In my article on why Math Olympians are generally unattractive, my main point was that physical attractiveness opens many doors. Thus, a highly-gifted yet highly-attractive teenage boy or girl has many more opportunities than someone who is highly gifted but also highly deficient in the looks department. Thus, the alpha-looks and alpha-IQ crowd tends to… Continue reading The Value of Beauty in an Enforced World of Ugliness
I recently came across a picture of some local students who competed at a national mathematics competition, doing pretty well. To nobody’s surprise, none of these teenage boys and girls, of which there were much fewer than boys, would score high in the Looks Olympics. However, as IQ and physical attractiveness are positively correlated, it… Continue reading Why are Math Olympians Unattractive?
Ever since ChatGPT was first released, there is incessant chatter about human labor being increasingly replaceable. We have read that even high-skilled professions like software development will be eviscerated by an AI, presumably one that ultimately writes itself. All it took was some business guy ask ChatGPT how to write a loop that counts up… Continue reading AI is not an Equalizer
There is the right-wing saying that at the top and bottom of the wealth pyramid consists of an hereditary aristocracy. Let us ignore that the terminology is wrong as the etymological root of “aristocrat” is the Greek aristos, i.e. “the best”. By definition, if you stratify society based on wealth, then the wealthiest end up… Continue reading The Welfare Aristocracy is Real
I began my day today by popping a methylphenidate (MPH) pill, not because this is my daily ritual but because I had a pretty packed day ahead of myself. At around lunchtime, I decided to shop for some groceries. I was full of energy, so I just wanted to get this out of the way… Continue reading Why is Methylphenidate a Controlled Substance?
I recently wrote a few blog posts on the middle and upper class distinction recently (cf. income differentials, status trap, elite socialization). In this article, I want to tie together some of my observations. Thinking more about middle/upper-class issues, I came to the conclusion that the defining characteristic of the middle class is adherence to… Continue reading Rule-Following vs. Rule-Defining as the Quintessential Middle/Upper Class Distinction
In my article The Status Trap: The Middle-Class Pretending to be Upper Class I explore the problem of the middle class wanting to prepare their children for ascension into the upper class, and mostly only ending up wasting their money. Even though the money for expensive private schools and universities may not be worth it,… Continue reading Elite Socialization in Private Schools and Universities
I wrote a long piece on class differences recently, Middle-Class Income Differentials Are Almost Inconsequential. As a follow up, I want to go into detail on an issue that you could describe as the “middle-class status trap”. In the aspirational part of the middle class, families spend a lot of money on giving their children… Continue reading The Status Trap: The Middle-Class Pretending to be Upper Class
The other day a friend of mine sent me a video that discusses the significance of radiant and muted Christmas lighting in the movie Eyes Wide Shut, a movie I wrote about three years ago. The hypothesis presented in that video seems plausible, but that is not the point. Instead, my mind got stuck on… Continue reading Middle-Class Income Differentials Are Almost Inconsequential
In the comments section we recently had a discussion about social climbing and the fact that good-looking women may get lucky and ascend to the highest levels of societ, simply by giving a wealthy man a boner and that guy following his desires. There are plenty such examples. For instance, a prominent one in German… Continue reading Social-Climbing is a Three-Generations Project
