sonjadahl.bsky.social
Sr. Software Engineer who enjoys restoring 1925 bungalow, playing violin, drawing, alternative and classical music, reading politics, science, and economics.
122 posts
43 followers
119 following
Active Commenter
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This is weird. I had just posted this before I saw the email about your Substack:
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Of course I'm not saying that Democrats = Ba'athists, but the equivalence is that many of the professionals in government happened to be of that party, and to remove them simply because of the association, in Iraq, caused the country to descend into chaos.
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He's not French, but for me, the person who epitomized looking cool with a cigarette was Joe Strummer.
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I agree -- add California, and I'd kick Missouri, the Carolinas, Kentucky, and West Virginia (half of Virginia?) to the South too.
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Not the quote itself, but the argument Marx makes, which is sound.
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It's the best reply to the Confederate statue supporters who claim we would also need to tear down the Founder's statues as well. Marx clarifies the difference.
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This is my favorite Marx quote, written in 1861 while he was working as a journalist in London and covering the US Civil War:
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Krugman expanding on this point today: substack.com/home/post/p-...
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As a state that gives a lot more to the federal government than it receives, think of how much California has subsidized hurricane recovery in Trump's home state of Florida.
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I've been thinking about this. I think the answer is to work locally. Most of us live in blue sanctuary cities. If we can continue to improve the lives of people in the blue states, the noble experiment that is America can show what policies work best. And Trump can focus on Greenland or whatever.
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This post just conjured up the strong smell of clove cigarettes.
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Paul Xavier Gleason
Trading Places
Die Hard
Jimmy Stewart
It's a Wonderful Life
The Shop Around the Corner
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I just found this video and it's a nice summation of this thread: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuRb...
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And he wrote this thoughtful piece, particularly about what Muskaswamy are up to, bringing Edmund Burke into the debate (which was my thing!) and the conservative philosophical underpinnings of why NOT to tear down institutions. www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/o...
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That's a lot of assumptions about me. My only goal here is to keep people thinking, which means questioning one's assumptions.
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Don't like holiday music? I found an obscure recording of Burgundian Christmas carol "Patapan", sung by Joe Dowell (one-hit wonder, Wooden Heart). He did this for an Ann Arbor bank in 1971. Listen to the guitar solo, haunting, Western, a little mariachi). Enjoy: youtu.be/DAoYOsLvHzQ?...
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Like I said, I have had these experiences. I think most humans can share similar experiences. I also know all humans have cognitive biases. It's important to understand both things.
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After listening to that interview with Ky Dickens (yes, I listened), I know you're never going to get any credible testing from this source. She's owned by this faith/ideology/belief system (whatever you want to call it).
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I'm worried, because I really like you're political writing. You are a very good writer and I want to keep reading. So it did hit me hard when I saw your Telepathy Tapes posts (and surprisingly little push back from your other readers, so I stepped in).
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Sorry, I'm worried you're at the precipice of going down a rabbit hole of woo. I've been there and was pulled up by a good friend (and my own reason).
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There's absolutely nothing in science that says that x or y can't change, but it requires evidence that is reproducible. For example, if psychic abilities in non-verbal subjects only exist when the subject's facilitator knows the answer, it's not reproducible. Have human biases seeped in?
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You wrote, "What is science if not defining boundaries?" Science has only one boundary, and that is to separate humans from our cognitive biases. I see this as one of those "end of history" ideas, where we, as humans, are inherently flawed in our self-assessments, will always require such a method.
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And my whole point to bringing this up is, with the development of the scientific method as a way of overcoming our very human cognitive biases, if it is replaced with something else, what is the criteria to measure progress, or find it's regression to an earlier age, where we gave in to our biases?
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You have the criteria of a free press as measuring human progress. An Enlightenment idea, still working, still valid.
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And yet there sits Syria. And Trump is about to take office. By what criteria will the new Trump administration be measured, if not by the values of how much we maintain our liberal democracy, our checks and balances, our independent judiciary, the rule of law, etc.?
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Of course that's a criticism. But recently Syria made me think about Fukuyama again. What are the options there? What would be considered a step forward and what a step back? By what criteria will you be judging the new government of Syria?
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I think the scientific method is analogous to liberal democracies as an "end of history" for understanding the natural world. The "alternative" ways of understanding, some you mention, seem to be either non-overlapping magisteria (nothing to do with science) or regressions to a darker age.
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More and more liberal thinkers have embraced Fukuyama, a critic of Trumpism, and it's difficult now to imagine a form of government that is more functional and successful than the modern liberal democratic republic, which emerged from Enlightenment thinkers. He does also worry about advancing tech.
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Formerly conservative Political Scientist, Francis Fukuyama, way back in 1992 wrote "The End of History" where argues that history should be viewed as an evolutionary process, and that the end of history, in this sense, means that liberal democracy is the final form of government for all nations.
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If another authoritarian regime emerges in Syria, would you consider that progress? Why not? If they established a government with checks and balances, an independent judiciary, free and fair elections, a representative legislature, and a free-market economy, would you consider that progress? Why?
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Please be aware of how the misleading and manipulative the language is in the podcast. www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...
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youtu.be/35RDFLaBWNY
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bigthink.com/neuropsych/p...
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In the search for profundity, the trick is to distinguish between real profundity and phony profundity. Anyone can be a purveyor of phony profundity. Real profundity requires tremendous discipline and hard work to achieve. Science is a good path to the truly profound.
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The best comment in the bacteria video was at the end where the scientist shares his understanding that this is a model of a bacteria, not a bacteria. Using computers and math to study nature, doesn't mean the it is computers and math. These are human tools to help us comprehend the world around us.
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I was fascinated when New Agers, typically on the Left, were gradually replaced by the credulous Right as the new markets for dietary supplements and homeopathy.
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I think part of the Fox News business model is to air as much nonsense and conspiracy theories as possible, to identify the most credulous people in America, then sell them stuff (they're the easiest marks).
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And as I mentioned, my first questioning of Scott Adams' reasoning ability was back in the 1990s when he went down the psychic rabbit hole and emerged a Trumpy Right-winger, and it looks like a similar thing happened to RFK, Jr. www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/rfk-jr-...
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Please read this: www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...
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Yes, what is happening is chilling. And we know the answer is education. Now a warning. In the past, when countries slide into authoritarianism, some of the first people who are jailed are the educated. Pol Pot killed everyone with glasses, assuming they must be eggheads.
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This is the same playbook that has drawn in humans for centuries into magical thinking. Please listen to critiques before you let your brain settle into this. Don't turn into a Scott Adams! If you can successfully come out the other side, you will be less credulous and a better thinker.
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"Shrinking" is the most California or most Hollywood show.
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Generally, inflation decreases during a recession. Only shocks like the oil embargo can cause this to happen. Trump's tariffs might do it, we'll see.
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I don't know why I wandered over there, but I immediately got into an endless back-and-forth with an Elon Musk fanatic.
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If it weren't for the lies told about Santa, I don't know if I would have developed my critical thinking skills at such a young age (Santa, a pretty easy debunk if you're a smart kid). 😀
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You're right, that's Blinken!
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Check out Jake Sullivan, 2022: www.reddit.com/r/Presidents...
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Thank you, I learned so much about economics and politics from your column, my favorite read in the NYT. Looking forward to hearing more from you on the platform of your choosing.
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No way the two are connected. You’re sick, get help.