Once it’s a “religion,” it’s lost

I get jubilant whenever I discover an ideology I was previously unaware of, no matter how loony it is.

When one side of history becomes the right side of history: a systemic model

This was written by a a different author than usual; it is a contribution from the editor. It is the first of a two-part series. Part 2 Have you ever felt an inner sense of social momentum? In microcosm, this sense can be the feeling that a group project is moving inexplicably towards one direction … Continue reading When one side of history becomes the right side of history: a systemic model →

Are comedians biased against people with quiet laughs?

I have a theory that loud, bellowing laughs come from different personalities than do quiet laughs. I know a few people who’s laugh doesn't make the sitcom laugh sound if you know what I mean. That is, if you hear it at all. It was said that Einstein had a very distinct laugh. I got … Continue reading Are comedians biased against people with quiet laughs? →

Last Mover Advantage

Migration towards moderation: the most boring wins

Is Dogma Eugenic?

My hypothesis is that dogmas raised human IQs. To explain why, I'll begin here: One of the most powerful driving forces in evolution is called an evolutionary arms race.

Post expansions and elaborations

Revisions

Words in Countries’ Names vs Corruption

I was going through pictures on my computer, and I cam across this chart I made: Though it's a bit outdated, it took forever to make. Some key points: almost all of these are below 50 (bad), the only words that are positively associated with lower corruption are "new" and "kingdom." Someone else made this … Continue reading Words in Countries’ Names vs Corruption →

Pomp and Statistics (or: 95% of reporting is wrong)

The Trump campaign, fooled by randomness, and confirmation bias >The candidate gained a huge amount of support in the polls. We can not explain why. It is probably due to broad, abstract trends that are outside the scope of our reporting.

Why Five Guys is the best fast food joint

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 →

Path-Dependence and Bottlenecks

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 →