The Presidents of the United States are a motley crew. So far the scorecard reads 45 attempts, 45 klunkers. I am not saying there were no honorable persons in the group (“honorable” itself is a very iffy word). I have the highest regard for the intellects of Jefferson and Madison. I believe that John Adams was among the greatest lawyers (a rare occurrence). But, to me, there is no such thing as a great President. To have been one places a black mark on that career. Few have risen above.
Tag: knowledge
Natural Law, Fictions, Context
In this post, we will examine 3 related areas of discussion. They are related in that general failures to understand them are the sources of most (if not all) of our problems in the history, and pre-history, of the Sapiens species. Natural law governs everything in the real world, but we need to create fictions to draw meaning among the events of natural law. And we need to understand context to have more precise knowledge among the consequences of natural law interacting with human adaptation.
Politics is Still Stupid
The combination of Public Choice theory, which explains how politics works and why it doesn’t, and understanding social change, plus lived experience of working in politics, policy, education, and finally entrepreneurship have made it abundantly clear to me that politics is at best a ridiculous spectator sport. At worst a terrible addiction that makes you an asshole and a moron all at once.
Privacy Is Trust, Trust Is Freedom
People who are watched – and know it? They’ll feel so much unease about avoiding the perception of unproductiveness that they’ll worry their way into it. Surveillance of any kind is an enemy to long-term productivity – at least of the kind worth keeping.
Does it “Work”?
You can feed this person by making other people hungry. You can make one person feel safer by making everyone less safe. You can pay for someone’s healthcare by making healthcare harder for everyone else to afford.
Preemptive Wealth Management
Most people have trouble with financial management at the paycheck to paycheck level. More money doesn’t magically solve that. The problems just get bigger and the stakes higher.
Elon Musk Wants Talent, Not Diplomas
The founder and CEO of corporate innovation giants Tesla and SpaceX tweeted on February 2 that he is hiring for his artificial intelligence group at Tesla and wants to recruit the most talented people he can find. Talent, to Musk, means “deep understanding” of artificial intelligence and the ability to pass a “hardcore coding test,” but it doesn’t necessarily include degrees and diplomas.
The Problem of Recollection
You do not have to recall genetic code because you have it at conception. But all influences on you, after conception, are memetic. Whether or not you remember their fact situations or not.
I Don’t Want To
“I don’t want to.” When was the last time you heard this from an adult? Children have no problem speaking their minds about their preferences. You’ll hear this several times a day at least from a 3 year old – […]
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If the Only Way You Can Get Your Great Idea Implemented…
Economics textbooks are full of clever-and-appealing policy proposals. Proposals like: “Let’s redistribute money to the desperately poor” and “Let’s tax goods with negative externalities.” They’re so clever and so appealing that it’s hard to understand how any smart, well-meaning person could demur. When you look at the real world, though, you see something strange: Almost no one actually pushes for the textbooks’ clever-and-appealing policy proposals.