An interesting article on pathological altruism.
It’s particularly dangerous when people like this go into politics.
An interesting article on pathological altruism.
It’s particularly dangerous when people like this go into politics.
Some interesting thoughts from Neil Stephenson. I think he’s a little to sanguine about the prospects for using ETs, though.
…and the dumb:
The president’s reaction? “He turned to me and said, ‘Oil and gas will be important for the next few years. But we need to go on to green and alternative energy. [Energy] Secretary [Steven] Chu has assured me that within five years, we can have a battery developed that will make a car with the equivalent of 130 miles per gallon.’” Mr. Hamm holds his head in his hands and says, “Even if you believed that, why would you want to stop oil and gas development? It was pretty disappointing.”
I guess I’d be disappointed, if I had had any expectations of brilliance on his part. But I never had any reason to, other than the bien pensant telling me I should.
Antisocial personality traits predict utilitarian responses to moral dilemmas. I think that there are some interesting ideological implications here.
An interesting essay on the limits of reductionism, over at The New Atlantis.
I’m not sure that the conclusion follows from this paper.
I haven’t checked all the math, though.
[Update a while later]
Isn’t it funny how a common word can start to look really weird, even foreign and meaningless, when you see it enough times?
…were the Solyndra robots playing? I’m not thinking “Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it’s off to work we go…” Off the the top of my head — when you wish upon a star…
Reconsidering it.
…and its enemies (to steal a phrase from Virginia Postrel). Why space settlement is important.
[Via Clark Lindsey and Trent Waddington, who made it]
…becoming too conventional? A review of his latest book.
[Update a couple minutes later]
A new book about the high frontier, and an accompanying 3-D space colony app.
[Update a few minutes later]
An interview with Stephenson about the book.