I commissioned an Audiobook

I present, The Gig Economy. I didn't write it, but I made this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsUi7MaYqwc&t=4840s And, what would be more interesting to readers of this website, I made video versions of my adaptive valley series. In 3 parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91bMrQyRJ60 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wDpFSXTUlc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-vGCYZXiXg&t=151s

The 10 Most Society-Damaging XKCD Comics

Everyone in physics and/or computer science reads XKCD. People in these fields frequently reference and link to it. I'll admit I have done so. The vast majority of the comic strips (from here on just "comics") are basically mundane. Some are kind of interesting. A small number are legitimately objectionable. Over the last 2 days, … Continue reading The 10 Most Society-Damaging XKCD Comics →

Against Outside Work Restrictions

I oppose restrictions outside work. That is to say, I believe in the policy that a company should not fire or discipline an employee in response to something that the employee did in their personal life. Strictly speaking, everything done outside of the office and outside of official work hours should not be taken into … Continue reading Against Outside Work Restrictions →

What’s the Catch?

There was a year or two in high school when I was aware of ad blocking browser extensions but did not install them. Today, I can’t even imagine the experience of browsing the internet with ads everywhere. Or, for instance, sitting through youtube ads waiting to skip them. Sometimes a friend, coworker, or family member … Continue reading What’s the Catch? →

What is Autism?

Let me start from the beginning. The younger you are, the easier it is for you to learn things, in an evolutionary psychology sense. The name for this ease and desire to learn things is “curiosity,” and children are very curious. Toddlers will put things in their mouths, out of curiosity, because their mouths are … Continue reading What is Autism? →

On Santa Movies

I have the impression that narratives in Santa movies are cynical. Intentionally or not, almost all of these movies are premised on the attempt to “demystify” Santa. That is, they simultaneously attempt to justify that Santa’s existence is logical, while also implying that it’s not. These stories generally fall into one of three categories: Santa … Continue reading On Santa Movies →

On Dumbing Down

I’ve been considering the simplification of language. There is an interesting angle of self-censorship culture-enforced newspeak, but that is not where I’m going with this. I am thinking more about each person’s individual inner dialogue. If how we speak influences how we think, then dumbing down language dumbs down our thought. This is a problem … Continue reading On Dumbing Down →

Crimes vs Sins

There are two realms of morality. There are two types of wrongdoings: crimes and sins. A crime is a civic wrongdoing. A sin is a religious wrongdoing. The difference is twofold. First, the selection: some wrongs are classed as the former, and others the ladder. Second, the arbitration: how the wrong is punished. Crimes are … Continue reading Crimes vs Sins →

Scott Adam’s Golden Age Fallacy

This is the first in a series I'm calling The Great Stagnation, a concept I took from Peter Thiel. Thiel argues that the rate of technological progress in the western world has stagnated. This post is reacting to a book by Scott Adams, Loserthink, which wasn't very good. One particularly dumb chapter is called, "The Golden … Continue reading Scott Adam’s Golden Age Fallacy →

Keep the graffiti

In high school, my school bus would drive by a short stone wall lined with graffiti. The graffiti was amateur enough that it was obviously done by the students of the high school (as opposed to most graffiti you see which looks like it was done by gangs). One day, the graffiti was painted over. … Continue reading Keep the graffiti →