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Arctotherium on Male-Female differences on progress and technology; FAIR on California's woke ethnic studies curriculum; Matt Yglesias on Baumol's Cost Disease

Arctotherium writes,

Nuclear power, which combines insignificant greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution with the reliability of fossil fuels, is another technology the progress movement strongly backs as a supplement to solar. There is a 30—point sex gap in support for increasing nuclear power generation in the US, and being male is one of the strongest predictors of support for nuclear in Denmark.

The essay gives a number of other results from polling data about progress and technology, showing differences in preferences between males and females. It offers an evolutionary psychology explanation.

we would expect men to be much more willing to risk failure for an uncertain future payoff, and this is exactly what we see.

…if you’re looking for people who are both interested and able in engineering, disagreeable enough to break consensus, and willing to take risks for uncertain payoffs, you will overwhelmingly find men.

…If you feminize the culture-forming institutions of society, society will predictably become more anti-progress.

And I would add more hostile to overt, rules-based competition and more inclined to engage in shunning of people who take unpopular positions.

Monica Harris writes,

this week FAIR will release its comprehensive white paper, An Analysis of The California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, detailing how Critical Social Justice ideology has systematically compromised educational standards. This rigorous 24-page analysis documents the curriculum's failure to provide genuine liberal education and its harmful effects on students and families.

…FAIR’s white paper includes powerful testimony from parents and students revealing a curriculum that prioritizes political conformity over critical thinking, leaving students feeling unsafe to express diverse viewpoints.

…FAIR has developed its groundbreaking American Experience Curriculum for K-12 students. Rather than waiting until college when ideological patterns are already established, this comprehensive, balanced alternative meets ethnic studies standards without divisive ideology, building critical thinking foundations early.

The teachers’ union, especially in California, is a formidable proponent of social justice activism instead of real education.

Matt Yglesias writes,

as economy-wide average productivity has risen, so have average wages, so something that’s inherently labor-intensive like being a full-time maid has become prohibitively expensive. That’s not really a “disease,” though, it’s literally just a description of what a broad increase in prosperity looks like.

William Baumol did many good things as an economist. But “Baumol’s Cost Disease” is a too-clever name for a matter of basic arithmetic: when productivity increases faster than demand in an industry, prices fall. And when demand increases faster than productivity in another industry, prices rise. It is simple arithmetic of relative prices, not a “disease” and not a profound discovery.

substacks referenced above: @

I’m sort of “against polling” too

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FAIR Releases Critical Analysis of California’s Ethnic Studies Crisis

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Progress Studies and Feminization