13 Comments

Especially in a post like this I'd like to see the "appeared first (a while back) on Econlib" at the beginning of the article, not at the end.

Seeing as Robin has lately primarily written on culture, this post was particularly misleading. Sorry!

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Great list. That is also the culture that I aspire to within the Progress Studies movement.

Mind if I plagiarize it?

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What did Robin do this time?

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Nothing (literally, this is a repost and the linked response is from 2018).

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I love #7. A great example of hyperbole. LOL.

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You rightly ask that your group be treated with cultural sensitivity, but you have about as much chance of getting that as do the neo-Nazis.

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> His response is to urge people to focus on his actual statements, not speculate about his “true motives.”

Um, isn't Robin Hanson's main thesis that everything people say isn't about what they are actually talking about, but an attempt to signal status?

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Very well said, but seems your culture exists within or because of a greater culture that allows it to.

And yes to probabilistic thinking: Wish all would do so and not think in extremes.

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“…appeasement is an incredibly effective social strategy for dealing with the unreasonable […] … also known as 90% of mankind.”

The whole piece is fabulous, but I particularly love this quote from the “appeasement” link.

It explains succinctly exactly why I believe Tyler Cowen takes his “centrist” stance on “climate change” - to appease his actual and potential readers who are left of center and for whom “fighting climate change” is part of their religion - rather than being on Team Caplan and Alex Epstein.

Given that Tyler acknowledges that there is NOT existential risk from climate change - which is the ONLY possible valid justification for the left’s insane energy policies - appeasement of the unreasonable is pretty much the only possible valid explanation for his position.

I’d bet on it - but there’s no practicable way to resolve the bet…

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I love this and I'm stealing it. Well, not stealing, I'll give credit of course but you know what I mean.

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What you do in academia I do in life. I first try to prevent unwise ~ investments. If that cannot be done I help to recover from the fraud. When recovering from a fraud you tick off the client because part of the recovery is show the errors made, and, if you are good, you really tick off the fraudster.

Or as my is prone to saying to complainers. "Buck Up Buttercup" and then leaves the room. BUT be careful that phrase has got her sent to HR twice in the last three years.

Though her and the HR manager have become good friends.

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