Covid-19: alternate origin stories
Pre-Wuhan Covid-19 in Italy, bioweapons research in Russia and China, and curious coincidences. There’s a lot of credible information that casts doubt on the official story of Covid-19’s origins. Starting with a big... READ MORE
Penisocratic method #2
Exciting year ahead for human space exploration For reasons beyond my understanding, there are people who aren’t closely watching how we’re progressing to the stars. Of course, it’s only the most important thing... READ MORE
Penisocratic Method #1
Today, let me introduce you to a new post format. Here’s the thing: the click-through “tile” design of the website encourages long-form writing. This was a deliberate decision to keep the quality of... READ MORE
Why Scotland is Pakistan
I have a huge discovery to share with you: Scotland is Pakistan. Consider: A mountaineous hinterland full of angry bearded men wearing women’s clothing, who seem to be suspiciously close to their livestock.... READ MORE
The Asian powderkeg
Right now, Asia is a powderkeg with several simultaneously lit fuses. There are at least four conflicts in Asia from which neither side can afford to back down, as the stakes are too... READ MORE
The vibranium shield of willful ignorance
Nobody is more imaginative than a person who doesn’t want to concede an obvious point. As the internet brought 24/7 global debates, it also brought rapid innovation in the field of being a... READ MORE
La dolce vita
How sweet something tastes is clearly a matter of acclimation. When you cut sugar from your diet, your sense of sweetness gets “downregulated” in a few weeks. Afterwards, sweet things often taste too... READ MORE
Technology and magic
People are wrong in many curious ways. A new one I noticed is assuming that a goal is silly, because people in the past tried to achieve it in silly ways. The thinking,... READ MORE
Latest Posts
Unmessing the Middle East part 1: diagnosis
I’m working on an article about fixing Europe, but that task is so daunting I will start with an easier one: Fixing the Middle East. First step: diagnosis. What’s even going on there? At the root of mutual misunderstandings (yes, that’s … Continued
Mental Hygiene 101
Regular readers have recently been subjected to a series of articles on economics, ethics and generally abstract subjects, so I feel like I should bribe you guys with another piece of practical advice (given this is what most people are coming … Continued
Universal Basic Income – an exercise in fencesitting
Cover photo credit: James Cridland. On June 6th, the Swiss rejected Universal Basic Income (UBI) in a referendum by an overwhelming margin of 77 to 23 %, which I publicly predicted on reddit weeks ago based on intimate knowledge of the … Continued
Does power really corrupt?
The Economist ran an interesting article about the ancient question of power corrupting people. Are the kinds of people who seek power predisposed to evil*? Or does power corrupt? *notice the implicit moral judgment of power as bad by definition, … Continued
Shooting the messenger
Queen Elizabeth II. called Chinese officials “very rude”. The media responded by calling it a “diplomatic gaffe”. The event is fascinating because it illustrates an important point: there is a massive trend of shooting the messenger, while happily ignoring, or even excusing, real … Continued
Yes, you should start a business “in this economy”.
By now, I could start most articles with “popular opinion has stuff the wrong way around“. For instance, you hear people saying they want to start a business, but worry that “the economy” might not be good enough right now. Let me … Continued
Sorry kids, you can’t “be anything”.
That being said, everyone can be something. I realize I’m taking up a serious rhetorical challenge by taking the less-popular side of an argument. Reality checks are less popular than irrational exuberance and hypomania. By now, you must have noticed that’s … Continued
Manners Maketh (Wo)Man
This is an article about etiquette. It will not go into details – there are excellent classics that cover the whole “How not to give the Queen a heart attack by holding your cutlery wrong” business. Etiquette, at its core, … Continued
Sugar, government and democracy
The British government, among others, is trying to figure out how to make people eat less sugar. I propose a better question: Have we all gone completely mad and legally incapable? What the fuck happened to sui iuris? Feel free to call me old-fashioned, … Continued
Work-life balance
When people can’t find a good answer to an important question, it is usually the case that they’re not asking the right question. Obviously, that doesn’t apply to scientifically hard objective problems like nuclear fusion, room temperature superconductors and faster than … Continued
VW emissions scandal
The purpose of this article is not deliberately playing devil’s advocate, however, not jumping on hysterical bandwagons frequently looks like devil’s advocacy. The entire planet knows that Volkswagen got caught cheating on emissions. On the face of it, this is a … Continued
How many times a week should you exercise? Wrong question.
The correct question is “how many times a day”. And the answer is “one or two, depending on who you are and what your goals are”. “But Z., isn’t the usual advice to hit the gym two or three times … Continued
2016 Reading List
As promised, here are the reading recommendations for 2016. Twelve books, one per month, which should fit all schedules. Links are to Amazon just out of convenience because that’s where the reviews are, but of course get the books you like … Continued
Why some people get what they want, and others don’t
This article is going to make some people very angry. Consider yourself warned. Why do some people get what they want, while others not so much? There are a few reasons: Problems of goal setting: Lack of realistic information about … Continued
The Law of Fresh Tomatoes
Last night, some friends and I went out to grab sausage and punch. And I noticed something interesting. The best restaurant in town is called “The Little Pub”. Conversely, the worst salmonella-ridden joints tend to call themselves things like “Le Grand … Continued
The most important piece of advice.
This blog seems to have become popular by giving advice people find helpful. To date, we have covered a number of topics, and hope to do many more in the future. The drafts list is at almost 100 articles and counting. But if … Continued
Your invitation to fix Christmas
Help me fix the holidays. There’s a number of things: Every year, it seems to come to the shops sooner. We can expect Santa Clauses mingling freely with easter bunnies within a decade. From both ends. Two weeks of rabid … Continued
A partial solution to Europe’s immigration challenge
Let me start you off with two anecdotes. In high school, I was lucky to go with a full class of great people, and by the time we were 15, we were all one big happy family, everybody talking to each … Continued