Author Archives: brendano

[I]t is not the wish, or the interest of the Government, or any other upon this Continent, separately, or collectively, to set up for Independence… I am well satisfyed, as I can be of my existence, that no such thing … Continue reading →

A bit ago I finished Daniel Gilbert’s “Stumbling on Happiness,” which despite its name, is not about how to be happy. It’s about why people are bad at predicting (and remembering) their happiness levels. (Pop science psychology, not pop psychology… … Continue reading →

Just read an interesting analysis on the the simultaneous rise of the cultural left and right (“hippies and evangelicals”) through the 50′s and 60′s. Brink Lindsey argues here that they were both reactions to post-war material prosperity: On the left … Continue reading →

Working on applied AI-related problems has really tempered my outlook away from theory. Apologies for another Rorty-related post, but I loved this little bit I just came across, from Stanley Fish (on slate.com): When Rorty concluded one of his dramatically … Continue reading →

Richard Rorty, philosopher, dies at 75. I’ve read enough of the analytic philosophers castigating Rorty — and taken bits of classes from a few of them — that I feel I just have to love the man. I remember managing … Continue reading →

I don’t care how lame anyone thinks this is, but economic theorist Ariel Rubinstein is the shit. He’s funny, self-deprecating, and brilliant. I was just re-reading his delightful, sarcastic review of Freakonomics. (Overly dramatized visual depiction below; hey, conflict sells.) … Continue reading →

I’ve gotten a zillion emails about it by now, but it was recently found that a young woman had been living for a year in Stanford dorms claiming to be a freshman, when in fact she was not a student … Continue reading →

Rock, Paper, Scissors is making the blog rounds with an excellent strategy guide from the World RPS Society and a fun mental floss article too. (Though the First International RoShamBo programming contest should be noted.) Having played far too much … Continue reading →

Watching internet usage vs. income on the Gapminder.org visualizer is very interesting. Several things are quite apparent. (1) Internet usage exploded in all countries in the world. (2) Richer countries have more internet usage (linear relationship on the scatterplot), but … Continue reading →