Comments on: Links for November

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 07:13:41 +0000

I just finished reading Two Serpents Rise, which I got because of the interview you link to. Extremely impressive, and deeply engaging. Maybe I dom’t read enough fantasy, but I think it’s one of the most imaginative worlds since Tolkein.

I’d love to hear what you thought of it.

Report comment

By: qr.net

qr.net — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 06:46:40 +0000

It took a little while for him, but for it be official I would have fishing games been an all day battle.
Anglers should focus on locating the schools of shad that spotted bass are
actively feeding upon in the fall becomes more aggressive
when the water becomes brown and stained. The fish themselves are just too fishing games stunning.

Report comment

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 07:16:34 +0000

As a graduate student in astrophysics, I feel compelled to point that Vidal’s paper has serious flaws. The paper he quotes finds perfectly good explanation for the heavier elements as products of natural fusion, and Vidal’s suggestion that ETI fuses these elements somehow (it is very hard to do so, and little energy is gained) and then discards them as waste has little going for it. Anyway, there are many minor anomalies in astrophysics, some get solved and some get posed every year, and that is little reason to postulate ETI as the cause instead.

Report comment

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 19:21:48 +0000

Animal dignity (whatever that is) is also used that way sometimes, e.g. against genetic manipulation of animals so that they suffer less pain. Apparently that violates their dignity, while mutilating, slaughtering and eating them doesn’t.

Dignity is one of those ethical get-out-of-jail cards that lets you signal what a good person you are or condemn how bad others are, without committing to any cost on your part or offer any real pragmatic objection.

Report comment

By: Scott Alexander

Scott Alexander — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 02:25:39 +0000

Also possible. I was just using the link to point out that “human dignity” is indeed used in that way.

Report comment

By: Melasin

Melasin — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 23:23:38 +0000

Speaking of religion, on Leah’s blog I made fun of how religious people say “because of human dignity” when something weirds them out but they have no argument against it. Some people doubted me, or thought I was making a pattern out of noise. To these people I present Three Parent Babies Incompatible With Human Dignity.

There’s no evidence at all in the link you provide that the signatories of that declaration are religious, or that their declaration is informed by religion. To me, the pattern is that it’s liberal humanists who rant on about human dignity in weird situations, and I (biased!) think this example better matches my pattern than yours.

Report comment

By: gwern

gwern — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 17:55:00 +0000

Besides that, I’d express skepticism about whether their target is worth the paper it’s printed on. The Federal Reserve has a dual mandate to minimize inflation and maximize employment, and yet, someone who was watching over the past 5 years or more could be forgiven for assuming it was a single mandate.

Report comment

By: Vilhelm S

Vilhelm S — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 17:48:42 +0000

Or, I guess that actually does make other people richer. I wish this blog had a retract feature.

Report comment

By: Vilhelm S

Vilhelm S — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 17:47:11 +0000

The Bank of England has an inflation target. Burning a bunch of pounds will not make other people richer, it will just cause the BoE to print a little bit extra money to compensate.

Report comment

By: Douglas Knight

Douglas Knight — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 04:09:23 +0000

It is interesting that you name your linkdumps “Links for November,” ie, “Links for you to read in November,” while most people name them “Links from October,” ie, “Links I found in October.

Report comment