I. Intergenerational socioeconomic mobility in the US is very low relative to our peer countries. Why is that? Is it because America is a real meritocracy where the poor stay poor due to their inferior moral character? Or is it because the American economic system, while it pretends to be meritocratic, in fact systematically favors
In general, I want to avoid current events on this blog, but in this case, I feel I need to speak up. (Here’s a youtube video that I watched before doing my own research. I can’t speak to BadEmpanada’s general credibility, but in this specific video he’s factually accurate, and I mostly agree with his
American hierarchy justifies itself with a narrative of merit. People who work hard and take smart risks, who have a knack for knowing what goods and services are wanted where, naturally rise up the ranks, become wealthy and powerful, and are able to use their wealth to do social good (and to further enrich themselves in
With fires raging throughout California, people are being displaced, personal property is being destroyed, and it’s tempting to try to find someone or something to blame. Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, and right-wing Youtuber Dave Rubin blame the fires on California’s “going woke.” They don’t provide a coherent argument to back up their assessment. Others
A couple years ago, sick of all the heavy literature I had been reading, I picked up the complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, expecting, in essence, a fun romp. Sherlock Holmes was, I thought, the original puzzle-fiction: solvable who-dunnit (or how-dunnit) mysteries that encourage the reader to exercise their reasoning skills and that maybe teach something about
In her biography of Alexander Von Humboldt (influential 18th/19th century scientist who has been largely neglected by history), Andrea Wulf convincingly argues that Humboldt’s study of American biology was an important factor in the formation of a pan-American identity that led to Latin American independence from Spain. Up until Humboldt’s observations indicated otherwise, Europeans generally
The table with the big computer at the elementary school’s science expo is relatively empty. The grad students running it are sitting there feeling slightly awkward. They thought this was going to be for high schoolers. They’ve created a computer simulation of the universe. Not the real universe of course, but a 3+1 dimensional universe
One day, while out for a stroll, you come across your friend the desert Tortoise praying to Set, the god of desert, storms, disorder, violence, and foreigners in Egyptian mythology. You wait politely for the Tortoise to finish, and then say “Hi Tortoise, how are you?” After exchanging pleasantries, the Tortoise makes a thoughtful expression
I. How do brains learn things? Here’s a Tedx talk about bird brains learning how to sing. It’s pretty neat. Check it out. I’m by no means an expert in this field, but my understanding is that bird brain song learning is pretty generalizable to brain learning in general. Basically, brains learn through experimentation. Change
November is national novel writing month, and in the spirit of NaNoWriMo, I’m planning on making a blog post everyday for… the first week of November? The first two weeks of November? All of November? The duration of the experiment will depend preliminary results.
