2026-01-12
holding out for a hero
Liv Boeree interviews Tyler Cowen, which is interesting because it feels like Liv would naturally be a conspiratorial thinker but is too smart to fall for the standard theories, whereas Tyler is by inclination an institutionalist but also too independent-minded to properly fall in line.
Joseph Politano on the current state of the US job market. I don’t consider this a defense for the current “price of gold”, because my theory is that this is all downstream of the formal hiring system no longer working, rather than something that can be solved merely through rates.
Anton Howes on the trade restrictions of Henry VII.
Antirez on current AI software development capabilities. Related, Linus Torvald’s recent toy project, created with help from Google Antigravity.
Chinese Doomscroll on gender discourse exemplifying what I mean when I say that Confucianism turns every mother into a stepmother, through some sort of weird social reality where who you are and belong to isn’t a result of nature or even nurture, but a representation of your lineage through your surname1.
Somewhat related, I think I now understand where the idea that one will “lose themselves” if they get married and have children comes from. There’s a common Western sentiment that having a family is the only way to truly become part of something bigger than yourself, but that’s not the case in East Asian “collectivist” societies. There, everyone already exists as part of something greater than themselves as part of society, and it’s only in one’s private life where one retains enough space to properly exercise one’s individuality. In which case, subsuming that sphere could indeed leave you the sense that nothing is left for yourself. Though collectivist notions might temporarily increase fertility, it’s possible that it’s actually the worldview of living and being born as an individual, and that even your choices as to which groups you belong to are your choices, that might ultimately produce to the highest stable-equilibrium fertility. Tangentially related, Evolutionary Psychology Podcast has an interesting discussion on the concept of free will, as arising out of the need to avoid being predictable and therefore manipulable, and it’s mismatch with our current level of natural understanding: if natural selection, genetics, or brain chemistry are regarded as entities which exist outside of your self.