“My main goal is to understand human cruelty, replacing the unscientific term ‘evil’ with the scientific term ‘empathy,’ ” he writes at the beginning of the book From NYTimes.com Science tackling the question of morality.
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Larry Flynt: My Job Offer for Anthony Weiner
Mr. Weiner: After having learned of your sudden and compelled resignation from your Congressional post, I would like to make you an offer of employment at Flynt Management Group, LLC in our Internet group. From Larry Flynt: My Job Offer for Anthony Weiner Larry Flynt offers job to Anthony Weiner
Senate Votes to End Billions in Ethanol Subsidies
the Senate voted overwhelmingly this afternoon to end the $5-billion-a-year incentive for ethanol production. The vote, according to Wall Street Journal coverage, also would end a 54-cents-a-gallon tariff on imports of the fuel. From Senate Votes to End Billions in Ethanol Subsidies Good news for once.
Future of jobs in a world filled with automation and robots
Future of jobs in a world filled with automation and robots
Roboticist Hans Moravec predicts that by 2020, robots will simulate the intelligence of a monkey. That may not seem smart, but with adequate software, it will be intelligent enough to perform most of today’s jobs. And here’s the “killer-ap” – future ‘bots can build labor-free copies of themselves increasing their numbers exponentially. By mid-2020s, some predict, humanoids could outnumber people.
One day one person will control all the robots and no human will have a job. What will we do then?
If robots can create robots, the supply should be large enough that the cost for a robot is rather minimal. Near infinite labor means the costs to mine garbage dumps for materials becomes doable. So is clearing brown fields of hazardous material. Even building a canal across Arizona.
So what can you call a world that has access to near infinite labor other than Utopia?
Mercatus Institute Study Refutes Libertarian Conception of Freedom
The Mercatus Center, a libertarian think tank, produced a study today purporting to show that New York and California are the least-free places in the United States while New Hampshire and South Dakota are the freest: From Mercatus Institute Study Refutes Libertarian Conception of Freedom I’m waiting for headline “Mercatus relocates to South Dakota”. More… Continue reading Mercatus Institute Study Refutes Libertarian Conception of Freedom
People Argue Just to Win, Scholars Assert
Now some researchers are suggesting that reason evolved for a completely different purpose: to win arguments. Rationality, by this yardstick (and irrationality too, but we’ll get to that) is nothing more or less than a servant of the hard-wired compulsion to triumph in the debating arena. According to this view, bias, lack of logic and… Continue reading People Argue Just to Win, Scholars Assert
TPM Talks With Some Sovereign Citizens
TPM has been tracking the sovereign citizen movement as its disciples pop up in legal battles and contentious encounters with law enforcement officials across the country. Though all share the view that, for one reason or another, the government in the United States is illegitimate From TPM Talks With Some Sovereign Citizens Scary.
Thoughts on Voodoo
In short, there’s a very good case to be made that austerity now isn’t just a bad idea because of its impact on the economy and the unemployed; it may well fail even at the task of helping the budget balance. It’s important to realize that I’m not saying that government spending always pays for… Continue reading Thoughts on Voodoo
Bush tax cuts 10th anniversary: They’ve been a failure in every conceivable way.
The massive Bush tax cuts mark their 10th birthday this week. Sadly, despite my best efforts to find something redeeming about them—honest!—there is little to celebrate. By nearly all of the metrics set out by President Bush himself, the cuts were a colossal failure. From Bush tax cuts 10th anniversary: They’ve been a failure in… Continue reading Bush tax cuts 10th anniversary: They’ve been a failure in every conceivable way.
Higher Inflation Would Slow U.S.-China Currency Adjustment | ThinkProgress
Kindred Winecoff introduces the excellent point that the fact that the U.S. is experiencing an inflation rate that’s lower than China’s means that the real exchange rate is adjusting faster than the nominal rate. Consequently, “[t]o the extent that we want to boost employment through exporting, increased inflation could prolong that process.” Or to look… Continue reading Higher Inflation Would Slow U.S.-China Currency Adjustment | ThinkProgress