Utility Maximizer's guide to replicators, networks, game theory, and civilization
1. They don’t care about peanut allergies Most places absolutely trip over themselves with anti-peanut alarmism. “Does one person have a minor peanut allergy? Ban all nuts from the premises forever!” Elementary school cafeterias are the worst by the way. They resort to virtue signaling anti-peanut propaganda that isn’t even effective. Five Guys has a … Continue reading Why Five Guys is the best fast food joint
Dates and Keyboards Have you ever wondered why clocks are seemingly base 12? Or why we use the Imperial system over the metric system? Or why we know degrees instead of radians? These are harmless, but here are some things that are not. The Gregorian calendar is bad. The QWERTY keyboard (which I’m using right … Continue reading Path-Dependence and Bottlenecks
Imagine you could only interact with the other people in a small town. The personalities, interests, and hobbies that you could be exposed to are limited by geographical location. In a small population, there may be some people with fringe ideas or unusual interests, but not in great enough numbers to form dedicated communities. But … Continue reading The paradox of interconnectedness
Fungibility of money -> efficient sorting of dominance hierarchies My favorite (now former) Twitter user, Mimetïc Value, tweeted the following. (It appears he took the tweet down for unknown reasons, so be aware this may not represent his current views): Without money, ascertaining your status is tricky business. First, compare yourself to someone else. Then, … Continue reading Money and Honor
This is an unorganized piece about problems I have with the IDW.
I will soon begin a series on my political philosophy that I have been meaning to make for a long time. As that series will not discuss political labels, I wish to briefly do so here. The left-leaning ideology has a lot of good branding: “liberal, Democratic, progressive.” But what do any of those words … Continue reading What is the Right Wing?
[This article contains generalizations. If you are the type of person who thinks generalizations are always bad, please don’t annoy me about it.] The only personality test proven to be reliable is the “Big 5 Personality Test.” It tests five psychometric traits: extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness. To be “agreeable” means you are trusting … Continue reading In Defense of Disagreeables
Of the two greatest sources of knowledge for how society should function, the first is tradition. After all, if a norm has has been practiced for countless generations, doesn’t that count for something? The modern man may scoff at this. Why should we defer to the way people have done things in the past? Tradition … Continue reading Irreversible Fads vs The Precautionary Principle
It is hard to imagine a more contrarian statement than, "playground safety is bad," but that is the case I will make. Children deserve the right get hurt on playground equipment. You may assume that my title is being facetious, using hyperbole for effect. I am not being hyperbolic. I am dead serious. There is … Continue reading The quintessential problem of our day: playgrounds are too safe
Boxing Gloves and American Football Rules vs Antifragility
Epiphany a Week 