Monthly Archives: March 2019

‘Nones’ now as big as evangelicals, Catholics in the US

‘Nones’ now as big as evangelicals, Catholics in the US “Americans claiming “no religion” — sometimes referred to as “nones” because of how they answer the question “what is your religious tradition?” — now represent about 23.1 percent of the population, up from 21.6 percent in 2016. People claiming evangelicalism, by contrast, now represent 22.5 […]

What’s Wrong with Moral Foundations Theory, and How to get Moral Psychology Right

What’s Wrong with Moral Foundations Theory, and How to get Moral Psychology Right “A review of this literature suggests that there are (at least) seven well established types of cooperation: (1) the allocation of resources to kin; (2) coordination to mutual advantage; (3) social exchange; and conflict resolution through contests featuring (4) hawkish displays of […]

The Sting of Meritocracy

” The Sting of Meritocracy “Even when today’s elites devote themselves to public service, as many do, they tend not to see it as fulfilling an obligation to give back for an unearned privilege but as further demonstrating their own high-mindedness and merit. […] The claims to legitimacy of today’s elite are met with skepticism […]

The Great Miscalculator

The Great Miscalculator “The neoclassical economist sees the economy in a deterministic equilibrium and asks how that equilibrium can be improved. If instead we looked at economic outcomes as contingent, we would ask how catastrophic failure can best be prevented. Instead of assuming that the economy is robust, we would look for sources of fragility. […]

Ibn Tufayl and the story of the feral child of philosophy

Ibn Tufayl and the story of the feral child of philosophy “Like the islanders, we follow principles that can undermine themselves. To be hospitable, we must be open to the stranger who violates hospitality. To be democratic, we must include those who are antidemocratic. To be worldly, our encounters with other people must be opportunities […]

How to Apply a Matrix Number Grid Effect to Images in Photoshop

How to Apply a Matrix Number Grid Effect to Images in Photoshop “Use Image > Adjustments > Posterize to reduce the number of shades of gray in the image. A value of 4 levels works well. Finally, change the mode of the photo layer from Normal to Multiply. Now all you’ll see will be the […]

How translation obscured the music and wordplay of the Bible

How translation obscured the music and wordplay of the Bible “It might be objected that the books of the Bible are, after all, fundamentally religious texts, not works of literature but, for reasons we cannot altogether fathom, this tiny Israelite realm, though rather crude in comparison with its larger and more powerful ancient Near Eastern […]