As promised/threatened in the holiday card post, here are a bunch of things I’ve had open in tabs that haven’t inspired a full post. If you’re looking for something to read while hiding from your family on the day after Christmas, I hope this will help:
— How to design a house to last 1000 years (Part I) by Brian Potter: A fascinating look at the disasters you need to worry about if you’re thinking about the really long term. (Part II may be up by the time this is scheduled to post, too…)
— Our African origins: the more we understand, the less we know, and What happens in Denisova Cave stays in Denisova Cave... until now, by Razib Khan. Parts 2 and 3 of a series on what genomic sequencing tells us about human evolution; part 1 was in a previous links dump.
— Our 51 Best (And Weirdest) Charts Of 2021, by FiveThirtyEight: Chart porn!
— A massive 8-year effort finds that much cancer research can’t be replicated, by Tara Haelle: This week in “Reasons I’m Glad I Don’t Work in Biomedical Science”
— Why the Fuck Do You Trust Harvard? by Freddie deBoer: This week in “I Bet That Was Cathartic”
— The FDA Has Punted Decisions About Luvox Prescription To The Deepest Recesses Of The Human Soul, by Scott Alexander: As is usually the case, I find this a little overwrought, but the general theme of “Our pubic health bureaucrats are not exactly covering themselves in glory” is one I find congenial.
—The Myth of 'I'm Bad at Math' by Miles Kimball, Noah Smith, and Quartz: This is old, and maybe oversells things a little, but again, the general idea that we should be less willing to accept innumeracy is one I find congenial.
—Want to Make a Name for Yourself as a Thought Leader? by Reenita Malhotra Hora: Advice from one of my college classmates.
—Yes, the Great Books Make Us Better People, by John McWhorter: Not the “anti-woke” content I was expecting, but more anti-“scientism”; this is yet another in a long line of pieces about liberal arts education that I ought to respond to but am getting a little sick of.
— Liberal Education Is Applied History, by Stephen Pimentel: Longer and more detailed than the previous, but in the same bucket of “I should write about this, but ennnhhh….”
—I ♥ universities, by Lucy Keer: Here’s your Rule of Three with the previous two; less conclusive and a little closer to my own mindset than the previous two, maybe.
— Walking the World: Bucharest, by Chris Arnade. Taking his photo-walks global.
And that ought to be enough links to make a point of some sort. Or at least to keep you from snapping at close relatives for a few hours…