30 MAY 2015 by ideonexus
Capitalist Peace
Such findings have led some political scientists to entertain a heretical idea called the Capitalist Peace.243 The word liberal in Liberal Peace refers both to the political openness of democracy and to the economic openness of capitalism, and according to the Capitalist Peace heresy, it’s the economic openness that does most of the pacifying. In arguments that are sure to leave leftists speechless, advocates claim that many of Kant’s arguments about democracy apply just as well to capita...Folksonomies: capitalism peace
Folksonomies: capitalism peace
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notes24 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
Tangled Bank of the Primeval Cell
In our present state of ignorance, we have a choice between two contrasting images to represent our view of the possible structure of a creature newly emerged at the first threshold of life. One image is the replicator model of Eigen, a molecular structure tightly linked and centrally controlled, replicating itself with considerable precision, achieving ho-meostasis by strict adherence to a rigid pattern. The other image is the "tangled bank" of Darwin, an image which Darwin put at the end of...Folksonomies: tangled bank
Folksonomies: tangled bank
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notes14 NOV 2014 by ideonexus
Concepts from Accelerando
agalmics: A form of economics concerning the "study and practice of the production and allocation of non-scarce goods," primarily via free-market trading, open-source initiatives, and flexible standards for intellectual property. Consult Robert Levin's "The Marginalization of Scarcity" for more information.
anarcho-capitalism: A political philosophy which proposes the replacement of governments with the free market. For more information see wikipedia:anarcho-capitalis... 1 notes
notes07 JUN 2013 by ideonexus
Privacy is Impossible on the Internet
The Internet is a surveillance state. Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, and whether we like it or not, we're being tracked all the time. Google tracks us, both on its pages and on other pages it has access to. Facebook does the same; it even tracks non-Facebook users. Apple tracks us on our iPhones and iPads. One reporter used a tool called Collusion to track who was tracking him;105 companies tracked his Internet use during one 36-hour period.
[...]
Sure, we can take measures to pr...Folksonomies: privacy sousveillance
Folksonomies: privacy sousveillance
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notesThere are too many companies gathering too much data in too many ways.
11 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Conservatives Reject Inconvenient Facts
Personally, I find that the most objectionable feature of the conservative attitude is its propensity to reject well-substantiated new knowledge because it dislikes some of the consequences which seem to follow from it – or, to put it bluntly, its obscurantism. I will not deny that scientists as much as others are given to fads and fashions and that we have much reason to be cautious in accepting the conclusions that they draw from their latest theories. But the reasons for our reluctance m... 1 notes
notesA classical liberal and free market capitalist explains that he cannot be a conservative because they reject facts that disagree with their worldview such as evolution.
18 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
How Brains Grow Into Bodies
Brain wiring begins with the outgrowth of axons. Once a newborn neuron has migrated, planting its cell body in a permanent position, it sends out a fine axon shoot with an enlarged tip known as a growth cone. At the end of the growth cone are about a dozen long tentacles that shoot out in all directions and act like radar, picking up all manner of navigational signals. They feel out the best-textured surfaces, sniff around for chemical cues, and even use tiny electrical fields to help the axo...
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6 Best description yet of the synaptic "pruning" human brains go through as the brain wires up to the body and best reason yet for why children should have rich, mentally-nourishing environments in which to grow so that their synapses don't get unnecessarily pruned, resulting in smaller brains.
01 JAN 2010 by ideonexus
Corporations are Antithetical to the Free Market
Corporations, whose leaders portray themselves as champions of the free market, were in fact created to circumvent that market. They were an answer to the challenge of organizing thousands of people in different places and with different skills to perform large and complex tasks, like building automobiles or providing nationwide telephone service.
[...]Corporations are bureaucracies and managers are bureaucrats. Their fundamental tendency is toward self-perpetuation. They are, almost by defin...Folksonomies: economics
Folksonomies: economics
1 notes
notesAdam Smith argued for free markets, where a multitude of individual transactions amongst small groups of people or individuals would produce fair prices for goods and services. Corporations subvert this process by forming large bureaucracies that make money by maintaining the status quo and squashing innovation.
