Gurwinder on surging mental illness; Pravina Rudra on short men; Thomas Kelly on Advance Market Commitments; Peter Thiel on the significance of the diversity movement
The Klingian/Thielian school of thought regarding the public funding of science reminds me of where I first read a libertarian making a similar point: Ayn Rand in *Atlas Shrugged*, via the character of Robert Stadler. The big argument that occurred between Stadler and another character (Galt?) had been that Stadler had accepted government funding of science. At the time, I thought Rand went too far here. As the economics books taught me, the funding of science has positive externalities, and the private sector underfunds it... Rand was right. Having had plenty of exposure to the academic publish-or-perish circle-jerk myself (pardon my language), I am afraid we have created a system that absorbs tons of hard-working, relatively smart people into producing low value "scientific" output.
"But somehow, dismissing him as short is often considered funny."
I'm going to make pretty much the same claim I made last time you talked about short: evolution is long, we are in a kind of snapshot now. Also, the ladies have genes.
If guys have a preference for short women (or if guys do a lot of rapes, and short women are less able to resist than is some six foot Amazon) this can do good things for 'short fitness'.
Take a look at the St Kilda Parliament http://www.abandonedcommunities.co.uk/St%20Kilda%20Parliament%201.JPG these guys got their food by climbing cliffs to get the eggs of sea birds. Is 'tall' better for this? Not from the look of them! Is 'tall' better for pulling weeds from the bean patch? Probably not!
It's easy to assume that past conditions were like the present, but they weren't. Dutch people are on average very tall, Guatemala people short. This suggests that local conditions favored 'tall' in Netherlands, 'short' in Guatemala.
Admonition to overcome circumstances recalls this text . . .
“I have said these things to you so that by means of me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage! I have conquered the world.”
Jesus day before execution.
Who teaches this today?
If we are just chemical robots (Descartes), or, smarter animals (Darwin), can we conquer evil? Don’t we need to be made in ‘image of God’?
Re colleges and real estate: there is a college here whose origin was the sale of the home of San Antonio's then most prominent citizen, George Brackenridge (for some reason usually styled "Colonel Brackenridge"). The house "Fernridge" and its 283 acres were sold to some nuns of the Incarnate Word. Supposedly after the sale he returned to get his books and was told he couldn't have them. I noticed that the campus now offers an assisted living or retirement home facility. There is a commercial property, defunct, that I've been watching for signs of renewal, a couple miles away. The other day I was glad to see a couple of plumbing trucks there - and another truck bearing the Incarnate Word* logo!
Incidentally among his many land holdings, Brackenridge donated 500 acres along the Colorado to the University of Texas, assuming it would wish to move the campus to those pleasant environs. That never happened, but UT is playing a very long game of slowly monetizing that property.
Perhaps more unexpectedly, when the big paper companies pulled out of East Texas - the institutional investors like Harvard pulled in. I think they've since sold up though. Rice University as far as I know still owns the 4000 acres in Waller County left it by William Marsh Rice. Suburban-developing it will make something of a mockery of the ideals of its urban studies institute. But then it also owns Houston's cutest shopping district.
*It's a peculiar place. There's a grotto - in SA there's always a grotto - which when I visited coexisted oddly with street-light banners that show the school's athletes in skimpy costumes, the peace disturbed by booming hip-hop. It's also the source of the San Antonio River - but the spring hasn't really flowed in decades.
The Klingian/Thielian school of thought regarding the public funding of science reminds me of where I first read a libertarian making a similar point: Ayn Rand in *Atlas Shrugged*, via the character of Robert Stadler. The big argument that occurred between Stadler and another character (Galt?) had been that Stadler had accepted government funding of science. At the time, I thought Rand went too far here. As the economics books taught me, the funding of science has positive externalities, and the private sector underfunds it... Rand was right. Having had plenty of exposure to the academic publish-or-perish circle-jerk myself (pardon my language), I am afraid we have created a system that absorbs tons of hard-working, relatively smart people into producing low value "scientific" output.
"But somehow, dismissing him as short is often considered funny."
I'm going to make pretty much the same claim I made last time you talked about short: evolution is long, we are in a kind of snapshot now. Also, the ladies have genes.
If guys have a preference for short women (or if guys do a lot of rapes, and short women are less able to resist than is some six foot Amazon) this can do good things for 'short fitness'.
Take a look at the St Kilda Parliament http://www.abandonedcommunities.co.uk/St%20Kilda%20Parliament%201.JPG these guys got their food by climbing cliffs to get the eggs of sea birds. Is 'tall' better for this? Not from the look of them! Is 'tall' better for pulling weeds from the bean patch? Probably not!
It's easy to assume that past conditions were like the present, but they weren't. Dutch people are on average very tall, Guatemala people short. This suggests that local conditions favored 'tall' in Netherlands, 'short' in Guatemala.
Arnold/Gurwinder
Admonition to overcome circumstances recalls this text . . .
“I have said these things to you so that by means of me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage! I have conquered the world.”
Jesus day before execution.
Who teaches this today?
If we are just chemical robots (Descartes), or, smarter animals (Darwin), can we conquer evil? Don’t we need to be made in ‘image of God’?
Ontology makes epistemology - Chantel del Sol.
Thanks
Clay
Re colleges and real estate: there is a college here whose origin was the sale of the home of San Antonio's then most prominent citizen, George Brackenridge (for some reason usually styled "Colonel Brackenridge"). The house "Fernridge" and its 283 acres were sold to some nuns of the Incarnate Word. Supposedly after the sale he returned to get his books and was told he couldn't have them. I noticed that the campus now offers an assisted living or retirement home facility. There is a commercial property, defunct, that I've been watching for signs of renewal, a couple miles away. The other day I was glad to see a couple of plumbing trucks there - and another truck bearing the Incarnate Word* logo!
Incidentally among his many land holdings, Brackenridge donated 500 acres along the Colorado to the University of Texas, assuming it would wish to move the campus to those pleasant environs. That never happened, but UT is playing a very long game of slowly monetizing that property.
Perhaps more unexpectedly, when the big paper companies pulled out of East Texas - the institutional investors like Harvard pulled in. I think they've since sold up though. Rice University as far as I know still owns the 4000 acres in Waller County left it by William Marsh Rice. Suburban-developing it will make something of a mockery of the ideals of its urban studies institute. But then it also owns Houston's cutest shopping district.
*It's a peculiar place. There's a grotto - in SA there's always a grotto - which when I visited coexisted oddly with street-light banners that show the school's athletes in skimpy costumes, the peace disturbed by booming hip-hop. It's also the source of the San Antonio River - but the spring hasn't really flowed in decades.