Study Notes: June 26-July 9, 2016

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

• Post, "Virtue Ethics for Consequentialists", by Will_Newsome
• Paper, "A Partial History of Afterlife Beliefs," by Daniel M. Ogilvie and Amojha Bajaj
• Newsgroup thread, [regarding techno-shamanism], hosted on alt.techno-shamanism
• Article, "11 things we learned from Benjamin Barber's talk on the future of the city," by John Elledge

Also check out: 

• DoubleBlinded, "a new service for self-discovery and crowdsourced clinical trials." 

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.
• 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: Feb 7-June 25, 2016

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

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

• Post, "How I am becoming a virtue ethicist," by Xuenay
• Article, "Why Does a Permit to Climb Mount Everest Cost $70,000?", by Remy Melina
• Article, "The heart of the world", Peter Frankopan

Other notes: 

• Notes to: Tour of Our Terraformed Solar System
• Notes to: "In the Dust of This Planet"
• Magazines for funeral directors, and related information

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.
• 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.

Make-A-Wish Foundation vs. Against Malaria Foundation

My unsolicited opinion on the Make-A-Wish Foundation, in a nutshell: Excluding organizations that purposefully harm other human beings, I am not sure that there are many other organizations that are worse than the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

To explain: I identify as an Effective Altruist. I believe that saving lives is good, that doing good matters, and that saving more lives is better than saving less: if you have the opportunity to save five people, but you misuse your money so that you only save three people, then you have effectively killed two people.

Study Notes: Jan 1-Feb 6, 2015

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

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

• Post, "How to Write First Thing in the Morning", by Leo Babauta
• Post, "Why Writer's Block is Your Secret Weapon", by Melissa Karnaze
• Post, "How to Make Your Reader Cry: Anatomy of a Death Scene", by Livia Blackburne
• Post, "My charitable donations for 2015", by Topher Hallquist
• Post, "Donald Trump: less than he appears", by Topher Hallquist

Other notes: 

• Notes on: Starvation

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.
• 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: 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: Oct 25-Nov 15, 2015: "The Ethics of Respect for Nature"

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

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

• Paper, "The Ethics of Respect for Nature", by Paul Taylor
• Post, "The World Is Mad", by Ozy
• Post, "Steven Pinker is wrong about the Cuban Missile Crisis", by Topher Hallquist
• Article, "Disrupting the Cycle of Urban Violence With Arts and Culture", by Brentin Mock
• Article, "Strange but True: An Elemental Quest for the Building Blocks of the Universe", by Jack El-Hai
• Article, "Let Me Tell Y'all A Little Bit About the Mohists", by Max Gladstone
• Post, "The Galileo affair: who was on the side of rationality?", by Val
• Post, "Vegetarianism for Meat-Eaters", by Scott Alexander
• Post, "The Perfect Machine Versus the Art Monster", by Chuck Wendig
• Article, "THE EMPIRE NEVER ENDED. Philip K Dick, Valis, and the Psychopathology of War", by CJStone
• Post, "Nanowrimo Survival Guide: How I Write 50K(-ish) Every Month", by Chuck Wendig
• Post, "How to Write a Novel in 30 Days", by Catherynne M. Valente
• Post, "Predator Novel Process", by Jeff Vandermeer
• Post, "Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth", by Scott Alexander

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: Sep 13-19, 2015: "Effective altruism and mistakes of globalization"

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

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

• Post, "Effective Altruism and mistakes of globalization", by Topher Hallquist
• Article, "You Ain't Seen Sustainable Dining Until You've Eaten Here", by Rebecca Flint Marx
• Article, "Origins", by Jacob Mikanowski
• Post, "DBT Sequence: Radical Acceptance", by Ozy
• Post, "Cardiologists and Chinese Robbers", by Scott Alexander
• Article, "A happy state", by Benjamin Radcliff
• Post, "Artistic greatness, according to my brain: a first pass", by Luke Muehlhauser

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.
• 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: Aug 30-Sep 12, 2015: "Perfect genetic knowledge"

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

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

• Article, "The V.C.s of B.C.", by Adam Davidson
• Article, "Dark Matter May Be More Complex Than Physicists Thought", by Liz Kruesi
• Article, "Cover of darkness", by Jamie Bartlett
• Article, "Perfect genetic knowledge", by Dawn Field
• Article, "The Limits of Language", by David Auerbach
• Post, "DBT Analysis: Chain Analysis", by Ozy
• Post, "Specific vs. General Foragers & Farmers", by Robin Hanson
• Post, "Identities Are Not Arguments", by Ozy
• Article, "Clothes and daggers", by Rafia Zakaria
• Article, "Think Like A Tree: A New Kind of Eco-Friendly Concrete Inspired By Coral", Shara Tonn
• Article, "How to Write Convincing Death Scenes", by Bianca Nogrady
• Article, "Book Review: Manufacturing Consent", by Scott Alexander

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.
• 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: Aug 9-29, 2015: "Homes for the homeless"

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

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

• Article, "Decoded octopus genome reveals secrets to complex intelligence", by Katherine Harmon Courage
• Article, "Canon of taste", by Jill Neimark
• Article, "The hacker hacked", by Brett Scott
• Post, "Mysticism and Pattern-Matching", by Scott Alexander
• Article, "Homes for the homeless", by Susie Cagle
• Post, "Effective Altruism, spending habits, and Burning Man", by Topher Hallquist

Other notes: 

• Notes to: 4 articles on writing scientific papers

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.
• 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: Aug 2-8, 2015: "What's a Bodhisattva?"

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

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

• "A Neocon Bible: What Would Jesus Say?", by David Gibson
• "What are Jinns exactly made up of?", on Yahoo! Answers
• "What are Jinn or Spirits", by Shaykh Ibn Arabi
• "What's a Bodhisattva?", by Barbara O'Brien
• Article, "The radical 'Jurassic World' we didn't get to see: When 'starting from scratch' means 'starting from white'", by Imran Siddiquee
• Article, "Desert utopia", by Jared Keller
• Post, "Contra Hallquist on Scientific Rationality", by Scott Alexander
• Article, "The easy morality of Cecil the Lion: Our problem isn't too much outrage--it's that we can't summon enough", Arthur Chu
• Article, "Scholars are way more skeptical of war than the American public. Here's why.", by Zack Beauchamp
• Article, "Why So Many Countries Are Building Airstrips on These Remote Islands", by Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan
• Article, "It's never too early to start thinking about your own death", by Caitlin Doughty
• Article, "Secrets of the extreme religious right: Inside the frightening world of Christian Reconstructionism", by Paul Rosenberg
• Article, "This Wasp Mind-Controls Spiders Into Building It Cozy Webs", by Matt Simon
• Article, "The Deep Influence of the A-Bomb on Anime and Manga", by Frank Fuller
• Post, "DBT Sequence: Assumptions", by Ozy
• Post, "DBT Sequence: Dialectics", by Ozy
• Post, "Contrarians, Crackpots, and Consensus", by Scott Alexander

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.
• 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 "Wrestling with Scriptural Violence: A Primer for Peaceful Followers of Jesus Christ"

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

Notes to the agora talk Wrestling with Scriptural Violence: A Primer for Peaceful Followers of Jesus Christ, by David Pulsipher, who was teaching "American Foundations" and "History of Peace" this past semester. Given January 21st, 2015.

Notes to: The Great Conversation: Kierkegaard and Marx (& other chapters)

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

"The Great Conversation," by Norman Melchert (sixth edition)

Chapter eighteen: "Kierkegaard and Marx"

• "The authorship of Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) is exceedingly varied and diverse. For one thing, about half of it is pseudonymous (written under other names-- and quite a number of them, too). Why? Not for the usual reason, to hide the identity of the author; nearly everyone in Little Copenhagen knew Kierkegaard, and they knew he had written these books."
• "A solution is worked out in one's life by the choices one makes, thereby defining and creating the self one becomes. His pseudonymous authors 'present themselves' to the reader as selves in the process of self-creation. They thereby function as models for possibilities that you or I might also actualize in our own lives; they awaken us to alternatives and stimulate us to self-examination."
• "Kierkegaard calls this technique 'indirect communication.'"
• "We are not honest with ourselves about the categories that actually structure our lives. He attempts to provoke the shock of self-recognition by offering characters with which the reader may identify and then revealing slowly, but inexorably, what living in that way really means." 
• "The fond desire of A's life is simply to be something. His ideal is expressed in a line by the twentieth-century poet T. S. Eliot: 'You are the music while the music lasts.'"

Philosophy 313 Readings: March 3-30

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

Material covered:
"Second Treatise on Government" by John Locke, and edited by Jonathan Bennett
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr.
"A Theory of Justice" by John Rawls
"Existentialism is a Humanism" by Jean-Paul Sartre

Study Notes: Mar 8-14, 2015: "How long until North Korea collapses?" &c

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading this week: 

• Post, "A Non-Biblical Dating for the Jaredite Migration" by Daymon Smith
• Paper, "Prophets, Kings, and Swords: The Sword of Laban and Its Possible Pre-Laban Origin" by Daniel N. Rolph
• Article, "Here's One Genre That Could Replace Post-Apocalyptic Stories" by Charlie Jane Anders
• Article, "Noah's Ark is a Sustainable Floating City for a Post-Apocalyptic World" by Bridget Meinhold
• Article, "How long until North Korea collapses? Eleven defector perspectives" by Chad O'Carroll
• Post, "You Don't Have to Read That Text Tonight" by Sam Keeper
• Post, "The Girls Who Walk Away From Kyubee" by Sam Keeper

Homework for the future:

• Go through at least five entries in in my "P Articles" bookmark folder. Let's go with: (1) "The Culture of Violence in Joseph Smith's Mormonism"; (2) "Study Theology, Even If You Don't Believe in God"; (3) "The 'Best Arguments for God's Existence' Are Actually Terrible"; (4) "How To Turn Real Science Into Great Science Fiction"; (5) "Why Did The Doctor Start Eating Meat Again On Doctor Who?"
• 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.
• Also need to do some reading on polyamory. 
• 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: The Great Conversation: Unmasking the Pretensions of Reason (& other chapters)

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

"The Great Conversation," by Norman Melchert (sixth edition)

Notes: "Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals"

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

Material covered:
"Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals" by Immanuel Kant

Philosophy 313 Reading: "The Meaning of Life" and others

Material covered: 

"The Meaning of Life" by Richard Taylor
"Euthyphro" by Plato
"Natural Goodness" by Philippa Foot
"Moral Motivation and Human Nature" by Joel Feinberg
"The Ethics of Emergencies" by Ayn Rand
A portion of "Moral Thinking" by R. M. Hare
"Extreme and Restricted Utilitarianism" by J. J. C. Smart
"The Singer Solution to World Poverty" by Peter Singer

Some Meditations on the Light Side and the Dark Side

"Liberalism does not conquer by fire and sword. Liberalism conquers by communities of people who agree to play by the rules, slowly growing until eventually an equilibrium is disturbed. Its battle cry is not 'Death to the unbelievers!' but 'If you're nice, you can join our cuddle pile!'" Scott Alexander, In Favor of Niceness, Community, and Civilization

In order to avoid political debates and to, perhaps, extend the idea a little further, let's replace "liberalism" with "the Light Side."

To explain the Light Side by saying what it is not, here is the defining characteristic of the Dark: No matter what its professed goals may be, it is always the Dark Side that seeks to conquer by fire and sword.

Study Notes: Jan 11-17, 2014: "Star Trek and Moral Judgment," &c

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading this week: 

• Article, "5 Unconventional Ways to Become a Better Writer" by Belle Beth Cooper
• Post, "Star Trek and Moral Judgment" by Joe Holbo
• Article, "Less Thinking, More Doing: Develop the Action Habit Today" by Daniel Wallen
• Essay, "Serpent Symbols and Salvation in the Ancient Near East and the Book of Mormon" by Andrew C. Skinner
• Article, "Choosing the Right Name for Your Story" by John Floyd
• Post, "Queerness in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell," by Sam Keeper
• Post, "Night of the Living Fandom," by Sam Keeper
• Book, "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins (Ch. 2 only)
• Book, "Evolution? The Fossils Say Yes!" by Donald Prothero (Ch. 9 only)

Homework for the future: 

• Go through at least five entries in in my "P Articles" bookmark folder. Let's go with: (1) "Have We Been Interpreting Quantum Mechanics Wrong This Whole Time?"; (2) "New Quantum Theory Could Explain the Flow of Time"; (3) "Dream Machine: The mind-expanding world of quantum computing"; (4) "Five Practical Uses for 'Spooky' Quantum Mechanics"; (5) "Quantum Physics Just Got a Tiny Bit Easier to Understand, As Two Oddities Merge Into One"
• 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.
• 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.