I’m not going after the NYT here, as this observation may simply reflect a dearth of science books published in 2023. However, the paper’s list of 100 best books of the year (click below), divided into 50 fiction books and 50 nonfiction books, has only a single book that I’d classify as “a science book”: […]
26 December 1991. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR met to officially end the Soviet Union. It was an unintended consequence of Gorbachev’s reforms within the Soviet Union, which ironically ended with the destruction of the very system he had tried to save. pic.twitter.com/AzOIrA2tWg
We introduce a structural econometric model to estimate the extent to which the Chinese government bans U.S. movies. According to our estimates, if a movie has characteristics similar to the median movie in our sample, then the probability is approximately 0.91 that the Chinese government will ban it. During our sample period, 1994-2019, U.S. movies […]
Exactly when did Duke William II “The Conqueror” of Normandy become King of the English? Although he certainly became the De Facto King of the English when he defeated King Harold II Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in October of 1066, it was not until his coronation on Christmas Day of that year did […]
Japan will become an immigration powerhouse. Before the pandemic, the country was on track to accept about 150,000 new non-Japanese employees per year. This more than doubled to almost 350,000 in the first half of 2023. There are now approximately 3.2 million non-Japanese residents of Japan, up from barely half a million 30 years ago. […]
25 December 1989. The deposed communist President of Romania, Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, were executed by firing squad after a summary trial which found him guilty of crimes against humanity. The popular revolt against Ceausescu’s regime began two weeks earlier. pic.twitter.com/2X7OkMF4De
If you’re interested in STEM subjects, it’s salubrious to follow the Heterodox STEM Substack site, where you’ll see takes on science that are sufficiently heterodox that they’d be hard to publish in regular journals. Also, there are useful summaries of the literature, including as this one on scientific censorship published today by Anna Krylov and […]
“Invincible ignorance” refers to a state of ignorance that cannot be overcome because the individual has no way of accessing or understanding the necessary information. This concept is often discussed in moral and ethical contexts, particularly in philosophy and theology. In these contexts, invincible ignorance is the lack of knowledge that is literally impossible for […]
On his Substack site “After Babel,” social psychologist Jon Haidt, most of you know of, explains the rapid rise of antisemitism on American campuses. The piece is long and a bit repetitious, but well worth reading of a Christmas Eve. Click to read: I’ll just summarize his thesis and give some quotes. First, the problem: […]
How Do You Want Your Energy ‘Transition’? Mario Loyola wrote at The Wall Street Journal The Impossible Energy ‘Transition’. Excerpts in italics with my bolds. After two weeks of negotiation, the United Nations climate conference in Dubai agreed last week to “transition away” from fossil fuels. Left unanswered is whether governments are supposed to do […]
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
In Hume’s spirit, I will attempt to serve as an ambassador from my world of economics, and help in “finding topics of conversation fit for the entertainment of rational creatures.”
“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. - J Robert Oppenheimer.
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