Two Talks in Tokyo
東京での2回の講演
I will be in Japan from Dec 3-14 with my son Simon (aka サイモン・キャプラン). My current home-schooler been studying Japanese for about 16 months, so he’ll be working as my translator. Our expected locations:
December 3-6 - Tokyo
December 7-8 - Hiroshima
December 9 - Himeji
December 10-11 - Kyoto
December 12-13 - Mount Fuji
December 14 - Tokyo
Email me to meetup if any of those time/location combos work for you. We’ll be especially rushed in Tokyo, but we can definitely meet at either of the two public talks I’m giving there during my stay.
Talk #1: “Does Bryan Caplan Disagree with Scott Alexander?” for Astral Codex Ten Toyko. December 4, 10-11:30 AM. Register here to get details on the location. We’ll be talking about labor economics, mental illness, survive/thrive theory, the plight of the shy male nerd, and more!
Talk #2: “Open Borders” for the Tokyo Society of Legal Philosophy. December 5, 6-8 PM, Fukutake Hall (B2 floor), University of Tokyo. Conveniently coinciding with the release of the Japanese translation of my best-selling manga. Open to the public, but due to continuing Covid restrictions, you must email Morimura Susumu <a041340c@r.hit-u.ac.jp> to register.
If your son can interpret for you on anything but polite chit-chat after studying Japanese for just 16 months, I bow deeply to him. I studied Japanese at uni for 4 years, have lived in Japan for more than 50 years (working as a translator of written documents for the past 40), and would still struggle to provide on-the-spot interpretation between Japanese and English to a live audience on anything but ordinary conversational topics. There are, of course, people who can do it (I am in awe of their talent), but they have trained and practiced for that task (and still can only keep it up for so long). I hope your son will have some backup! Anyway, best wishes for a pleasant and fulfilling visit.
Wished I were there. The eternal CaplanvsScottvsCaplanvs... struggle. I think you owe the next. https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/01/15/contra-contra-contra-caplan-on-psych/ "In 2006, Bryan Caplan wrote a critique of psychiatry. In 2015, I responded. Now it’s 2020, and Bryan has a counterargument. I’m going to break the cycle of delay and respond now, and maybe we’ll finish this argument before we’re both too old and demented to operate computers."
Einstein said 1932: "I do not believe in the freedom of the will. Schopenhauer's word, man can well do what he wants, but he cannot want what he wants, accompanies me in all situations of life and reconciles me with the actions of people, even if they are quite painful to me. This realization of the lack of freedom of the will protects me from taking myself and my fellow human beings too seriously as acting and judging individuals and from losing my good humor".