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The Homo Economicus Myth
The Homo Economicus Myth Among the larger albatrosses burdening the economics profession is the idea of Homo economicus. To this day, most economics undergraduates hear about it in the context of neoclassical economics. Homo economicus, we are told, is the ideal economic man who always seeks to maximize profits and minimize costs. He only acts “rationally,” and rationalism is […]
Wars, Apologetics, and Political Arguments
Wars, Apologetics, and Political Arguments When political arguments ask you to commit to extreme positions, perhaps they are religious rather than ethical arguments. Possibly the two most pressing world events at the moment are the wars in Ukraine and Israel. In each case, the argumentation for each side in the Western world has followed a […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXXVII–Decline of ‘Rationality’
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXXVII January 15, 2022 Teotihuacan, Mexico (1988) Photo by author Decline of ‘Rationality’ Got involved in a discussion after an Facebook Friend (Alice Friedemann, whose work can be seen here) posted a study on the decline of ‘rationality’ over the past few decades. My initial response was as follows: My initial thought is […]
The End of Reason — Part 1
The End of Reason — Part 1 Light a torch, dark times ahead Have we just passed Peak Rationality? Data Source: Google Search, red line: my extrapolation Most societies that have fallen before ours, have went through a similar pattern of rise, prosper and fall. Ours is no exception. Towards the end of their prosperous phase, […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXXVII
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXXVII Teotihuacan, Mexico (1988) Photo by author Got involved in a discussion after an Facebook Friend (Alice Friedemann, whose work can be seen here) posted a study on the decline of ‘rationality’ over the past few decades. My initial response was as follows: My initial thought is that this shift is more the result […]
3 Stoic Lessons That Can Help Heal Our Toxic Political Culture
Statue of philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius 3 Stoic Lessons That Can Help Heal Our Toxic Political Culture Back in the days of Ancient Rome and Greece, the founding fathers of the stoic school of philosophy taught the importance of rationalism. Emotional. Tribal. Irrational. These are just three adjectives which could be applied to the political discourse […]
What do I mean by Skin in the Game? My Own Version
What do I mean by Skin in the Game? My Own Version When selecting a surgeon for your next brain procedure, should you pick a surgeon who looks like a butcher or one who looks like a surgeon? The logic of skin in the game implies you need to select the one who (while credentialed) looks […]
Cognitive Biases Afflict Government “Nudgers” Too
Cognitive Biases Afflict Government “Nudgers” Too Market-based decisions may not always be entirely rational, but there is almost no incentive for governmental decisions to be rational, either. Economist Richard Thaler recently won the 2017 Nobel Prize in economics for his important work documenting widespread cognitive errors in human decision-making. All too often, people fail to act […]
Of boomers and doomers
Of boomers and doomers I suppose this is going over old ground, but I’ve been struck anew recently through various readings and conversations about the nature of techno-utopianism, and the difficulty we seem to have nowadays in breaking out of a boomer-doomer dualism – that is, either the (rather unhistorical) ‘boomer’ notion that human rationality, […]
Tales From the Bizzaro World
Tales From the Bizzaro World Back in the 1960s, DC Comics introduced a parallel Earth called Bizarro, where everything is inverted and everyone is insane. They even have their own wacky Superman, which ends up being a formidable foe of his sane counterpart in our world. Or not in our world perhaps. Some events make […]
