By communism here we mean a system in which the principle of: From each according to their ability, to each according to their need Is implemented as the sole principle of economic distribution. There has never been a a advanced communist society- only societies that aspire to communism in the long run. Money still existed … Continue reading For communism and against foreclosure on the future
Category: Above average quality
Recent advances in Natural Language Processing- Some Woolly speculations
If you enjoy this article, please check out my free book by clicking Here: "Something to Read in Quarantine: Essays 2018-2020." Natural Language Processing (NLP) per Wikipedia: “Is a subfield of linguistics, computer science, information engineering, and artificial intelligence concerned with the interactions between computers and human (natural) languages, in particular how to program computers … Continue reading Recent advances in Natural Language Processing- Some Woolly speculations
My method for dealing with anxiety
I wanted to outline the methods, strategies and approaches that have helped me with anxiety (moderate to severe OCD). Although I hope you might find something useful here, you may not. Seek qualified and competent psychological advice. To make it very clear that this is only my experience, and not general advice, I've written a … Continue reading My method for dealing with anxiety
Four parts of belief
A little bit of prodding suggests that beliefs are not so simple as they seem. Consider for example Tamar Gendler's concept of an Aelief- a kind of belief-like state. An Aelief, per Wikipedia is: "...an automatic or habitual belief-like attitude, particularly one that is in tension with a person's explicit beliefs. For example, a person standing … Continue reading Four parts of belief
Why we can’t (usefully) dismiss concern about the income of others as envious
I. The Easterlin paradox is the observation that country level happiness does not seem to increase overtime with income- even though there are many reasons to think it should- for example, income gives us choices, security, additional consumption and so on. The paradox grows even weirder when we reflect that individual increases in income do … Continue reading Why we can’t (usefully) dismiss concern about the income of others as envious
[WIP] [Technical] Extending the veil of ignorance argument for utilitarianism into an argument for ‘egalitarian’ interpersonal utility comparison
I. Plausibly there are actually two problems of interpersonal utility comparison- the epistemic problem and the ontological problem. The epistemic problem is the problem of how we could know that a given comparison is correct. The ontological problem is the problem of why we should think such comparisons are meaningful- anymore than measuring temperature against … Continue reading [WIP] [Technical] Extending the veil of ignorance argument for utilitarianism into an argument for ‘egalitarian’ interpersonal utility comparison
The end of Neoliberalism and the beginning of the venal age? Comment on Crooked Timber
The following comment was made on Crooked Timber by a friend (Tim Scriven). After speaking about it with him I'm reprinting it here with slight modifications as requested: "I have a take on Neoliberalism- it’s pretty poorly informed, but then a lot of people have pretty poorly informed takes on this subject. There are actually … Continue reading The end of Neoliberalism and the beginning of the venal age? Comment on Crooked Timber
GDP undervalues government services
I. Gross domestic product can be calculated in many ways, but one of the most common is: (Government expenditure)+(Consumption)+(Investment)+((Exports)-(Imports)) To see why government expenditure is under-counted consider two countries, one of which provides all of its health care through the public sector, the other through the private sector. In the latter case, health care is … Continue reading GDP undervalues government services
Informal musings on the self-organisation of authoritarianism
You know how everyone has realizations they make far later in life than is normal? This is one of mine. Nonetheless, in the possibility that this essay might be helpful to someone who was similarly slow on the uptake, I've decided to share it. I. I’ve come to realize that most pro-authoritarian action can be self-organised- … Continue reading Informal musings on the self-organisation of authoritarianism
The paradox of high expectations: The more you demand, the less you get
In various fairly common situations, demanding more can result in receiving less. I. The kinds of situation I am talking about are ubiquitous, but we'll start with employee hiring. Suppose you are running a job search, and are primarily interested in some desirable talent T. Perhaps T is years of experience using some application or … Continue reading The paradox of high expectations: The more you demand, the less you get
