Civilized to Death

The U.S. is like Donald Trump in the sense that we were born rich but insist that we're self-made.

Far from being an act of disrespect, Kaepernick's protest is an expression of the best of America: moral courage and freedom of expression.

Being rich can make you insufferable.

Part II of a discussion of how to turn a profit subverting human nature.

While it's true that "is doesn't imply ought," it's dangerous and stupid to ignore human nature.

Projection

Are We Living in a Muskian Matrix?

Christopher Ryan Ph.D. on June 3, 2016

Elon Musk is a genius trapped in a really dumb idea.

Elon Musk is a genius trapped in a really dumb idea.

Darwin saw "perfect equality" as an impediment to progress.

Social groups that value egalitarianism, cooperation, and open sharing of resources have proven to be far more successful over the long haul of prehistory than groups that didn’t v

When you include the costs of civilization, it stops looking like such a great deal.

There would be no blues without slavery; no moon landing without NAZI rocket scientists.

Are the pyramids miraculous or pathetic?

Where's all that leisure time the future was supposed to bring?

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." –Mark Twain

Race and Ethnicity

Does Black Irish Count as "Black?"

Christopher Ryan Ph.D. on June 17, 2015

Any conversation about race has to begin with the fact that nobody really knows what "race" means.

Any conversation about race has to begin with the fact that nobody really knows what "race" means.

An hour well-lived and deeply experienced not only distracts us from our mortality, it robs death by spending the only currency it can rob us of: time among the living.