sheefrex

8 ms·

31.
AI and the Probability of Conflict(themetasophist.com)
1 points by sheefrex 6y ago|0 comments
32.
Funding the Media in the Internet Age(themetasophist.com)
1 points by sheefrex 6y ago|0 comments
33.
by sheefrex 6y ago
As far as I'm aware, France and to a lesser degree Germany also don't collect this information. > https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/16/france-and-ger...
34.
by sheefrex 6y ago
You've misinterpreted that part of the article. The reason to avoid a monetary reward is not that it is tacky, but because money can easily be used to pass on influence to offspring, such as by boosting their profile, or buying votes f
35.
by sheefrex 6y ago
This is the question exactly. The difficulty is that there is a downward spiral: if fewer talented people enter the public service or politics because it is becoming relatively unattractive, the average performance of that class goes down.
36.
by sheefrex 6y ago
I'm not from the US so I thread hesitantly here. But it seems to me that there is still a lot of energy from the population at large being devoted to politics, such as with the higher turnout in the last presidential election. When tha
37.
by sheefrex 6y ago
This reminds me of a part of Toynbee's framework for civilisational decline. If the leaders of a society stop being creative, they can no longer lead by inspiration and example and so need to start to dominate to retain and exert power
38.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Inequality in the Roman Republic only really started to grow after the Punic Wars, so it took around two hundred years to fully rot away the legitimacy of the system
39.
Priming People to Take Risk(themetasophist.com)
2 points by sheefrex 6y ago|0 comments
40.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Thank you for the comment. I haven't read that but I will take a look!
41.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Thank you! Yes I agree
42.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Many thanks for your comment and this reference -- he looks like a very interesting thinker.
43.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Thank you for reading. This is a very difficult question. I am sympathetic to the view of Spengler, which is similar to that of Toynbee. But in practise, I think what constitues the West is constantly changing. The historical base is Wester
44.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Thank you for commenting. These are very reasonable criticisms and I will take them into account.
45.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Thank you for this positive response and good questions. 1. I think what constitues the West is constantly changing. The historical base is Western Europe. If W. Europe and the US diverge in ideology over the next few decades (not necessari
46.
by sheefrex 6y ago
I'm pretty sure the premise you cite wasn't his view. For Spengler, cultures were attached to a specific location or landscape -- the idea of them spreading doesn't make sense in that context. I also don't recall any dis
47.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Thanks for this comment. Spengler referred to the Medieval Era as Spring because that was when what he saw as the key cultural forms first emerged -- such as linear perspective in painting, and soaring Gothic cathedrals - all of which he sa
48.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Thanks for commenting, and sorry for that side-effect. I don't experience it myself anymore, and that may be due to exposure. I guess to solve the issues you need to tolerate staring them in the face for quite a while! To repeat what I
49.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Thanks for this comment. I'm personally optimistic -- I think the ideas are there to avoid protracted decline and there's also an awareness which most previous civilisations didn't have.
50.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Thanks for this comment. To repeat what I said below, I would shy away from discussing rise and decline in purely geopolitical terms. I'm more referring to internal aspects of decline -- social cohesion, creativity, quality of governan
51.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Thank you for commenting. I haven't looked into the groundwater issue -- perhaps a consequence of living in rainy countries to date. On your second point, I think the big problem is that status is increasingly linked with consumption -
52.
by sheefrex 6y ago
This is mostly true -- but knowledge, perhaps that can persist.
53.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Thanks very much for this detailed and rigorous comment. I have already read part of that book (along with the book review), but haven't finished it yet. I find that model highly plausible, and think it offers useful insights into what
54.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Many thanks for this remark. That scenario is unfortunately within the realm of possibility -- indeed in a later chapter I will address the topic of climate. But there are other ways of failing which I think also need to be insured against
55.
by sheefrex 6y ago
Thanks for your comment. I'm agree with your second sentence. For the first, I would shy away from discussing rise and decline in purely geopolitical terms. I'm more referring to internal aspects of decline -- social cohesion, cre
56.
Shall the West Pass Too? Whispers from Fallen Civilisations(themetasophist.com)
74 points by sheefrex 6y ago|96 comments
57.
by sheefrex 6y ago
This is the first chapter from a book I am writing about the decline of the West, and how to reverse it. This chapter summarises a number of indicators of decline and implications for the future, while also touching on the potential causes
58.
by sheefrex 13y ago
Yes, it seems to be about thirty years early. Silesia becomes part of Brandenburg-Prussia circa 1710 in the video, but this of course didn't happen until the 1740's.
59.
by sheefrex 13y ago
> Having IIRC 10% of the GDP used for allocating resources is wasteful when there is technology available to do this very thing. With regard to that 10%, don't forget that much of it is spent on the salaries of the individuals actually
60.
by sheefrex 13y ago
An interesting question, and option 2 seems to be the likeliest option. However, I would qualify it and say that it was created with the intention of having it fail. This would ease the introduction and attractiveness of any regulation, or

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