March's readings
Sociology
- Thoughts on how Milwaukee’s(and other American cities’) eviction problem exacerbates the poverty and segregation
- Accelerating Scientific Publication in Biology: Ideas on how to increase the speed at which Biological discoveries are made (applicable to other sciences too)
- An argument for why ad-blocking isn’t only ethical but also a moral obligation
- Entertaining critique of the hiring process at large companies and startups
- Comprehensive essay covering all societal aspects of legalizing drugs, ranging from economics to crime
- reddit user bobbyfiend explains one of the root causes behind increasing instances of campuses being “safe spaces”
- Why ISIS’s atrocities aren’t really new and the psychological tactics it uses to recruit have been commonly used by societies before
- What is motivating young men to participate in the Islamic State’s cause? Research unclear and keeping US confused about solutions. Article also highlights NYT’s disappointing reporting as it again shies away from mentioning religious beliefs as one of the causes
Psychology
- Explanation of differences between different kinds of speech styles with a funny account of preparation for TED talk
- HN user joslin01 nicely articulates the motivations behind one of our worsts of vices: stubbornness
- Psychology wars continue with criticism of the Reproducibility project
- A critique of use of psychology to derive morality. Overcoming our intuitions can sometimes be counterproductive in guiding us towards ethical behaviors
- Pinker and Haidt destroy the above criticism by highlighting some bizzare reasoning(followed by a response from the original author)
Biology
- Robert Triver’s five blockbuster evolutionary theories
- Dissipative Adaptation: a new hypothesis on how life could emerge from atom’s usage of external energy in an irreversible manner
- Review of meta-analysis that shows how deliberate practice is overstated and ignores the innate factors like talent among other factors
Rationality
- How to have an opinion worth hearing
- Why less wrong is anti-instrumental rationality? Provocative critique exploring why LW is ineffective