Fascinating back story of the intellectual inspirations for communism, Where Virtue Meets Terror: A Brief History of Proto-Communism quillette.com/2024/09/10/whe…

Answers to 12 Bad Anti-Free Speech Arguments by Greg Lukianoff quillette.com/2024/09/12/ans…

Wild Genius - Superb, entertaining documentary on one of the most profound thinkers & scientists on the evolution of human nature, Robert Trivers. Now available to rent or own on all cable, satellite and digital platforms including Prime Video and Apple TV:

An argument for greater (though judicious and transparent) use of algorithms in government services. 1. Reduces sludge (wasteful and anti-human red tape). 2. One of the most robust findings in psychology is that algorithms (even incredibly simple ones) outpredict humans. More

Logic Overload? Why Rational Thinking Is Your Best Survival Tool (25) Post | Feed | LinkedIn linkedin.com/feed/update/ur…

Who’s to blame for America’s peanut allergy epidemic? Well-meaning pediatricians, writes Dr. Marty Makary. Safetyism (when in doubt, prohibit) and policy based on credentials rather than studies can do more harm than good. wsj.com/health/how-ped… via The Wall Street Journal

For decades, proponents of adaptationist hypotheses were told that they were unfalsifiable just-so stories. Studies of signatures of selection in the genome have falsified that criticism, especially now that 1000s of ancient genomes have been sequenced. My colleague David Reich

Anyone lose a USB drive with these files: "Chaons and Evil," "Bardess," "Mothtectonics," "Cultural Convolution"? I somehow ended up with it. Will return to rightful owner.

Professor Steven Pinker on Humanism and Campuses - The Good Men Project goodmenproject.com/featured-conte…

Three cheers for this: What The News Needs Is More History by Dan Gardner. News stories are anecdotes, almost meaningless in isolation; to know what they mean we need the context of how they fit into larger trends. (A major theme of my books, and of a forthcoming article.)

Human Rationality & Effective Altruism: Prof Steven Pinker Talk at Harvard, RSVP (the day after tomorrow, 4PM). docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…

Helen Pluckrose @hpluckrose is one of the most articulate defenders of a rational and humane liberalism. Her new Substack: The Overflowings of a Liberal Brain, by Helen Pluckrose hpluckrose.com/?utm_source=na…