LATEST BLOG POSTS

It’s been a while since I wrote about how economist Julian Simon’s theories don’t work. I last wrote about him in Some thoughts and responses to Julian Simon about six months ago. I heard him mentioned in a video, which prompted me to share a thought I had on my list of blog post ideas. Consider homelessness, a perpetual problem, as far as I know, in every society. One of[…] Keep reading →

Most speculation I see about what might happen with artificial intelligence anticipates some stable situation where humans and AI reach an equilibrium. Do people not understand exponential growth? Do they not understand that AI drives the development of AI? Even if you don’t know differential equations or calculus, which predicts exponential growth, you have to see that that situation means that the faster AI develops, the faster AI develops more[…] Keep reading →

[Note: I wrote the post below before last week’s post Artificial Intelligence and atrophy of mental ability like intelligence, self-awareness, emotional regulation, and expression, which it overlaps. I held back on posting it because of the question in the last paragraph. I’m finishing the third volume of The Gulag Archipelago and studying the effects of dominance hierarchy, which artificial intelligence is forming. People who criticized Stalin didn’t fare well. Should[…] Keep reading →

Learning about the US founders leads to finding great insight. I came across words from John Adams as President of the United States. I copy the whole letter below (it’s out of copyright), but call attention to a few notes. The words some people know: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” He’s saying we have[…] Keep reading →

People call my attempt to pollute and deplete less “extreme.” Let’s consider the view behind this defense that to me feels like an attack. It comes from people living in a culture that induces us to act against our values. Most of us can’t eat breakfast without hurting others, for example by funding production that funds fossil fuel extraction for the plastic and transport if you eat packaged food. I[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: A Man at Arms, by podcast guest Steven Pressfield: I hear Steven has two groups of fans — those of his The War of Art-type books and those of his historical fiction — and they don’t overlap much. I was in the first group. His latest book, The Acadian, comes out soon. We’re scheduled to record our second podcast episode on it this week. It stands[…] Keep reading →

The other day I posted pictures of the needless garbage Democratic candidates send to my mailbox. They talk sustainability, but look at their action. You can see the pictures in Democrat Garbage: When Democrats Say They Value Sustainability, They Mean When It’s Convenient For Themselves (Republicans Probably No Different). Am I unfairly judging them? On the contrary, the conflict is between their values and their actions. I didn’t ask for[…] Keep reading →

I see more and more ads for artificial intelligence. This evening on the subway one ad promoted how AI could turn the workplace task of creating a slide deck from two weeks of many sub-tasks like compiling data and designing slides into one prompt followed by a complete slide deck. The task would take minutes now. I’ve heard a lot of uses for artificial intelligence. I haven’t heard of one[…] Keep reading →

From the Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, PA: “The number of war-related deaths in 1861-1865 is greater than the total number of American deaths in all other American wars.” I’ve been stating that finding lately and wanted to cite my source for future reference. Estimates on deaths from wars are hard, as pages like How Many Died in the American Civil War? at History.com describe. Wikipedia’s United States military casualties[…] Keep reading →