There’s a noble kernel to Pinker’s project. He wants to discourage the kind of fatalism that leads people to think the only way forward is to tear everything down. But he seems surprisingly blind to how he fuels such fatalism by playing to the worst stereotype of the enlightened cosmopolitan: disdainful and condescending — sympathetic to humanity in the abstract but impervious to the suffering of actual human beings.
There are heaps of problems, enormous problems, nobody can ever doubt that. — Wayfarer
I'm very confident we could solve these environmental issues if we'd be willing. — Benkei
As racial, religious, and ideological identities have cumulatively moved into greater alignment with Democratic and Republican identities in recent decades, American partisans have grown increasingly identified with their parties due to the psychological effects of identity alignment captured in objective and subjective sorting mechanisms. However, we find that this effect is more powerful among Republicans than among Democrats, due to the general social homogeneity of the Republican party. Contrary to the assessments of modern political punditry, Republicans are more susceptible to identity-based politics.
We passed Peak Oil in 2006, the result of which is a long-term decline in oil production. — Bitter Crank
I believed in ‘peak oil’ back then, but i think the predictions have been shown to be false — Wayfarer
Clearly they should be fathering the next generation of children. — Bitter Crank
It's not the lack of oil that is going to be the problem, it's the intersection of environmental disaster, over-population and resource depletion, and consequent economic collapse. — Wayfarer
Capitalism is predicated on endless growth - value is underwritten by a projected, endless growth curve. — Wayfarer
When it becomes absolutely undeniable that the growth curves are unsustainable, then the world's financial systems really could collapse - meaning that currencies would lose all of their value. That is the 'financial apocalypse' that people mutter darkly about, and that nearly happened on September 18th 2008. — Wayfarer
I truly hope not - the one hope that I have is that there are people in the world economic system that understand these threats ... — Wayfarer
Actually, I know someone who made the same kind of money at an earlier age as a software developer. When I went to university I met this computer scientist guy whose family was quite well connected (to say the least) and on placement, right after he finished first year of university, he was making £60,000 per year, working in London for one of the big banks in IT.For what it's worth, my good friend's 25 year old daughter got her bachelors in fine arts, worked for a year, and then went to a 6-month computer coding program. She made $85,000 to start. Now, a year later, she makes $115 thousand. She is very, very smart. Again - for what that's worth. — T Clark
For what it's worth, my good friend's 25 year old daughter got her bachelors in fine arts, worked for a year, and then went to a 6-month computer coding program. She made $85,000 to start. — T Clark
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