One of the R.A.F.’s top priorities during WW2 was improving the odds that its notoriously expensive and strategically crucial bombers will make it back from bombing runs over Germany. The returning airplanes were rigorously scrutinised, and military experts were busy … Continued
Everything you need to know about a nation, you can learn from how it does two things: 1. Queuing, and 2. Driving. Both measure the people’s ability (and willingness) to function in a reasonable system without breaking it. In fact, … Continued
You know what’s important? Sleep. More accurately, the stuff known as sleep hygiene. When it comes to well-being, sleep is the one area where the tiniest (and easiest) change can make the most difference. It’s role in psychological health is … Continued
There is a profound and often underestimated source of the phenomenon colloquially known as “douchebaggery”: People are not very good at realistically estimating fairness, particularly when it comes to our own rights, contributions, claims and interests in general. Imagine, if you will, a … Continued
Wanna lose weight? Odds are, you do. So…how? The worst offenders are well known – sugar, fried stuff, soda, triplemocchaventimacchiatos, eating late at night and lack of exercise. We now also know that a major and historically underestimated factor are simple carbohydrates from … Continued
Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking are worried the human race might be replaced by robots. A couple of problems with that:
The European Central Bank launched a programme of quantitative easing to the tune of 60 billion euros every month. The logic appears solid at first – it seems to have worked in America, so why not in Europe? Because America’s problem was … Continued
Thanks to quantum physics, we’re now able to name a phenomenon literally older than mankind. I’ve just invented Schrödinger’s farts – farts that exist in several states of matter simultaneously, until measured.
If you want to get anything done, there are two basic ways to get yourself to do it. The first, more popular and devastatingly wrong option is to try to motivate yourself. The second, somewhat unpopular and entirely correct choice is to … Continued
I want to direct a movie where the trailer shows only zombies, and the first five minutes are indeed the standard prelude to apocalypse. But then, five minutes in, patient zero is shot and the rest of the movie is … Continued
Dear Americans,
An old schoolmate of mine, an Arabist, now teaches in Egypt. We had a fascinating talk about the situation there and it was extremely interesting to hear some first-hand accounts. He made a point that I believe is worth typing out for the … Continued
TLDR: Financial institutions spend untold billions every year on arbitrary opulence, trivially automatable administration and lush compensation for managers whose contributions are statistically insignificant. Monumental savings are readily achievable to get everybody a far better deal.
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There is an awful lot of nonsense floating about the interwebs and even “expert” debates when it comes to economic growth, so let me put it straight for those interested:
An “Economy” is what emerges when somebody has enough food to be willing to exchange part of it for frivolous crap.
Following the Crapware article, a discussion started both here and on reddit and a number of interesting points were brought forward that I feel are important to add.
