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Update on the technologies that are extending female fertility.
Scott Siskind on misphonia, from which he suffers.
The head of this Cambodian statue was found in 1924, the body not until this year.
Interesting essay about prehistoric violence, argues that among hunter-gatherers most violence is not tribal wars but murders by individual psychopaths.
What are the most dangerous questions people might ask a LLM? These guys decided to have an LLM figure that out.
Irritating but still interesting article arguing that the most important early human invention was not the spear but the carrying bag, specifically bags for carrying babies. The main problem is that the author's idea of the anthropological mainstream is fixed in the 1970s, and a lot has changed since then; these days even traditionalists like me write about the importance of bags and backpacks for Stone Age people. Plus the annoying habit of treating men and women as separate species, so that one or the other had to be creating language, and the mistake of thinking that language must have developed as part of resource gathering rather than for broader social purposes.
Iron shackles found at a 3rd century BC gold mine in the Egyptian desert. A reminder that in the classical world slaves laboring in the mines were considered the most pitiable sort of humans.
Four planets found orbiting Barnard's Star, a red dwarf just six light years away. All the planets are too hot for life as we know it.
Married people are much happier, on average, than single people, and this applies to both men and women. (Marginal Revolution, original paper) Of course the causality might not be simple; happy, norm-seeking people probably get married at a higher rate than sad weirdos. Schizophrenic people are much less likely to be married. But even when we correct for whatever we can correct for, married people are still happier. In fact the effect is bigger for some groups that are less happy than the norm, including high school dropouts. Based on some weird data points from the 20th century, this author speculates that gay people in heterosexual marriages must have reported being happier than unmarried gay people.
Speaking of marriage and happiness, here's a piece taking off from a dichotomy found in the old TV series "Girls," that you can either be happy or have experiences. Are there really people who model their lives on characters in fiction?
Remarkably well-preserved section of 18th-century canal found during Madrid subway construction.
The history of technology since 1500 in one massive graphic.
At Wellesley College, non-tenured faculty are getting ready to go on strike. Among their demands: a 2/2 course load, pay that starts at $90,000 a year and goes up in annual increments to $180,000 for the most experienced instructors, a $5,000 child care allowance. better insurance, sabbaticals, research assistance, and more. Their rhetoric is all about what their work is "worth," while ignoring the sad reality that there are about five willing applicants for every position like the ones they hold.
Short video showing the explosion of the world's largest firework, said to have weighed 300 kg.
The Willandra Lakes fossils, among the most intriguing specimens of early Homo Sapiens from all of Asia, have been handed over to Aboriginal tribes for reburial, ending their scientific study.
The exciting career of Ingenuity, the Mars flyer, 30-minute video from Veritasium.
This week's past post is Lessons of the Brexit Vote, featuring some words from Yoni Appelbaum that still perfectly describe the MAGA phenomenon.
That essay on prehistoric violence is excellent, not least in my eyes because it conforms to my own intuitions about how human societies work. Thank you for the link.
ReplyDeleteFour planets found orbiting Barnard's Star, a red dwarf just six light years away. All the planets are too hot for life as we know it.
ReplyDeleteThis is to be expected for red dwarfs. They're just so small that anything moving slow enough to stay in orbit is going to not only be so close as to be cooked by the heat and light of the star, but also likely tidally locked.
And since estimates suggest red dwarfs account for 70% to 90% of all stars, this goes a long way toward dampening the chances of finding life in much of the universe.
This week's past post is Lessons of the Brexit Vote, featuring some words from Yoni Appelbaum that still perfectly describe the MAGA phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteMore empathy would absolutely help, but empathetic people do not tend to make good politicians, in this age or in any previous one. They're too invested in helping ordinary people, which is not what the rich who hold their purse strings want. It cuts into their profit margins, you see.
The problem of "Globalization" is no different than the problems of the Industrial Revolution. The reactionary positions people like MAGA and Brexiteers take are much the same as those that were taken by the Luddites, or by the victims of the Highland Clearances.
Rich men are profiting of the impoverishment of the poor, both materially and culturally. And the reactionary response is to become clannish and insular, and to wish to burn the system down and return to a mythical past - which we know, absolutely, does not work.
So what does work? What's the one thing that has EVER worked? The one thing that managed to force the rich to give concessions to the ordinary person? When the Triangle Shirtwaist factory burned with 164 workers locked inside, what political and social movement fought and won legal protections to prevent such tragedies?
Who put an end to child labor? Who won paid overtime for workers? Who won eight-hour limited workdays? Who won weekends / guaranteed days off? Who won paid sick leave? Who won benefits, retirement plans, etc? Who won protections against arbitrary or malicious termination? Who won safety regulations and mandatory protective equipment? Who won national holidays? Who won medical leave, paternity leave, military leave, etc? Who won breaks during the work day? Who won guaranteed lunches?
Who has more empathy for their fellow man than any political movement that has ever held power? Whose entire mission is to fight against the selfish and greedy rich to better the lives of ordinary people? Whose entire method of operation is to bring people together and foster community and belonging, because we're alone we are weak, but together we are strong?
The answer, of course, is labor unions. The only people who have ever cared enough and fought hard enough to actually make life better for ordinary people, instead of bending over backwards to serve the interests of the ultra-wealthy elites who pay the campaign costs of normal politicians. The only people not beholden to the corruption of the system.
We're long past due for a resurgence in Labor politics.