acting just like adults, minus the subtlety.
It’s Either Bullies or Balance Sheets
A wise man once told me that in this life, you can obey balance sheets or bullies. In the end, those are the only two paths. He was drawing attention to an unavoidable reality in a world of scarcity. All scarce things must be allocated among competing ends. This can be done top-down by people in control, or it can be accomplished bottom-up with the signaling system that emerges from voluntary exchange. The two approaches don’t mix well.
Groupthink Makes You All Stink
When the bulk of what you read, watch, think, listen to, and talk about is shaped by mainstream thinking, you’re in danger. You’re in danger of losing the very thing that offers you the opportunity to make a difference in this world: your individuality.
Children Are Not Interchangeable Cogs
Variations of this picture of educational cogs have been widely distributed in schools. Education works best, we are told, when all the parts work together. The picture shows three gears, arranged in a circle. If you remember your studies of mechanics, this arrangement cannot possibly work.
What Are the World’s Three Biggest Problems?
Are you a serious thinker? Then self-consciously change the subject to the Big Picture.What can be done to mitigate the media’s policy misdirection? I suggest we start the New Year with what I call the Priority Resolution. Are you a serious thinker? Then step back from the media cycle and name the world’s Three Biggest Problems. Instead of trying to score points over the latest exciting story with colorful characters, let us self-consciously change the subject to the Big Picture.
Capitalism for Dummies (and Socialists)
The whole notion of capitalism is that those with capital are incentivized to invest it in order to obtain a profit. If profits are outlawed or significantly reduced through confiscatory taxation, the incentive to invest is reduced or eliminated. If profit is forbidden, I have no incentive to invest rather than consume. Why would I delay gratification and take on risk to plant a field or build a factory if I don’t stand to make a profit by doing so?
A Message from the Calm to the Angry
Dear Angry Person, I can tell that you’re angry at me again. I think I understand your complaint, though I have trouble understanding why this specific issue is upsetting you on this specific day. But based on past experience, asking for clarification will only make you angrier, without helping me avoid your future anger. As usual, then, I plan to appease you.
Free Human Beings Do Not Ask Permission
I am not a political activist. I do not advocate for marches, protests, or the signing of petitions as a means of effecting change. This represents the acknowledgment that political predators have legitimate authority over my life. The host does not concern itself with the opinion of the parasite. Shuffle off and deprive it of nourishment and rest assured, it will perish of it’s own accord.
Words Poorly Used #75 — Evolution
We make way too many assumptions about the nature of evolution, without questioning true, false, or irrelevant. I will talk here about three.