Choosing Who to Love: How the West Beat a Game Theory Trap While China Embraced It

This article was written by a different author than usual. It is a contribution from the editor.  Something that has been mentioned previously on this blog is how culture is influenced by natural selection. A society’s culture acts much in the same way as a species’ genome, as they are both products of and determining … Continue reading Choosing Who to Love: How the West Beat a Game Theory Trap While China Embraced It →

Profiling (Sam Harris is Wrong, part 6)

Sam Harris has argued in favor of profiling (in airports, for example). He explains his position: we can exclude from inspection some people who we so obviously don't need to worry about. He even euphemistically calls it "anti-profiling." It's insane, he says, to search the old Chinese granny's shoes just as vigorously as the 22 … Continue reading Profiling (Sam Harris is Wrong, part 6) →

The pendulum swings left

“Politics is downstream from culture,” a common saying, has some truth to it. But it’s incomplete. Here is a more comprehensive version. Politics is downstream from culture, which is downstream from metapolitics, which is downstream from metaculture. Politics refers to who gets elected and such things. Culture refers to pop media. Metapolitics means the language … Continue reading The pendulum swings left →

Identity Politics (Sam Harris is Wrong, Part 5)

In one notorious podcast episode, Sam Harris discussed identity politics with the very socially progressive Ezra Klein. Ezra made unsurprising appeal to consequences arguments, but what I want to talk about is one specific thing he said. He accused Sam of supporting an identity of his own, a reactionary identity of those marginalized by social … Continue reading Identity Politics (Sam Harris is Wrong, Part 5) →

Malevolent Artificial Intelligence (Sam Harris is Wrong, Part 4)

The second-ever post on this blog is about the question of malevolent AI. I will now revisit the question with more detail, having had time to refine my thoughts. I don't think the question of malevolent AI, more broadly, the "AI alignment problem," can be simply dismissed. If my view has changed at all since the last … Continue reading Malevolent Artificial Intelligence (Sam Harris is Wrong, Part 4) →

The quintessential problem of our day: halloween costumes aren’t scary enough

I know I'm a day late to this, but here's something that's been annoyed me. Do me a favor. Go to this link, a Google image search for "vintage halloween costumes." Now, the black-and-white coloring may be a factor, and there's probably some selection bias. But those are some scary costumes. Now simply search for … Continue reading The quintessential problem of our day: halloween costumes aren’t scary enough →

Theism, atheism, and antitheism (Sam Harris is Wrong, Part 3)

Harris fails to appreciate the narrative power of religion, or the importance of belief. Here is an excerpt from a debate between Harris and Jordan Peterson, moderated by Bret Weinstein.  Harris: I'm not saying that stories aren't incredibly powerful and useful and inevitable... Peterson: You are. You might be saying that they're inevitable. But you … Continue reading Theism, atheism, and antitheism (Sam Harris is Wrong, Part 3) →