May 2023 Linkpost

After Roe fell, vasectomies rose 29% – talk about cutting to the chase in reproductive rights!

Philosophy & Human Nature

The Gossip Trap (erikhoel.substack.com) I would note that human societies were once trapped in a “gossip trap,” where social power through reputation in small groups stifled progress until formal structures emerged in larger civilizations. The essay draws on historical examples like the Montagnais-Naskapi and Kwakiutl to show how gossip acted as a leveling mechanism, and warns that social media might drag us back into this dynamic by enabling unbounded social manipulation. It’s a reminder that our innate tendencies toward gossip could undermine the formal systems that sparked cultural advancement.

Your IQ Isn’t 160. No One’s Is. (erikhoel.substack.com) Claims of sky-high IQs like 160 are more myth than reality, with statistical noise and testing limits making them unreliable. I would observe that IQ tests lose precision at the extremes, with standard errors ballooning and practice effects inflating scores—studies show a 15-point boost from training alone. Even historical geniuses like Einstein likely had IQs around 120-130, not the fabled 160, based on academic correlations. This challenges the obsession with ultra-high IQs, emphasizing that true genius involves creativity and drive beyond what tests capture.

The Quiet Luxury of Language (drorpoleg.com) As AI like ChatGPT makes sophisticated language accessible to all, high-status communication will shift to more coded and exclusive forms. I would point out examples from “Succession” where references to syphilis as the “MySpace of STDs” signal insider knowledge, much like quiet luxury in fashion hides wealth from the masses. The implication is a future of “Quiet Intelligence,” where language niches become segregated, intensifying online dynamics where dialogue baffles outsiders.

Everything Everywhere All at Once Perfects Optimistic Nihilism (centreforoptimism.com) In a multiverse of infinite possibilities, meaning comes from choosing kindness and connection amid absurdity. I would highlight how the film’s philosophy echoes Kurzgesagt’s video on optimistic nihilism, where nothing matters so we can create our own purpose—saving one soul saves a world, as per the Mishnah. A colleague shared this, noting its blend of neuroscience and philosophy for happiness, making it a memorable take on finding joy in chaos.

Academic Research & Science

Polygenic Risk Scores for Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Predict Creativity (nature.com) This study found that higher polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are linked to creativity, measured by artistic society membership or creative professions. Using polygenic risk scores from GWAS, researchers analyzed Icelandic cohorts (P = 5.2 × 10⁻⁶ for schizophrenia, P = 3.8 × 10⁻⁶ for bipolar) and replication cohorts (P = 0.0021 and 0.00086), with Nagelkerke’s pseudo-R² assessing predictive power at P < 0.2. The association holds independent of relatedness, implying shared genetic roots—genetic risk for psychosis may enhance creative thinking without manifesting illness.

Young Blood Renews Old Mice (science.org) Plasma transfusions from young to old mice rejuvenated brain function, with key findings showing improved memory and neuron activity. Methodology involved parabiosis (joining circulatory systems) and direct plasma injections, with sample sizes around 20-30 mice per group in studies from Stanford and Harvard. Data points include doubled neuron birth rates and enhanced synaptic plasticity; conclusions point to factors like TIMP2 in young blood as rejuvenators. Implications suggest potential therapies for aging-related cognitive decline, though human applications remain speculative.

Relationships Among Gender Nonconformity, Intelligence, and Sexual Orientation (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) Exploring links between gender nonconformity (CGN), intelligence, and sexual orientation, the study used NART and WAIS to estimate IQ in 106 heterosexual men, 115 heterosexual women, and 103 gay men. Key findings: gay men had fewer NART errors than heterosexuals; in heterosexual men, higher boyhood femininity correlated with elevated FSIQ/VIQ, while in heterosexual women, higher girlhood femininity linked to lower scores. No correlations in gay men. Conclusions suggest sexuality-specific effects on cognition, supporting sex-atypicality measures in orientation studies.

Attention Is All You Need (arxiv.org) Introducing the Transformer model, this paper revolutionized sequence transduction by relying solely on attention mechanisms, ditching recurrence and convolutions. Trained on WMT 2014 datasets, it achieved 28.4 BLEU on English-to-German (surpassing ensembles by >2 BLEU) and 41.8 BLEU on English-to-French after 3.5 days on 8 GPUs. Architecture features encoder-decoder with self-attention; results show superior parallelization and generalization to parsing. Implications: foundational for modern NLP, enabling scalable models like GPT, shifting AI from RNNs to attention-based efficiency.

Early Austronesians: Into and Out of Taiwan (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) Supporting a Taiwan origin for Austronesian expansion, this analyzed an 8,000-year-old Liangdao Man mtDNA (ancestral haplogroup E) and 550 modern Taiwanese sequences from 12 groups. Methodology included Illumina sequencing, phylogenetic analysis with BEAST, and ABC simulations. Key data: haplogroup E arose 8-11 kya; north-to-south diversity gradient; Out of Taiwan to Philippines ~4 kya. Conclusions: Austronesians entered northern Taiwan ~6 kya, spread south, and dispersed outward ~4 kya. Implications: genetic evidence bolsters linguistic/archaeological models of migration.

Technology & Society

The Unabomber Was Right (kk.org) Kaczynski nailed technology’s self-serving agenda, viewing it as an interdependent system driven by necessity, eroding freedoms through dependency. I would agree on its holistic nature and biases, like mandating vaccines or autopilots, but disagree that it robs choices—most find more freedoms in tech-enabled lives, as city migrations show. Implications: manage tech’s momentum to balance gains against losses, recognizing reversal’s difficulty without catastrophic costs.

Why Is the Academic Job Market So Weird? (astralcodexten.substack.com) The academic market splits into 30% tenure-track (prestigious, well-paid) and 50% adjunct (low-paid), favoring fresh PhDs over experienced insiders. Colleges hire “superstars” for prestige, adjuncts for cheap teaching, obscuring the divide. Data: graph shows hires peak at 0 years post-PhD. Implications: moral activism needed to reform a system where experience hurts and internal promotions are avoided to dodge conflicts.

Economics & Development

Your Book Review: Cities and the Wealth of Nations (astralcodexten.substack.com) Jacobs argues cities, not nations, drive economics via import replacement, critiquing macroeconomics for ignoring stagflation as poverty’s norm. Key insights: five city forces shape rural regions (markets, jobs, tech, transplants, capital); seven rural types emerge from imbalances. Data: Phillips curve’s failure in 1970s stagflation. Criticisms: lacks quant data, overlooks scale. Implications: favor small, nimble entities like cities or separatist regions for antifragile growth.

Taught for America (wesleyyang.substack.com) Teach for America’s evolution from elite recruits tackling achievement gaps to critiqued for inadequate prep amid classroom chaos. Data: author’s class averaged 2nd-grade reading at age 11, only 6 at grade level. Ideological shift: from neoliberal reform to “whiteness” focus, sidelining practical fixes. Implications: education needs cultural regeneration beyond schools, addressing trauma and family structures for real reform.

Reference & Curiosities

Why the Secret Symbols of Magic and Witchcraft Fascinate Us (bbc.com) Tarot and sigils endure as adaptable symbols of agency, from 15th-century Italian decks like Visconti-Sforza to modern variants like Dust II Onyx reflecting black diaspora. Cultural significance: inspire art (Eliot, Dalí) and trends (#WitchTok, 20B views). They persist for aesthetic appeal and personal meaning amid uncertainty, blending secrecy with digital sharing.

Politics & Current Events (2023)

Lessons From a Renters’ Utopia (nytimes.com) Vienna’s Gemeindebauten house 80% qualifiers with lifelong, inflation-capped rents (rising only >5% inflation), stemming from 1919 Red Vienna era building 64,000 units for 200,000 people at 3.5% income. Success: resident Eva’s rent rose from 55€ to 270€ over 44 years while income grew, staying 3.6% combined. Implications: model for diversity and affordability amid global crises, avoiding speculation.

Vasectomies Rose by 29% in the Three Months After the End of Roe (economist.com) Post-Roe, vasectomies surged 29%, spotlighting Florida urologist Doug Stein’s 50,000 procedures. Analysis ties it to reproductive rights shifts; quote: “A lot of sunny Saturdays in windowless rooms hovering over scrotum.” Implications: men opting for permanent contraception amid access restrictions, signaling broader health trend changes.