2016-02-26

Some Links

I have to chuckle at this David Henderson proof of objective truth, contra Scott Sumner and Rorty. The commentators (and Sumner) keep missing Henderson's point: You can't assert that objective truth doesn't exist without demonstrating that you do not, in fact, hold that belief. (Or, in other words, you cannot possess knowledge that you disbelieve.)

It's interesting to see everyone's reaction to the whole Cheryl Tiegs / Ashley Graham row. Women who once lambasted Sports Illustrated for the "exploitation" of its swimsuit issue are now applauding the magazine for putting a plus-sized model on the cover. So sexual exploitation is okay, so long as it's plus-sized women we're exploiting? Or, it doesn't count as exploitation if it's a fat woman in a swimsuit - only skinny women can be sexually exploited? And note that all Tiegs is saying is that being plus-sized is unhealthy; and it is.

Here's a Huffington Post article about replacing the Best Actor and Best Actress categories with a single, gender-neutral category. Once again, what's interesting here is not the position the author takes, but the inherent contradiction: On the one hand, gender identity is vitally important to all people; on the other hand, we should eliminate all traces of gender from public discourse.

Scientists claim that hominids' teeth shrank due to increased use of tools and the cooking of food. But how would any of this lead to the natural selection of smaller teeth? I really dislike just-so evolutionary stories.

By now you must have heard about the Atlas robots. Does anyone out there really think it's a good idea to make artificial intelligence that is impervious to human attacks?

Maybe I'm not understanding Scott Sumner's argument here, but it sounds like he has completely undermined the case for monetary policy (which wasn't his intention). My comment explains.

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