I read The Elephant in the Brain by Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson and discuss its implications for the structure of the mind (and how I was wrong about it), our tendency to value loyalty over expertise, my own blindness, and the future of institutions. Read more (27 min, 6800 words).
Tag: evolutionary psychology
A Lament on Simler Et Al
In response to an article by Kevin Simler I complain about how often people mistake "selfishness" in an evolutionary sense for selfishness in the normal sense. Read more (12 min, 2900 words).
Erisology of Self and Will, Part 4: The Gulf
Part 4 of a series adapted from my 2009 Bachelor's Thesis in philosophy. It discusses some scientific disciplines with bearing on the self, and how their results are interpreted differently by the traditional paradigm vs. the scientific. Read more (11 min, 2700 words)
Illusory Communion
How you can feel like you know people and be part of a group without actually being so. It describes me and the so-called "rationalist community".Read more (1500 words)