Memories of the 28th Century

I’m not in Colorado or Washington or Uruguay or any other place where marijuana is legal, but I expect to be in not too long a time, because the legalization movement will be spreading. With that in mind, I looked at process in Colorado, and I was shocked. The prices look like they still have a risk premium in there, even though most of the risk has been removed by legalization. It’s not easy to estimate how large the risk premium is, but we should be able to make a reasonable estimate by comparing ...

Today I was reminded, yet again, how much of the information that the general news media provide is wrong. I would prefer to use a milder word for the incorrectness, because reporters often just report things that they don’t understand, and many facts are dropped, because they don’t fit, or the reporter doesn’t understand what is being said. Then there are the things that are deliberately misreported; much deliberate misreporting is done, because public policy or editorial policy says that certain ...

I’m not a foody, but I have the misfortune of running into foodies frequently, and I find it annoying to listen to them describe how they are poisoning themselves with all sorts of strange things that humans shouldn’t eat or, in some cases, even be near. Mostly for my own edification, I decided to put together a high intelligence diet, a diet that would lead to better brain function. I started by researching what materials are necessary for a healthy brain, and I discovered that a few people had ...

I was wondering whether the willingness or capacity to believe conspiracy theories and similar foolishness is a matter of education, or if it is inbred. Perhaps there is an innate predisposition to accept such things that needs to be triggered by something to become active. If the latter is the case, then many or even most people will erroneously think that the trigger is the cause, rather than just setting off the underlying condition. (This is a parallel with how many people think that smoking ...

Once again I have noticed a lack of understanding of logic tripping someone up. I’m beginning to think that few people have any understanding for logic, even though it is central to the understanding of human speech, as just one example. I have had little training directly in logic, but it has been part of many things that I have learned, including grammar and mathematics. Perhaps some people don’t take their lessons in math and apply it to other aspects of life. And some people seem to have trouble ...