This is a list of links to my favourite articles, those that I have read and re-read many times, that I think are worth serious thought. Hence they are mostly very long and quite complicated. Your time is valuable, and I’m struggling to think of things to say to persuade you to click on them, so instead I will group them together thematically, as an invitation to check out anything that lights up your curiosity.
First, two all time classics, broadly about the logic of human civilization, that take all the ideas and blend them together in crazy, insightful and entertaining ways:
Meditations on Moloch – Slate Star Codex
Why the Culture Wins: An Appreciation of Iain M. Banks – Joseph Heath
On to the relationship between culture and freedom, broadly understood:
We’re All Cultural Libertarians – Kerry Howley
Which contrasts nicely with more traditionalist views of the ends of life:
The happiness of the people – Charles Murray
Questing for Transcendence – The Scholar’s Stage
Questions about the implications of how talent is allocated:
Targeting Meritocracy – Slate Star Codex
The Decline of Middle America and the Problem of Meritocracy – Jeremy Beer
The previous link brings up the topic of the nature of the places we live in, and their effects upon us, expanded below:
The economic geography of a universal basic income – interfluidity
Cities and Ambition – Paul Graham
Articles that challenge the mental models we use to understand the relationship between people, work and the economy:
Firm Functionalism – Bryan Caplan
Competent Elites – Eliezer Yudkowsky
How to Make Wealth – Paul Graham
More about the relationship between economic, political and social ideas:
Yudkowsky on Caplan’s Simplistic Theory of Left and Right – EconLog
The Rebel Sell – Joseph Heath & Andrew Potter (if you like the article, read the book!)
Book Review: Seeing Like A State – Slate Star Codex
A classic by Krugman on both economic ideas and the role of public intelletuals:
Ricardo’s Difficult Idea – Paul Krugman
Looking to the future:
Definite optimism as human capital – Dan Wang
The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant – CGP Grey (Video)
Ethical Issues in Human Enhancement – Nick Bostrom & Rebecca Roache
Scott with a trademark book review about the neuroscience of nutrition:
Book Review: The Hungry Brain – Slate Star Codex
Need a pep talk? Some life advice? Or a kick in the pants?
What You’ll Wish You’d Known – Paul Graham
How to Do What You Love – Paul Graham
Five Ways You’re Sabotaging Your Own Life (Without Knowing It) – David Wong
EmmaConcepts 