People very often expect authorities to possess superior information. After all, the assumptions of the 20th century were that those at the top of large systems have information the rest of us don’t, and that they make better decisions because of it. This…

This is a set of passages from my files: The thoughts of notable geniuses on the subject of education. I hope that parents, especially, will find them informative. Albert Einstein It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. School failed me…

Almost no one in the broader world knows about the crypto apostles. (My term, not one they apply to themselves.) Even rather few in the larger crypto community know much about them. So I’m not talking about famous names, but quiet people. I’ve decided to…

I am no fan of violent revolution, yet I have to admit that John Kennedy had a point when he said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” The forces that drive revolutions push themselves to the surface one…

Andy Schoonover explains how America’s collapsing health insurance system could be revived through a Bitcoin-backed, community-driven healthcare model.

What I’m calling “monkey masculinity” is a deep and old problem, and one that I will shortly explain. And unfortunately it will not vanish in any short period of time. The “surge” part of our title, however, refers to a recent phenomenon, and it will vanish.…

(Originally published June 22, 2020.) I hadn’t planned on this post, but the ongoing mania compels me to contribute something toward the preservation of sanity and civilization. And so, here are some things to remember: Humans are idolaters. Or at least most…

The biggest crimes stand in the open; what prevents people from seeing them is simply their size and the fact that they are crimes. We can’t believe that such large evils are possible. They have to be explicable some other way. And so we notice them for only…

Not a great week for Trump.

I would pay dearly for young people to feel what it was like to be a scientifically minded child in the 1960s. It was a special and beautiful moment. Each week there was a new step toward the stars. And this was not science fiction, this was real. There was…

(Originally published July 22, 2020.) Let’s be honest about something: We in the West have been overrun by a tidal wave of racial hatred, and it erupted from institutions “of higher learning.” Whatever exceptions may exist, this central fact is clear. We…

Having recently experienced violent idealists roaming our streets, burning things, breaking things and generally enjoying the fact that they can scare people, I think a brief explanation of how idealism leads to destruction and death is in order. The Two…

Czech mate.

(Originally published August 31, 2020.) I’ve gone on for a long time about fear making humans stupid, and even about it being a weapon and a brain poison. But I’ve also wondered at times whether people would hit fear-fatigue… that point where people have…

I dislike using “medieval” in any sort of negative context, since that has been done so often and so unfairly. This time, however, I will, and that’s because, historically, fighting about words really is medieval. The big intellectual model between Rome and…