Study Notes: Nov 16-29, 2015: "English is not normal"

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading in this time: 

• Post, "What Does Mormonism Say About Animal Rights?", by Tariq Khan
• Article, "The town where it literally pays to be a criminal", by Nick Whigham
• Post, "Analysis: Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better"
• Article, "Great pretenders", by Alexa Clay
• Post, "On Consensual Power Dynamics", by Ozy
• Paper, "America's Unjust Drug War", by Michael Huemer
• Article, "The Evolution of Diet", by Ann Gibbons

Other notes: 

• Notes to: Anarchy--Never Been Tried?
• Notes to: Yvain's "Priming" Sequence
• Notes to: "Alien Species... Active in Earth's Evolution"
• Notes to: The Technocracy Wiki
• Notes to: "The Tao of Pooh"

Also check out: 

• "A modest proposal for renewed imperialism", by Nick Rowe. If serious in its talk of "competitive government", as Arnold Kling puts it, then this is a lot like Moldbug's "patchwork state." Related, I might want to look up Arnold Kling. 

Homework for the future:

• Read the posts linked to by "Responses to the Anti-Reactionary FAQ.". Eventually. 
• Still on the to-do list: studying the Austrian School of Economics.
• Read Fenrir's Shrine. 
• Also on the to-do list: All of those themes that I decide I want to play with, and cool bits that attract me, and things like that? Let's get systematic about that, put them into a single document (might be public, might not) and work with at least one of them every week. Systematic. Systematic. I do it best when I do it systematically. 
• Also, don't forget to flesh this section out a bit more with goals in general, and maybe include a section on which of those goals were accomplished since the last update.

Study Notes: Jul 26-Aug 1, 2015: "Sex & Sexuality in the 19th Century"

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading in this time: 

• Article, "Why Germany Has It So Good -- and Why America Is Going Down the Drain" by Terrence McNally
• Article, "Sex & Sexuality in the 19th Century" by Jan Marsh
• Article, "Russia's Terrifying 'Nuke Trains' Will Be Roving The Rails By 2018" by Tyler Rogoway
• Post, "BDSM Questions, Answered", by Ozy Frantz
• Article, "The Quest for an Archaeology of Sea Otter Tool Use", by Elin Kelsey
• Article, "French Design Firms Imagine An Arcology In the Sahara", by Andrew Liptak
• Article, "Portlander Ursula K. Le Guin is Breathing Fire to Save American Literature", by Taylor Clark and William Anthony
• Article, "This academic debate about worms has an important lesson for the future of global poverty", by Amanda Taub
• Article, "Dead Enough", by Walter Glannon
• Post, "Aromanticism: Defining Our Terms" by Ozy
• Article, "Could a Massive Collision Produce a Subsurface Ocean on Pluto?"; by Mika McKinnon
• Article, "Megapolisomancy, Or Why All Cities Are Haunted", by Annalee Newitz
• Article, "How to Use a Black Hole's Spin to Harvest Energy", by Esther Inglis-Arkell
• Article, "Why We Were Totally Wrong About How Boa Constrictors Kill", by Jason Bittel
• Article, "Snake proteins have gone through massive evolutionary redesign", by Ed Yong
• Post, "Non-Dual Awareness", by Scott Alexander
• Article, "Chimps Are Eating Clay to Detox Themselves", by Esther Inglis-Arkell
• Article, "NK Jemisin: the fantasy author upending the 'racist and sexist status quo'", by Noah Berlatsky
• Article, "The 7 biggest myths about abortion", by Kali Holloway

I planned on reading a post by Matt Walsh. Then I saw that it was written by Matt Walsh. I decided to not waste my time or give him another link.

Also check out: 

• "Useful Geographical Descriptors for writers"

Homework for the future:

• Go through at least five entries in in my "P Articles" bookmark folder. Let's go with: (1) "A Neocon Bible: What Would Jesus Say?"; (2) "An Aging God"; (3) "What are Jinns exactly made up of?"; (4) "What are Jinn or Spirits"; (5) "What's a Bodhisattva?"
• Read the posts linked to by "Responses to the Anti-Reactionary FAQ.". Eventually. 
• Still on the to-do list: studying the Austrian School of Economics.
• Finish the reading for "Notes to: Anarchy: Never Been Tried?"
• Finish the reading for "Notes to 16 Articles on Writing"
• Read Fenrir's Shrine. 
• Also on the to-do list: All of those themes that I decide I want to play with, and cool bits that attract me, and things like that? Let's get systematic about that, put them into a single document (might be public, might not) and work with at least one of them every week. Systematic. Systematic. I do it best when I do it systematically. 
• Also, don't forget to flesh this section out a bit more with goals in general, and maybe include a section on which of those goals were accomplished since the last update.

Study Notes: Apr 19-Jul 25, 2015: "On Measuring Tradeoffs In Effective Altruism", &c

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading in this time: 

• Page, "The Old Ones: The Time Before Sumeria"
• Article, "Ursula K. Le Guin, Fyodor Dovstoevsky, and the Snuggly Comfort of Evil", by Charlie Jane Anders
• Article, "The most convincing argument for legalizing LSD, shrooms, and other psychedelics", by German Lopez
• Article, "Why Does This Ice Look Exactly Like Hair", by Maddie Stone
• Post, "On Measuring Tradeoffs In Effective Altruism", by Ozy Frantz
• Post, "The General Factor of Correctness", by Scott Alexander
• Article, "The Genesis Engine", by Amy Maxmen
• Post, "Bemundolack wrote..." by Medievalpoc

Other notes: 

• Notes to: 11 Articles on Polyamory
• Notes to: The Great Conversation: Kierkegaard and Marx (& other chapters)
• Notes to "Wrestling with Scriptural Violence: A Primer for Peaceful Followers of Jesus Christ"
• Notes to: Arms and Armor-- Common Misconceptions and Frequently Asked Questions

Also check out: 

• "Conceptions Of Soul In Old-Estonian Religion"
• "The Lester Dent Pulp Paper Master Fiction Plot"
• "The Campaign Survey"

Homework for the future:

• Go through at least five entries in in my "P Articles" bookmark folder. Let's go with: (1) "Why Germany Has It So Good -- and Why America Is Going Down the Drain"; (2) "I don't agree with your parenting choices. Now let me explain how you should raise your own children."; (3) "Sex & Sexuality in the 19th Century"; (4) "Yes, We Should Clone Neanderthals"; (5) "Russia's Terrifying 'Nuke Trains' Will Be Roving The Rails By 2018"
• Read the posts linked to by "Responses to the Anti-Reactionary FAQ.". Eventually. 
• Still on the to-do list: studying the Austrian School of Economics.
• Go through the various essays at Fenrir's Shrine, because there are a lot and they are interesting. 
• Kitsune, Kumiho, Huli Jing, Fox is also rather big. 
• Also on the to-do list: All of those themes that I decide I want to play with, and cool bits that attract me, and things like that? Let's get systematic about that, put them into a single document (might be public, might not) and work with at least one of them every week. Systematic. Systematic. I do it best when I do it systematically. 

Notes to: 11 Articles on Polyamory

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

There's just one more on my list: "A Critical Examination of Popular Assumptions About the Benefits and Outcomes of Monogamous Relationships" by Terri D. Conley, Ali Ziegler, Amy C. Moors, Jes L. Matsick, and Brandon Valentine. I'll have to tackle that one later, since it's rather long and deserves its own entry.

I went through a lot more than 11 articles and papers (somewhere between 20 and 30), but these are the ones which didn't provide redundant information that I had already nabbed somewhere else.

Material covered:

• Paper, "On Triparenting. Is having three committed parents better than having only two?" by Daniela Cutas
• Article, "Polyamory works for us" by Angi Becker Stevens
• Article, "Polyamory: When three isn't a crowd" by Emanuella Grinberg
• Article, "Polyamory-- Not Healthy For Children" by Dr. Karen Ruskin
• Article, "Children, Stigma, and Polyamorous Families," by Dr. Elisabeth A. Sheff
• Article, "5 Myths About Polyamory" by Stephanie Pappas
• Article, "Real Polyamorous Families" by Robyn Trask
• Article, "Polyamory and Children: Is polyamory harmful to children?" by Dr. Deborah Anapol
• Article, "Is Polyamory Bad for the Children?: The benefits and drawbacks of polyamory on kids" by Dr. Bella DePaulo
• Article, "Free love gets a fit of the wibbles" by Steven Alexander

Study Notes: Feb 15-21, 2015: "Weirdest Solutions to the Fermi Paradox", &c

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading this week: 

• Post, "Into the (Mind of the) Dalek" by David Selby
• Post, "Good Works?" by Eric Peters
• Thread, "Definitions Master List" on Asexuality.org
• Article, "11 of the Weirdest Solutions to the Fermi Paradox" by George Dvorsky
• Post, "Our Love is Synthesis: Marx, Muse, and 'Madness'" by Sam Keeper
• Post, "A Company of Heroes: Pacific Rim, Iron Man, Cloud Atlas, and the Power of Ensemble Casts" by Sam Keeper

Study Notes: December 21-27, 2014: "The Book No One Read"

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading this week: 

• Article, "The Book No One Read: Why Stanislaw Lem's futurism deserves attention" by Lee Billings
• Essay, "Study of Leviticus 18-20 'Abomination'" by Dave Cornwell
• Post, "Surviving in an Alien Environment: Human + Christ as Medieval Natural-born Cyborg" by Ruth Evans
• Essay, "The Sword of Laban as a Symbol of Divine Authority and Kingship" by Brett L. Holbrook
• Article, "The Horizontal and Vertical Axes of Storytelling" by James George
• Article, "The Remarkable Queerness of Shinji Ikari" by Sam Keeper
• Article, "Tony Stark in the Integrated Circuit: The Iron Man films and Cyborg Feminism" by Sam Keeper
• Article, "Stark Modernism: Fine Art and Iron Man" by Sam Keeper
• Article, "The Thingiverse-- Model Reuse in the 3D Printing Community" by Jarkko Moilanen
• Article, "The Practical Guide to the Future of Medicine" by Dr. Bertalen Mesko
• Article, "Controlling Genes With Your Thoughts" by ETH Science Writer
• Article, "The Fermi Paradox, Self-Replicating Probes, and the Interstellar Transportation Bandwidth" by Keith B. Wiley
• Article, "The Stars Are Wrong: Why Cthulhu Needs To Go Away" by Sam Keeper
• Article, "AnimalTech-- Wearable Technology for Fido" by Clara Mancini

Study Notes: Dec 14-20, 2014: "The Evolution of Names and Personal Identifiers"

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading this week: 

• Post, "The Evolution of Names and Personal Identifiers" by Eric Hellman
• Essay, "At One with Nature: An Ecocritical Study of the Nature Motif in Three Swedish Horror Writers" by Lars Martinsson
• Article, "Five Bold Predictions for the Future of Humanity" by Balam T. Salem
• Article, "Twenty Top Predictions for Life 100 Years From Now" by Ian Pearsson
• Article, "Is Vat-Grown Meat Kosher? We Asked a Rabbi" by Tim Barribeau
• Article, "The Next Big Disruption: Three Major Shifts That Will Influence the Future Global Economy" by Terry Young
• Article, "11 Predictions on the future of social media" by Mary Catherine Wellons
• Article, "The Transhumanist Bodhisattvas," by Butsugen Chigen
• Article, "Turn Your Inkjet Printer into a Chemistry Lab" by Mark Lorch
• Article, "PAN'S LABYRINTH-- Interview with Guillermo Del Toro," by Michael Guillen
• Post, "Will Rituals Return?" by Robin Hanson
• Article, "Today's Apps Are Turning Us Into Sociopaths" by Evan Selinger
• Article, "Anti-aging Oxymorons and Anti-oxy-morons" by Josh Mitteldorf
• Article, "Robotics Update" by Len Rosen
• Article, "Is It Better Never To Have Been Born? (anti-natalism)" by John G. Messerly
• Article, "Lithium for Life Extension?" by Josh Mitteldorf
• Article, "Designer Viruses Could be the New Antibiotics" by Luc Henry
• Article, "The Future of Lunar Archeology" [sic?] by Dr. Beth O'Leary
• Article, "Aging Brains Aren't Necessarily Declining Brains" by Angela Gutchess

Study notes: Nov 18-22, 2014: "Philosophy in Prison" and other things

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading this week:

TED Talk: "The leaders who ruined Africa and the generation who can fix it," by Fred Swaniker
TED Talk: "Is there a real you?" by Julian Baggini
TED Talk: "Philosophy in prison," by Damon Horowitz.
TED Talk: "All it takes is 10 mindful minutes," by Andy Puddicombe
TED Talk: "We can be Buddhas," by Robert Thurman
Blog post: "Contemplating the Red Pill," by Free Northerner
Article: "Fifty Ways to Leave Leviathan," by Max Borders & Jeffrey A. Tucker
Article: "How Long Ago Was Adam Created!?" by Maan Khalife
Blog post: "The Most Useful Mnemonic Technique," by Brienne
Article: "How Climate Change Will End Wine As We Know It," by Sandra Allen
Article: "Latter-day Saint, Latter-day Lovecraft: an interview with W.H. Pugmire," by Theric Jepsen

I have also written notes on David Pulsipher's talk, "Renouncing War: How Mormon Theology & History Lead Us to Nonviolence," and compiled some knowledge from Wikipedia and elsewhere.