Stephen Hicks, Ph.D.

Worth Reading for November 2007

11/30 Why were Enron’s Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling convicted? Professor Larry Ribstein argues that no one seems to know for sure.

11/29 Eyal Mozes investigates: Is there a rational basis for determinism? And in Spiked, Stuart Derbyshire surveys the state of brain science and free will and argues that we’re no slaves of our senses.

11/28 The New York Times reports on further progress for women in India. (Thanks to Virginia for the link.)
Prospect magazine has this fascinating overview (statist assumptions aside) of India’s under-achieving middle class. Philosopher Stone has a post with links about India and Ayn Rand. And thanks to my friend Bill, I’ve been watching Bollywood movies this year—let me recommend Guru (“a villager, Gurukant Desai, arrives in Bombay 1958, and rises from its streets to become the GURU, the biggest tycoon in Indian history”), Lagaan (“the people of a small village in Victorian India stake their future on a game of cricket against their ruthless British rulers”), and Veer-Zaara (“the story of the love between Veer Pratap Singh, an Indian, and Zaara Hayaat Khan, a Pakistani”).

11/27 A sad case study in far-left educational culture: Charlotte Allen explains Who killed Antioch College. (Thanks to Charles for the link.) On financial accountability in higher education: Ward Connerly looks at the factors. And Yale professor Anthony Kronman reminds those of us in higher education Why We Are Here.

11/26 A brief look at the social skills of the new generation of entrepreneurs. Here is an overview of Dietrich Doerner’s work on failure. The BusinessPundit on the one book every executive should read. And some useful advice to young entrepreneurs from a young entrepreneur.

11/20 Three interesting conferences coming up next April: Objectivity in the Law at the University of Texas, Liberty Studies at the College of New Jersey, and the annual conference of the Association of Private Enterprise Education in Las Vegas. Update: And in February a Students for Liberty conference at Columbia University, featuring speakers David Boaz of Cato, Alan Kors of the University of Pennsylvania, and Will Thomas of The Atlas Society.

11/19 It’s getting better all the time. Graphically-presented data on average income in the USA along with several other progress-related charts and graphs. Here is a website devoted to improvement indicators. (Thanks to Anja for the link.) And why even the optimistic Star Trek series underestimates future potential.

11/17 Professor Tara Smith investigates: Why Originalism Won’t Die—Common Mistakes in Competing Theories of Judicial Interpretation. (Thanks to Richard for the link.)

11/16 “In 1993, over a million saiga antelopes roamed the steppes of Russia and Kazakhstan. Today, fewer than 30,000 remain, most of them females.” Unintended consequences meet the tragedy of the commons, as Tyler Cowen explains.

11/12 Sawse has twenty-five photographs taken at precisely the right time.

11/11 Reflecting on Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, Lester Hunt makes some shrewd observations about the moral psychology of cynicism, socialism, and nihilism. And John Palmer, the EclectEcon, has a datum on the European left’s deep crisis.

11/10 The bedbugs are back. Yet another thing to thank Rachel Carson for. Or not.

11/8 This Friday’s Free Kareem rallies. And while a relatively liberal young man languishes in jail, here is a classic piece explaining the attraction of intellectual-lightweight entertainment superstars to heavyweight-murderous political thugs: Humberto Fontova considers the case of Che.

11/7 In The New York Times, Harvard economist Greg Mankiw has a closer look at health care comparison numbers. Johan Norberg is also looking at the number of uninsured Americans. Philosopher Stone has a good round-up of links on the economics and politics of healthcare. Meanwhile, John Enright wonders what life-saving information we should suppress next. And Tom Kirkendell reminds us of an important anniversary: 30 years of angioplasty.

11/6 Overcoming the destructive eras in our history. An important history lesson by Shelby Steele on the legacy of Little Rock. Some pictorial evidence relevant to the question: to what extent were the Nazis Christian? And here’s an essay on the Regressives—or rather, the so-called Progressives in American history. Professor David Mayer has also written wisely on the reactionary progressives.

11/5 Art historian Lynn Catterson speculates on the Laocoön scuplture: Hellenistic masterpiece or Michelangelo’s brilliant ploy? More on the hypothesis here—though would “forgery” be the right word? Meanwhile, classicist Mary Beard plays hooky to visit the Laocoön exhibition in Rome.

11/4 Cato’s David Boaz argues that on balance we are freer than at many points in our past (PDF format). Here is a stellar line-up of back issues of Cato’s Letter. By contrast, it’s election year in Saskatchewan, the resource-rich and socialism-poor Canadian province. The contrast to its neighbor Alberta is instructive. And even worse: Meghan Cox Gurdon puts some of our domestic rhetoric in perspective.

11/3 Where is Voltaire when you need him? John Leo wonders who will stand up for free speech on campus. Here is one university committed to brainwashing students with false and destructive messages. (Thanks to Johann for the link.) And David Thompson comments on the right not to be offended. Update: The FIRE reports that the University of Delaware has dropped its obnoxious indoctrination plans.

11/2 Ayn Rand in Latin America, with these follow-up interviews with Alex Chafuen, Giancarlo Ibargüen, and Juan Fernando Carpio. Harry Binswanger’s useful The Ayn Rand Lexicon is now free online. (Thanks to Anja for the link.) And YouTube user DJ Lorenzen has Ayn Rand on audio.

11/1 Trends of the times: A short interview in The Globe and Mail with the always-observant Grant McCracken, a summary look at IRS tax data, more data on badly misplaced priorities in the drug war and the fight against crime (thanks to Virginia for the link), and evidence that being a cop just keeps getting more difficult.

Worth Reading for April 2007

4/28 John Stossel proposes: How About Economic Progress Day? (Thanks to Eric for the link.) John Tamny wonders why, despite the clear data, some academics consistently undersell capitalism. And marketing professor Jerry Kirkpatrick, author of In Defense of Advertising, nicely debunks subliminal advertising.

4/27 Beautiful photographs of bridges around the world.

4/26 Cultural and religious control-freaks and more cultural and religious control-freaks. Closer to home: controlling yet more “inappropriate” sexual expression. And of course this is just plain control-freaky.

4/25 The entrepreneurial transformation of American business. Key quotation: “since 1980, more than 5 million jobs have disappeared from Fortune 500 companies, while 34 million new jobs were created at small businesses.” In Slate, new data on men’s and women’s work loads. And Warren Farrell has good advice to women on how to increase your income.

4/24 Cultural trends: What do people actually use the Internet for? And the always-worth-reading Grant McCracken on the decline of accidental social networks.

4/23 Fascinated by China: In Far Eastern Economic Review, Carlson Holz worries about the pressures on Western intellectuals’ integrity. Depressingly, R. J. Rummel has revised his Chinese democide numbers upwards: 73,000,000 deaths. Rich Karlgaard wonders whether Shanghai or Beijing is the future of China. And Mark Vallen comments on an exhibition of American art in China and quotes this amusing line from Colin Powell: “If you give 1.3 billion Chinamen access to home shopping on television, (communism) is over, because there is no way communism can compete with a salad shooter for $9.95.”

4/18 Philosopher Tibor Machan challenges a false alternative: Are humans by nature good or evil? Ph.D. candidate Joe Duarte reflects on life choices that make a profound difference. And here is an interesting development in artificial brain repair.

4/17 Law professor Larry Ribstein wonders if Hollywood is warming up to business. Key quotation: “rich capitalists have funded films like ‘An Inconvenient Truth.’ Why not pro-capitalist films?” (Thanks to Roger for the link.) And over at Uncle Eddie’s Theory Corner, discussion of philosophical themes in two films The Devil Wears Prada and The Pursuit of Happyness.

4/16 Excellent data, dynamic graphics, and passionate presentation: a talk by Hans Rosling on world development. (Thanks to Anja for the link.) Here is Rosling’s web log.
And Don Boudreaux has anecdotes and data pointing to the conclusion that cancer is not the killer it once was.

4/15 Business Week’s most livable cities in the world.

4/13 Today is Thomas Jefferson’s birthday. Historian David Mayer remembers Thomas Jefferson. Here are the official White House biography, the website for Jefferson’s home at Monticello, and Genevieve LaGreca’s toast to Jefferson’s achievements.

4/12 An interesting technical and business challenge: the $100 laptop and the rural poor. As my friend Eric Adkins puts it, “Some kid with a $100 laptop and loads of free time is going to invent something brilliant.”

4/11 Is Europe’s economy suffering from Eurosclerosis? Also check out Olaf Gersemann’s Cowboy Capitalism. (Thanks to Anja for the links.) And: socialism or individualism? Craig Depken quotes wise words spoken in 1907 by Nicholas Murray Butler, then president of Columbia University.

4/10 Gramscian warfare: Lazarus Long explains what Americans need to learn about ideological warfare. And Sascha Volokh has some charming word play while exploring postmodernism’s unintended consequences.

4/9 In Topoi, philosophers Kevin Mulligan, Peter Simons and Barry Smith ask: What’s Wrong With Contemporary Philosophy. Answer: Lots.

4/7 The creation of Zarathustra—the powerful and passionate sculpture by Peter Schipperheyn. (Thanks to Michael for the tip.)

4/6 An embarrassment to higher education: Florida Gulf Coast University’s speech code. And advice for graduating students: Avoid the seven deadly sins of resumé design.

4/4 Like Che and Mao: another murderous thug not to idealize: Leon Trotsky. (Thanks again to Bob H. for the link.)

4/4 He probably won’t get tenure: teaching evaluations for Professor Socrates. (Thanks to Bob H. for the link.)

4/3 Good news from the historian’s across-centuries perspective: Steven Pinker on declining rates of violence. (Thanks to Anja for the link.) And uncertain news from Caitlin Flanagan on college women’s sexual judgment and practice across the decades.

4/2 Australia round-up: A review of Donald Horne’s The Lucky Country by Keith Windschuttle. A key quotation: “second-rate has always been the wrong adjective for Australia. It tells more about the insecurities of those who use the label than anything else. It is especially untrue today when to be an Australian is to be a citizen of the world, and yet still live in the best country on Earth.” In Spiked, Guy Roth has some choice words for fashionably snobbish pooh-poohing of Australian culture. And that’s not even to mention that one of my son’s favorite television shows, The Upside Down Show, originates in Australia.

Worth Reading for May 2006

5/31 Two recent takes on contemporary intellectual culture: In the Chronicle, Michael Kimmel reviews several trendy novels in the “lad lit” genre, describing that genre as “a sort of anti-bildungsroman, in which a sardonic, clever, unapologetic slacker refuses to grow up, get a meaningful job, commit to relationships, or find any meaning in life.” And Julian Baggini argues that, philosophically, the “comic cartoon [is] the form best suited to illuminate our age”: “To speak truthfully and insightfully today you must have a sense of the absurdity of human life and endeavour. Past attempts to construct grand and noble theories about human history and destiny have collapsed.” (Both via Arts & Letters Daily.)

5/30 Is Darwinian conservatism an oxymoron? James Seaton reviews Larry Arnhart’s recent book. And here is a review of leftist Todd Gitlin’s new book on how postmodernism gutted the Left. Exactly. (Though it had already suffered a brain-stroke, as I have argued, by the time it turned to desperate pomo measures.)

5/27 Has Ragnar shrugged? And here is an inspiring profile of Ken Iverson, a twentieth-century business hero.

5/26 Sally Satel on organ donation and the kindness of strangers. (Thanks to Roy for the link.) Here is the latest in human longevity research. And 91-year-old Cliff Garl will be forever young.

5/25 Fascinating: What physicists think happened the first few microseconds after the Big Bang. And how much progress have we made toward strong artificial intelligence? Jeff Hawkins summarizes. (Thanks to Jim H-N. for the link.)

5/24 Harry Binswanger makes a strong moral and practical case for open immigration. (Via Not PC.) And Russell Roberts identifies some further cultural and political components of a full solution to the issues that immigration raises.

5/23 Michael Barone has more good world-economic news. (Via Rich Karlgaard.)

5/22 New record-high life-expectancy statistics in the U.S. (Thanks to Virginia for the link.) And the Bureau of Labor Statistics has average hourly and weekly earnings for American workers.

5/19 Here are five fascinating numbers. And worth browsing is this History of Mathematics Archive.

5/18 Why the rich need a tax break. For more data see also this government report.

5/17 Improving the fruits of the Enlightenment: Gadgets then and now. And here comes the Six-Billion-Dollar Man. And here is a website devoted to one of the mathematical and political giants of the Enlightenment: the Marquis de Condorcet.

5/16 Do not miss the excellent underwater photographs from the sunken city of Alexandria. (Via Arts & Letters Daily.) And here is a series of
lovely images of planet Earth.

5/15 The always-worth-reading George Reisman enlightens us about price gouging. Professor Bainbridge has an intriguing hypothesis about union leaders’ arguments about CEO pay. And Roy Poses reports on out-of control conflicts of interest in the University of California system.

5/13 Should we privatize peace efforts in, e.g., Darfur? Rebecca Ulam Weiner weighs the issues of efficiency, cost, and accountability. Shelby Steele wonders why, since World War II, the West fights its wars so delicately. And Andrew Klavan believes that to get the job done we should draft Hollywood.

5/12 Neil Parille’s new web blog has an admirable goal: “Its aim is to discuss Objectivism free from the name calling and hoopla too often associated with the discussion of Rand and Objectivism on the web.” The Objective Reference Center has a good selection of texts by Ayn Rand available online. And this just in: Kathy Sierra has advice Objectivists could profitably adapt to philosophy.

5/11 The home decoration dictators are coming to your neighborhood. (Via Philosophy 101.) And now that the health police have put Big Tobacco on the defensive, it’s time to take on Big Ice Cream.

5/10 Philosopher Lester Hunt explains why he is against multi-culturalism. And here is an immigrant-group success story—twice.

5/9 Humberto Fontova rips into the historically-uninformed critics of The Lost City: Andy Garcia’s movie about Cuba. (Thanks to Brent for the link.) Which also raises an interesting question: How much is Fidel Castro worth? And “Protagoras” asks another: Why do some find it so hard to learn from history?

5/8 Grant McCracken asks: How do we measure how creative a culture is? And Jeff Cornwall has advice to entrepreneurs about failure on the highway to success.

5/6 Is the evolution of the eye irreducibly complex? In this four-minute video, Swedish scientist Dan-Eric Nilsson demonstrates one possible straightforward evolutionary path. And some actual—as opposed to mythical—intelligent design: This is one Clever design for a car.

5/5 A new tutorial by artist Michael Newberry: Rhythm in painting.

5/4 Superstar teacher John Taylor Gatto is working on an ambitious documentary project about American education: “The Fourth Purpose”. (Thanks to Jim for the link.)

5/3 A website devoted to the great Romantic novelist Victor Hugo. Interesting and new to me was this account of Carl August Hagburg’s visits with Hugo in 1836.

5/2 A new book on one of the architects of the Reign of Terror: Maximilien Robespierre. And for something more uplifting, Ken Gregg has a post on a vigorous and fascinating Pole who embraced Enlightenment ideals: Tadeusz Kosciuszko was recruited by Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane, became a great friend of Thomas Jefferson and a hero of the Revolutionary war.

5/1 Logic and economics: Don Boudreaux has a good example illustrating why ad hominem is an invalid argument tactic. And he has a further post illustrating why tu quoque is a perfectly understandable reaction.