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.

Useful Geographical Descriptors for writers

via WriteWorld.

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: Arms and Armor-- Common Misconceptions and Frequently Asked Questions

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

Notes to: Arms and Armor--Common Misconceptions and Frequently Asked Questions

"Armor was worn only by knights.--Wrong."

• "Knights rarely fought alone, nor did medieval and Renaissance armies consist entirely of mounted knights." 
• "It is wrong to assume that every nobleman was a knight. Knights were not born but created, by other knights, feudal lords, or sometimes priests. And, under certain conditions, people of non-noble birth could be knighted (although the knighting was often regarded as their admission into lower nobility). On some occasions, mercenaries or civilians fighting as ordinary soldiers could be knighted for exceptional displays of courage and valor, while in later times a knighthood could be bought." 

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.'"

Notes to: "Converging Media: A New Introduction to Mass Communication"

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

Material covered:

""Converging Media: A New Introduction to Mass Communication" by John V. Pavlik and Shawn McIntosh

Chapter one: Mass Communication and Its Digital Transformation

• "One concern critics have long had about the internet and digital media is our ability to create 'The Daily Me,' a highly personalized digital news stream that contains only information of expressed interest to the user. The problem with The Daily Me is that we may self-select such a unique range of interests that it leaves us unable to discuss in a meaningful way with others matters of broader public importance." 
• Thomas Friedman: "At its best, the Internet can educate more people faster than any media tool we've ever had. At its worst, it can make people dumber faster than any media tool we've ever had."

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: Apr 12-18, 2015: "Hope for a Lumpy Filter" &c

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading this week: 

• Post, "Economics of Star Trek" by Surplus Economics
• Article, "Technologies of Abundance and the Fairytale of Jobs" by Extropia DaSilva
• Post, "Hope for a Lumpy Filter" by Robin Hanson
• Article, "What Wide Origins You Have, Little Red Riding Hood!" by Rachel Hartigan Shea

Homework for the future:

• Go through at least five entries in in my "P Articles" bookmark folder. Let's go with: (1) "The Old Ones: The Time Before Sumeria"; (2) "Conceptions Of Soul In Old-Estonian Religion"; (3) "Runes"; (4) "Fenrir's Shrine"; (5) "Kitsune, Kumiho, Huli Jing, Fox"
• 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. 

Study Notes: Mar 15-Apr 11, 2015: "The Culture of Violence in Joseph Smith's Mormonism" &c

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading this week: 

• Article, "How To Turn Real Science Into Great Science Fiction" by Charlie Jane Anders
• Article, "Why Did The Doctor Start Eating Meat Again On Doctor Who?" by Charlie Jane Anders
• Post, "The Visual Intelligence of Pacific Rim" 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 'Monkey Master' Fable"; (2) "Economics of Star Trek"; (3) "Technologies of Abundance and the Fairytale of Jobs"; (4) "Hope For A Lumpy Filter"; (5) "What Wide Origins You Have, Little Red Riding Hood!"
• 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.