Philosophy

Book Review: Bitcoin will make civilization sane again

This is the first book I've read about cryptocurrency, and I took away from it something invaluable, hope. Jason A. Williams, the author, gives us a lot of reason to be optimistic about a Bitcoin-powered future.

I highly recommend reading two books at a time. Usually something fiction and something non-fiction.

Not only will it satisfy a bit of your appetite for novelty, but it will also really stimulate your ability to synthesize big ideas.

A thought experiment in anarchic antifragility

A few evenings ago walking home from the gym, I had a very dangerous idea (that would endanger those most deserving of danger) about how Western civilization could be saved and society could be made much more sound, sane, and just.

Like many of you, I've taken the red pill and had the unpleasant epiphany that many "first world" developed countries are beyond saving. I had concluded that the United States where I'm from, like the Titanic after its hull was ripped open by that iceberg is on an inevitable course to sink into darkness. I'd reached the conclusion that the only solution to preventing a truly dystopian future was the widespread implementation of human gene-editing technology. But, upon deeper contemplation, I think there may be a second option for saving civilization...

Book Review: Why human nature is antithetical to human rights...

This book begins with a treatise on free speech by Quintus Curtius, he makes the point that we assume incorrectly that society will just get better and better. We assume that we will just become freer and freer, we see the tremendous improvement in human quality of life in the past hundred years of history recorded via grainy photographs, shaky newsreel, and newspaper clippings and we assume that it's just going to get better but Quintus warns that progress is not our birthright...

I highly recommend listening to this nearly 4-hour podcast, Engineering the Apocalypse, dissecting a solution-less societal problem, the looming threat of synthetic bioterrorism.

We are moving closer and closer to a world where terrorists and people angry at society will simply be able to download the most dangerous viruses and synthesize them. It’s the ultimate Pandora’s box and institutional science seems hellbent on opening it.

This book is a real black pill (a grim truth) for those who are optimistic about medical science delivering cures to disease.

Too often we imagine that scientists and the institutions of medical science are like the benevolent clergy of the church and idealized organized religion - that they are on an uncorrupted, principled mission with the purest of intentions to uplift humanity, empowering us all with the truth we need to live better. Unfortunately, this is pretty far from reality, often scientists and especially the institutions of science, are more like politicians and the institutions of politics. They are motivated a lot more by selfish personal enrichment and self-aggrandizement than an unflappable devotion to the truth. When they learn that they are wrong, they double down on their assumptions, retreat into dogmatic positions, and staunchly ignore evidence of their errors instead of correcting the record - this lack of humility has an astronomical civilizational cost to all of us.

But don't despair! In this book review, I share some guidelines for biohacking in this era of bad science.

Why robots, trillionaires, and housewives can save us from a porn-powered Dystopia that idiots will vote for…

I live in the bustling center of a European capital city. It’s wintertime and there’s constantly ice and snow on the sidewalk, it’s quite an inconvenience. Every time I shuffle along the slippery sidewalks I have the same thought…

Why the hell doesn’t the government give the refugees (who are cared for at the taxpayers’ expense) shovels and have them clear the sidewalks?

• The refugees are able-bodied guys just sitting around bored in their centers.
• It would engender goodwill towards the refugees because everybody would see them being helpful.
• The refugees could probably use the exercise.
• It would make life a whole lot easier for the people slipping and sliding on the pavement.

It’s such a bloody obvious solution to a couple of different problems, yet the government doesn’t do it. I’m not saying that the government should enslave the refugees to do manual labor, but I bet if they just asked them nicely a lot of them would be happy to pick up a snow shovel and make life a little less slippery for the European taxpayers providing for them.

It would not require any great organization, planning, or management — just a couple dozen shovels and a bus to bring the guys downtown. This is a quintessential example of the government’s profound incompetence and wastefulness when it comes to managing resources.

The novel starts with this very determined young man, who is on a mission to circumnavigate the world in his sailboat. He ends up a semi-benevolent transhuman dictator.

9 reasons why “Free Sex” should be added to the Universal Basic Income platform

Sex will be free for everyone.

Once a month the government will pay for a hooker to bang you. This sounds ridiculous but if you're socially liberal and fiscally conservative it really makes sense. Let me explain...