kevinzollman.com
Philosophy and Game Theory at Carnegie Mellon 🦚 Research the interface between philosophy, economics, and biology 💱 www.kevinzollman.com
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Ah! This is a good point. I had thought that there might be a reason this world would be hard to write, but I couldn't put my finger on it
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I have this reading of Brave New World that it's a left wing utopia which is being ruined by the "protagonist." So, I'm here for this!
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I really love the idea of reading Gremlins as right wing utopianism
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I was thinking that counts as (a), although I've only read two of them.
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What if the only law was copyright?
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Thanks! I'll check it out.
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It might be hard to right something that tries to articulate that idea because we are so tuned to local inequality even if everyone is better off.
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The basic libertarian argument is that capitalism makes everyone better off, even though there are relative "winners" and "losers." I'm not saying I believe it, but that's the argument.
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I had in mind something like authorial intent (or a plausible reading). The idea is that the author intends the reader to judge the society as good. I don't think the Ferengi fit that bill, since I take it that the viewer is supposed to hate them.
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I should have said I'm particularly interested in left-wing and right-wing economic systems. Although, I'd be happy for anything broadly fitting the bill.
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You think the Ferengi are a utopia? I would have counted them as right-wing dystopia.
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I haven't read it either. I'll check it out.
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Huh. I hadn't thought of that as a utopia... but, maybe?
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For (a), I think Le Guin's _The Dispossessed_ and most of the Star Trek franchise fit.
For (c), Yevgeny Zamyatin's _We_ and maybe also _Brave New World_
For (d) basically any cyberpunk. I think _Snowcrash_ is probably the cleanest example for this type.
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Your training is finally complete
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I know the UK pays badly compared to the US. I don't know about compared to other places. Do you have a sense for the global comparison?
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Especially with coauthored work, it can be really hard to tell. All the papers I'm submitting this year are coauthored and got delayed by me and my coauthors being out of sync.
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I agree 100% on walkability. For the most part, US cities are terrible for anyone who isn't in a car (and pretty shitty for those in a car as well).
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Very typical. And the variation can be for a lot of reasons. I had one paper in 22, and none in 23. That's because I was working feverishly on a book and because several projects got delayed. I'll have at least five different papers submitted this year (and the book!)
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Exactly! We're having this conversation in Pittsburgh right now
nextpittsburgh.com/city-design/...
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Germans absolutely lose their minds in Pittsburgh, where crossing the street anywhere is completely the norm. (It actually makes things safer, I would argue, because drivers are aware a pedestrian could be anywhere at any time.)
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I understand what you are talking about, and I get it. It's very easy for even people in the US to misunderstand because the country is so big. With >300m people, something insane happens every day.
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I understand what you mean, and I agree.
Although, I do have one small bone to pick. Folks in Europe often use "Europe" in strange ways when they talk about the difference between "Europe" and the US. For example, do you think the traffic violations in the US are worse than, say, Rome?
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That's a good point. You have pretty significant job security much faster in the UK. That would explain the especially low starting salaries in the UK.
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That's probably significant. Continental Europeans could stay in Europe (until Brexit, I guess). The price premium is because you don't have to take a 7-12 hour flight to come home from the US.
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Indeed, there are very significant network externalities in the UK. But we have that too. Especially at many "top" universities or even just being in Boston, for example. I have incredible colleagues here at CMU, but I still get paid very well. So, it can't just be network effects, I think.
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I don't know UK culture well enough to have a firm opinion, but it seems to be like being a professor comes with social status in the UK that it doesn't in the US. I think that's a very good thing
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Although absolutely nothing can be weirder than the Germans' obsession with "Dinner for one"
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Concert also reminded me of Beyonce's excellent advice to academics:
"Always stay gracious best revenge is your paper".
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They are in equilibrium, I would conjecture
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It is a truth not acknowledged nearly enough that in sufficient numbers any group of people is an unmitigated asshole and what social media has done is convince more and more people that they are the majority
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Good point! Which is more mundane?
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It really gives me whiplash
bsky.app/profile/kevi...
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It would be easy to write entire books just about how weird American's gender stuff around cooking is. If it's happening at home it's femme-coded mom stuff but if you move the exact same activities into a restaurant kitchen it's suddenly macho boys club shit bsky.app/profile/sudd...
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Yeah, I think that's right. Thinking about it more, I also realize that IRL I get annoyed with people who ask questions that are not obviously rhetorical, but intended as such. This may just be an instance of that