When I decided to title this post “the enemies of civilization”, I didn’t mean what’s often meant by the phrase: barbarians who plunder and murder and rape and pillage. I’m talking about the sort of thing Sarah Hoyt was referring … Continue reading →
It struck me today, for no reason at all, that the only two presidents we’ve ever had who’ve been divorced are two of the most conservative presidents politically. And then I started thinking about Ronald Reagan’s children. He had two … Continue reading →
Yesterday there was a lot of back-and-forth in the comments of this post about the relation between violent crime and religious belief. One of the comments was by Richard Saunders, and it went like this: If I don’t believe in … Continue reading →
People like the patrician British double agent Kim Philby fascinate me. Are they natural cons who are drawn to the game aspect of spying? Are they True Believers? Psychopaths? Idealists? Narcissists? Some of the above? All of the above? Kim … Continue reading →
Yesterday commenter “huxley” wrote: I just discovered there’s a new ultra-SJW-intersectional, black, female SF writer, N.K. Jemisin who has won three Hugos and a Nebula since 2016. That’s a very big deal. It puts her into grandmaster level with the … Continue reading →
Commenter Richard Saunders has written: I’m wondering where the stupid idea that people are inherently good got started. Until fairly (in historical terms) recently, everyone understood that the basic rule of human conduct was, as Thucydides put it, “The strong … Continue reading →
Commenter “Snow on Pine” makes the following excellent observation about the differences between left and right: The fork in the road occurs at the crossroad named Human Nature. Believe that humans are innately good and that it is just their … Continue reading →
It’s not possible yet, but they’re working on it: Progress toward making “artificial gametes” has been accelerating. In Japan, mice were born from eggs scientists had manufactured in a dish from a tail cell. Chinese scientists later claimed they had … Continue reading →
Last night I watched “Passengers,” a movie that was made in 2016 and can roughly be described as science fiction. It’s no masterpiece, but I liked it, which is more than I can say for most movies I see these … Continue reading →
There have actually been seven deaths on Mount Everest this week, but this article discusses the two most recent ones. Both were of climbers who were 55 years old, although I have no idea (and the article does not explain) … Continue reading →
The New Yorker has an interesting article about the changes in the economy and society (I almost wrote “culture” there, but realized that the word has a double meaning in this context) of Humboldt County, California as a result of … Continue reading →
The College Board, which has been devising and administering the test known as the SATs, has announced the latest tweak they’ve devised to try to even the playing field: The College Board, which oversees the SAT exam used by most … Continue reading →