A lot of macroeconomics in particular seems to follow aristotlian thinking, i.e. you can just logic your way from step to step. It is interesting in that pure mathematics does work this way in that you can start with a bunch of axioms/definitions and combine them and work with them until you reach a conclusion without any need for experimentation. For example, you don't need to measure a bunch of triangles to show that the Pythagorean theorem is true.

The way i was taught macroeconomics in school, it takes the mathematical approach of starting with a list of assumptions that seem to be true, and using mathematical logic to derive conclusions. The trouble is that: 1) many starting assumptions aren't as true as you'd think, and 2) many of the "logical" steps also aren't as logical as you'd think.

Supply and demand is an easy example. The classic idea is that as supply goes up, price goes down, and vice versa, while as price goes up, demand goes down. The existence of Veblen goods (i.e., things that people want because they are expensive) shows that the demand part isn't right.

None of this would be a problem if it was just an intellectual exercise to help develop hypotheses for use with more sound scientific methods, but it's used for policy directly.

Nowhere in the post do they make any indication that their insurance (or independent wealth) isn't covering the healthcare. This is a person who's job is to make money off of people in poor health, why wouldn't he try to profit off of his own family?

Most people add a whole bunch of "house rules" that actually make the game worse, and take longer. It's not so bad if you actually follow the rules, though it is supposed to be unfair.

Japanese houses in particular are basically a consumable. They are designed for a very short lifetime compared to pretty much any other developed country.

The average wooden house there lasts 21 years.

Any mug that has a really hemispherical, smooth handle. You put a hot beverage in there, and the weight is enough to make your fingers slide down the handle, and then you burn yourself on the main body of the mug unless you really squeeze.

Any faucet that just barely sticks out over the sink, so you have to touch the back of the sink to wash your hands (british sinks are even worse, though).

I haven't watched the video yet, but vernacular architecture back in the day commonly set shading elements like awnings at the right height/angle such that during midday in the winter, sunlight would still directly go through windows and hit interior floors and walls. During summer, the angle of the sun would be high enough that direct sunlight could not reach windows.

You can get pretty far with just those passive designs. There are tools to help you find the dimensions you'd need based on where you live without having to do any calculations yourself.

Being a coroner in some places. Medical examiners are professionals with a degree (and coroner's usually are too), but the coroner is often an elected position, and elected positions usually only have residency and age requirements. Coroners have a huge level of power because they get to decide what is and what is not murder. Someone dies in police custody? They can call it natural causes, and it never goes to the court system. A political opponent dies by two gunshots? That can be called a suicide.

I posted this in a reply, but I'm reposting it here:

Bacon is already cooked when you buy it from the store (at least in america). The difference between "pork belly" and "bacon" is that bacon is cured and then smoked. That smoking process gets the temperature above the range to cook it.

Besides, even "chewy" bacon is going to get above the recommended pork cooking temp. It's so thin, it will reach that temperature very quickly. If it gets hot enough to start rendering the fat, it's definitely hot enough, and I have a hard time believing anyone would pull bacon out of the oven before it's had time to render some fat.

If you read the case report by the docs, they don't say "we think he got this disease from bacon".

Our patient’s lifelong preference for soft bacon may have led to instances of undercooked bacon consumption, but this would have caused him to develop taeniasis, an intestinal tapeworm, and not cysticercosis [1]. Taeniasis occurs when consuming undercooked pork and the larval cysts embedded within, while cysticercosis is contracted when humans ingest eggs found in the feces of other humans with taeniasis [1].

In other words, the brain version only comes from eating the eggs, which can only come from eating poop of someone who had the intestinal worms. They later specify that they think the most likely scenario is that he got the intestinal version, re-infected himself through the fecal-oral pathway, then somehow cured himself of the intestinal version.

Personally, I think the most likely scenario is that he got the parasite the same way you get any other disease that uses the fecal-oral pathway: contact with someone's inadequately washed hands, or eating food prepared by someone with inadequately washed hands.

Happened at Kent state, I believe. There was an old story from Inuits about a man who was being forced off his land, so he refused the leave, and they took all of his gear and clothing, hoping he would go with his family rather than freeze to death. He then allegedly pooped, fashioned it into a knife, and killed a sled dog for the hide so he could survive.

The story was recorded by a reputable person (though probably told to him by Inuits that thought it was hilarious). In order to prove it was possible, or not, this experimental archeology lab tried it out. Hilariously enough, they tried to do it while on a regular "western" diet, as well as an "inuit" diet of mostly fish and very little fiber.

I don't think this is android specific, but having the IR LED that allowed you to use your phone as a universal remote. I get that lots of TVs are getting fancier remotes that communicate in other ways, but there are still plenty of applications of the IR LED.

Solar panels are about 70x as efficient in getting energy when compared to corn ethanol. If all corn ethanol land (which is heavily irrigated, fertilized, and subsidized) were converted to solar, it would generate 3x the yearly electricity needs of the US.

30.2 million acres * 400 MWh/acre/year = 12,080 TWh/year. US energy use is about 4,000 TWh/year.

We are already taking cropland away for energy production, might as well make it way more efficient.

This is something that I think about often. There is an argument that progressives should try to stay and change things for the better where they are. I think to some extent, though, that only works if everyone is operating in good faith. The government there is essentially conducting a full assault on any progressive measures. Just recently, Texas passed a law that automatically overrules any city ordinances that they dont like. More progressive cities like Austin can try to pass laws to protect tenants or workers, but it won't do anything. It's hard to make a positive impact in those circumstances. You also have to balance out the fact that by living there X% of your paycheck will go to that govt via property/sales tax.

On the other hand, where do you move to? There are lots of communities with skyrocketing real estate prices that they blame on remote workers (not sure how legitimate that is), so people are getting priced out of the communities they've been in for ages.

In the end, I think it's impossible to make a complete moral determination either way. The only thing you can do is just try your best at whatever you do. Whatever you do, I'd definitely recommend trying to build a community wherever you are. You might not be able to get the local laws around you to reflect your values, but you can do your best to help those around you.