Fascinating!: Recent Episodes
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The trust fund held by America's Social Security Administration is projected to be depleted sometime in 2032. People are speaking of this as if it is a crisis which requires immediate action if we wish to prevent a catastrophe.
The truth is that there is not now, and there never has been from the beginning, a genuine reserve fund which the SSA can dip into to continue paying benefits when outlays exceed inflows, as has been the case since 2010. In the past, there were many years when inflows exceeded outflows, but the excess has always been spent by the Treasury as part of the general budget and replaced by paper issued to the SSA by the Treasury.
It's all smoke and mirrors, and the paper held by the SSA has no value. The only purpose it serves is to pave the way for the Treasury to provide the needed funds to pay benefits. The Treasury has to raise new funds to pay the benefits whether there is a phony trust fund or not, and the only crisis is that in 2032 the scheme will need a new set of smoke and mirrors.
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Protestant Christianity split into many different sects following the big split with the Roman Catholic Church, with the salutary result that oppression by religious authorities, while still a problem within many localities, is far more difficult to achieve on a global stage.
Similarly, following the collapse of the regime in Soviet Russia in 1991, the quasi-religious movement of Marxianity has begun splitting in different sects, with a similar salutary result in regard to carrying out oppressive agendas.
This essay focuses on efforts by those in America who call themselves "Democratic Socialists" of "Social Democrats" to distance themselves from the horrors perpetrated by 20th century Marxian dictatorial regimes, even going so far as to renounce allegiance to Marx himself, even as they continue to employ Marxian framing.
It ought to be an educational experience to watch the schemes of this sect fail and lead to unintentional consequences, in spite of the good intentions of supporters. Good intentions combined with coercion is an extremely unsophisticated strategy.
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Slime mold has been a subject of discussion on the podcast since Season 1. Senior contributing editor Prego de Nada originally used slime mold, aka physarum, as an example of spontaneous emergent order in nature, with the purpose of demonstrating that what looks like design can, and frequently does occur without any designer. Prego then penned an essay in Season 5 to talk about the results of ongoing research.
The world-shaking conclusion of the investigation, the evidence that sent everyone back to square one, is that physarum exhibits cognition without a brain that is capable of symbolic representation. Cognitive scientists until recently believed that symbolic representation was a necessary ingredient to the mix.
Jellyfish are likewise interesting to cognitive scientists, because they also exhibit cognition, and also do not possess any structure that functions as a brain, although jellyfish do have a neuronal net and are multicellular organisms that accomplish cognition in a somewhat different manner from slime mold.
The episode concludes with a discussion of the relationship between cognition and consciousness, what consciousness might be in a fundamental sense, and the fascinating ongoing debate among cognitive scientists, as new evidence continuously comes to light.
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Science journalist Ronald Bailey, who is also a trained economist, continues his career of debunking predictions of impending doom, which he began in his 1993 Book "Ecoscam", which demonstrated that predictions in the 1972 publication "The Limits to Growth", published by the Club of Rome, turned out to be spectacularly wrong. In "The End of Doom: Environmental Renewal in the 21st Century", he examines further spectacularly wrong predictions still being pushed by the pessimism-industrial complex, such as worries about an exploding population, when in fact population is not actually exploding; projections showing us running out of resources and farmland; projections about worsening pollution in a world where pollution is actually diminishing; and about climate change, which everyone understands is a problem that must be dealt with, but which is not an impending catastrophe which requires immediate and massive directed collective action. He predicted in 2015 electricity produced by clean energy would soon be cheaper than energy produced with fossil fuels without any need for regulatory intervention, and eleven years later this prediction too has been fulfilled. Critical responses to his work have been feeble and unconvincing, and he opines that advocates of deus ex machina intervention are driven not by genuine concerns but by a hangover of medievalist intelligent design thinking and the desire to be the deus. It's high time to shift the Overton Window decisively in the direction of greater optimism, as it becomes increasingly obvious that the current "mainstream" of thought is in truth a stagnant intellectual backwater.
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Contributing editor Slainte na Zdorovya submits an essay on the much-discussed and widely applicable Dunning-Kruger effect, focusing on its relevance to the theme of evolutionary thinking that is the theme of this podcast. David Dunning and his protege Justing Kruger published the results of a study they conducted in 1999 at Cornell University titled "Unskilled and Unaware of It".
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Playing and having fun is a widely observed phenomenon amongst many of Earth's creatures. Why did it evolve? Why do some creatures play and others do not? Contributing editor Prego de Nada has looked into this phenomenon and has penned this essay.
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A review of the 16 podcast essays, and one interview, from Season 5. Hopefully you will find some of the short descriptions in the recap sufficiently interesting so that you will listen to them in their entirety.
Have a look at the recently published book by friend of the podcast Eric Moon, titled "Cultivating the Sociome: Governance Without Governors", now available on Amazon.
cultivatingthesociome.com
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If you have bought a recent model automobile, you have undoubtedly noticed that you do not have the option of steering the car without some "help" from robot-assisted lane tracking. There is no setting that allows you to steer your car without at least some tugging on the steering wheel by the robot.
The reason for the ubiquity of the technology is a mandate by regulators in the EU, which effectively mandates it for the rest of the world. Listen to find out why they did it.
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In a first for the Fascinating! series, we present an interview.
The interviewee is Cary Gray, an up-and-coming young Earthling friend of mine. Cary is first and foremost a poet, and that is his passion. He has had an adventurous past, from doing long-distance touring on a purpose-built unicycle of his own design, to living for three months in a giant redwood in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Cary will soon be starting his own podcast, tentatively titled "The Poetic Experience". I for one look forward to seeing where his imagination will take him next.
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Frederic Bastiat was an economist and essayist who lived and wrote in France in the early 1800's. He came to prominence at the age of 43 because of his satirical takedown of producers who were arguing for tariffs and other protectionist measures in trade with England, pointing out that the true effect of protectionism is mostly to transfer money from domestic consumers to domestic producers. His career took off and he went on to write about broader issues in law and economics, arguing that the only legitimate role of government is the protection of life, liberty and property. He was working on his magnum opus, Economic Harmony, unfinished at the time of his death at age 49, in which he was arguing that harmony would naturally emerge under a laissez faire system, and that efforts by government to plan and regulate led to conflict.
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Although Marx's labor theory of value has been thoroughly trashed by Occam's razor and no longer enjoys any intellectual respectability, it still persists in the form of a quasi-religious dogma, kept alive by a disturbingly large number of otherwise intelligent Earthlings. This dogma cannot be questioned or challenged, because without it there is nothing left of the critique of capitalism as a system that exploits workers that stems from it; and Marxians are unlikely ever to give up on this conclusion just because it cannot be supported.
So please listen to this slightly wonkish, but hopefully still accessible, discussion of how Marxist economic and political theorizing has morphed into the religious movement of Marxianity.
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This essay was inspired by a quote from the eminent scientist Edward O. Wilson, the man who coined the term "sociobiology" and wrote a book with that title. The quote was: "The real problem of humanity is the following: we have peleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology".
For an optimistic appraisal of the prospects for civilization on Planet Earth, listen to senior contributing editor Prego de Nada's essay, which begins with an enlightening review of the clash between a modern scientist and members of an entrenched medievalist academia and continues with Prego's thoughts on how to surrender to the rhythms of nature.
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Leviathan is the title of a book written in 1651 by the Englishman Thomas Hobbes during the English Civil War and the Thirty Years War, in which Hobbes argued that in the absence of a powerful sovereign the life of the average person was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short".
In this essay, senior contributing editor Prego de Nada challenges the conventional wisdom which says that, because of the enormous power Leviathan can wield, he can be enlisted to do much more than merely protecting the citizens and that the exercise of this power provides a means to create an ideal world.
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In this episode, Rik calls attention to a very special Earthling, Richard Feynman. Feynman's contributions to the science of physics by itself were enough to place him in the same category as Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton.
And this fascinating human also made a huge contribution to the philosophy of science, even though he claimed to be not much interested in the philosophical side. He has been quoted as saying words to the effect that the the philosophy of science is as much use to a scientist as ornithology is to a bird.
But by word and deed, he showed that he did in truth reflect upon the philosophical side of the scientific endeavor. And Earthlings everywhere can benefit from, and be entertained by, a look at his life and his way of thinking.
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Thomas Henry Huxley is known to history as "Darwin's bulldog" for his powerful advocacy of Darwinian thinking while Darwin's ideas were being attacked and even ridiculed by those in the entrenched religious and academic establishments of 19th century Britain.
In this episode, contributing editor Slainte na Zdorovya argues that evolutionary thinking, although it has been widely accepted in the world of natural science, is still facing stiff opposition from many modern intellectuals in the social sciences and humanities, who still believe that intelligent-design thinking, with themselves as the intelligent designers, still applies outside of the natural sciences, and that without the guiding hand of these designers, motivated by good intentions, Earthlings will not be able to achieve social order and good outcomes.
We believe the paradigm is shifting away from intelligent design thinking and towards evolutionary thinking, as evidence and logic continue to pile up in support of the new way, and that Earthlings should feel grateful to Huxley and his ilk for creating the momentum.
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In this episode, senior contributing editor Prego de Nada continues his queries with the chatbot about the evolution of Chinese civilization as Taoism and Confucianism, two opposing philosophies, each found a role in society. The purpose of this investigation is to cast light on the contest in our time between the evolutionary thinking that stems from the scientific study of nature, and the intelligent-design thinking that is the legacy of Europe's feudal period. The discussion concludes with a query about the introduction in China of the Western philosophy of Marxism, and how this development is playing out.
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In this episode, the first of a two-part series, senior contributing editor Prego de Nada proposes to demonstrate some interesting parallels between the philosophy stemming from Darwinian evolutionary thinking in modern times and the ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism.
Prego then traces the co-evolution of Confucian and Taoist philosophies in Chinese civilization beginning many centuries ago, all of this in a fruitful session of queries and replies with a chatbot.
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In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan examines the concept of a living wage, something that, incredibly, many otherwise intelligent Earthlings seem to believe is a good idea! Those who advocate living wage legislation are thereby placing themselves squarely in the tradition of the White Man's Burden, the belief that a select few must coercively intervene in order to "help" the world's benighted, which inspired the era of European colonialism, and which is now part and parcel of modern progressivism. Without any understanding of the evolutionary nature of an economic system, or even basic arithmetic, they propose that government assume the role of deus ex machina, and intervene to make things turn out "right".
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In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan reports on the ongoing research into the behavior of Physarum, aka slime mold. The behavior of slime mold is an awe-inspiring and humbling example of the evolved wisdom of nature. This simple superorganism forages efficiently and knows when it is time to produce spores, all based on mechanical and chemical signals.
Listen to find out the latest!
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In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan reviews the collaborative effort of Thomas Piketty and Michael Sandel to pitch their scheme of confiscatory taxation in their new book, in the name of the nebulous concept of equality, for the undefined and undefinable "common good", in order to counter the effects uneven luck distribution, the machinations of an imaginary malicious oligarchy, and perceived patterns of accidental historical processes. They back up their pitch with claims of piety - they are supposedly the heroes who will place limits on the evils that emerge from the operation of markets.
Rik demonstrates that neither man has even a weak grasp of how an economic system functions. To them, the "economy" is a black box, and they believe that it will continue to crank out goods and services even if their proposed interventions create perverse incentives, and interrupt the evolved and evolving feedback loops that make the whole system work, and the existence of which our heroes are unaware.
It is likewise clear that their proposed scheme could only be implemented by totalitarian government, in spite of the lip service they both pay to liberty and democratic government; and that the implementation of their scheme would make the poor, and everyone else, poorer, even in the doubtful case that it actually were to reduce the disparities they lament.
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The short answer to this question is "no". Listen to this episode for details.
The Federal Reserve Bank (the "Fed") stands as an example of the collateral messiness, and the distortions, that inevitably accompany intelligent design projects. In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan explains why the Fed has always failed, and always will fail, in its mandate to stabilize prices; and why, rather than containing systemic risk, the Fed has itself been a major SOURCE of systemic risk.
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In this episode, senior contributing editor Prego de Nada proposes that Earthlings would be happier, and life on Earth would be better, if they were to jettison the practice of characterizing their choices as between "good things" and "bad things", and instead adopt the practice of viewing the expected consequences of their choices as tradeoffs, where decisions are made by comparing values and costs.
Tune in for details.
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In this episode, contributing editor Slainte na Zdorovya considers the tale of Alice meeting Tweedledee and Tweedledum in the Dark Woods. This tale is from the second Alice book, "Through the Looking Glass". Slainte's aim in this essay is to spread the word to Earthlings that they can liberate themselves from a lot of unnecessary worry by learning to recognize the insignificant, and to ignore it. Remember that Tweedledee and Tweedledum are motivated by a desire for Alice to remain in the Woods, and the last thing they plan to do is to help her leave.
If you are an Alice, still taking the Woods stuff seriously, this message is for you!
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Nobody's right if everybody's wrong, in the words of the Buffalo Springfield song.
In today's world it is difficult for an Earthling of a scientific bent to choose who or what to support in the political arena, when ecnarongi (i.e, ignorance in reverse, "knowing" that which is not true) prevails on all sides.
In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan argues that better education of young Earthlings must take place before political participation on your planet can be considered meaningful. Earthlings must root out medievalist ways of thinking based on intelligent design, and start inculcating modern ways of thinking based on natural evolution before meaningful political discourse will ever be possible.
Please do not despair, however, if it seems to you that political action is our only hope, because there is much more going on outside of what we might call the political realm than you might have yet realized.
Many Earthlings believe that what happens in the political arena is central to civilized existence, but in truth politics is more of a sideshow - "Real Politicians of Washington DC" in the words of Wait-But-Why Blogger Tim Urban.
The MAIN attractions are scientific discovery, technological innovation, free enterprise in production and commerce, and a strict regard for the human rights to life, liberty and property.
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In this final episode of Season 4, Rik from Planet Vulcan reviews his mission on Planet Earth, which is to advocate for a world view based on the scientific investigation of natural processes; and reviews the essays published during Season 4.
Rik and his little female Earthling pal are traveling to the the land of Aloha until winter has passed in the Smoky Mountains, with plans to return with more essays in the spring.
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In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan demonstrates that the notion that international trade amounts to warfare that someone wins and someone loses is another of those pervasive undead ideas on Planet Earth that keep rising from the grave, wandering the land and eating brains.
In truth international trade is an unalloyed benefit to consumers in all countries simultaneously, both because of comparative advantage and because it subjects producers to greater competition.
And while it's generally true that consumers are also producers, it's also generally true that what the typical Earthling producer loses by having to face competition is far less than what the typical Earthling consumer gains as a result of free trade, especially when you consider the long-term systemic effects of tariffs and quotas: stagnation and decline.
Protectionism ought to be regarded as anti-social and uncivil.
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In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan draws a straight line from the mindset and the actions of white European colonialists in the 19th Century to the mindset and the actions of would-be intelligent designers in our own time, particularly within the Progressive movement that began in the late nineteenth century and continues to this day. Rik notes that in these two cases, and in any agenda based on intelligent-design thinking, the outcomes seldom match the intentions, and actual outcomes in many cases have been appalling.
Earthlings are not generally schooled in the thinking that emerges from a study of evolutionary processes, especially as it applies to your socioeconomic systems; you seldom question the idea that intelligent design is necessary; and many of you are surprised, even disbelieving, when they are exposed to the idea of spontaneous emergent order, how much it explains and how it opens the door to better thinking.
Prepare to be exposed.
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Does Warren Buffett truly pay less income tax than his secretary? In this episode of Fascinating!, Rik from Planet Vulcan questions the narrative that high earners do not pay their fair share of the income tax by proposing a different perspective, while also arguing that on another level the argument is moot anyway, because income ought not to be taxed in any case - there are alternative ways to fund government operations that would very likely work better for society in general.
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In this episode of Fascinating! Rik from Planet Vulcan discusses the substance and the history of modern anarchist thinking, from its beginnings in the nineteenth century where opposition to the state was combined with opposition to capitalism, to twentieth century developments in anarchist thinking, where opposition to the legitimacy of the state is combined with free-market capitalism in Anarcho-Capitalism. Early thinkers never successfully engaged with the unavoidable problem of scarcity, as anarcho-capitalists have done. Anarcho-capitalists have fixed one flaw, but are there others? Is it truly workable?
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In this episode of Fascinating!, Rik from Planet Vulcan dissects the belief that taxing corporate income is a fair and just way to hold corporations accountable. With wit and sharp analysis, Rik unpacks the misconception that corporations are somehow separate entities that can be taxed without consequence. Instead, he explains that corporations are merely legal constructs—a “nexus of contracts”—and that in reality, it’s actual people who ultimately bear the burden of these taxes.
Rik delves into the complexities of tax incidence, exposing how the costs of corporate taxes are passed on to consumers, employees, and suppliers, leaving no one unscathed. He also challenges the broader issue of income taxation itself, suggesting that a shift toward consumption taxes, or even a carbon tax, might better align with fairness and economic efficiency. If you’ve ever wondered who’s really paying when governments tax corporate income, this episode will leave you with a whole new perspective.
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In this episode of Fascinating!, Rik from Planet Vulcan takes us on a deep dive into the life and enduring influence of John Maynard Keynes, one of the most significant figures in modern economics. From his privileged upbringing in upper-middle-class England to his groundbreaking work during the Great Depression, Keynes shaped what we now know as macroeconomics. But was Keynes’ influence truly revolutionary, or was it a polished extension of medieval intelligent design thinking applied to the economy?
With dry humor and sharp insights, Rik challenges the assumptions behind Keynesian interventionism, drawing parallels to feudal governance and top-down economic planning. While Keynes may have been a brilliant thinker, his legacy of government-managed markets still resonates with ideas from a bygone era, ignoring the power of evolutionary thinking in socioeconomic systems. Join Rik as he unpacks Keynes’ contributions and asks whether it’s time for Earthlings to move beyond the medieval mindset still shaping much of modern economics.
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Buchanan, not to be confused with the 15th US President, received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on public choice theory, particularly the notion that people everywhere, including those in government and not just those in the private sector, act in accordance with individual incentives more than they do in some idealized "public interest".
Ideas worth spreading indeed.
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Religious conversion amounts to a commitment to a belief system which purports to answer all questions with authority and finality. Whatever the attraction might be, such a commitment constitutes an abdication and betrayal of one's intellectual faculty. Better for all concerned to maintain an open mind, and to keep all commitments tentative and provisional.
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Earthlings can move in the direction of a better future for all by adopting the notion that secularism should be seen as neutral common ground for all, rather than as just another competing religion.
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The marginal revolution represented a tremendous advance in the science of Economics. It led to the subjective theory of value, the theory that put the final nail in the coffin of the labor theory of value due to its explanatory power.
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Blockchain is the technology that makes Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies possible. Blockchain technology functions without a central authority, and the implications on account of this are profound.
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The Biodome project was an attempt to create a closed self-sustaining ecological system, with the goal of replicating the ecological system that had evolved on Planet Earth. The experiment began to fail quickly and it was terminated after just three years. What are the lessons?
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A look at the development and influence of Marxism on Planet Earth, from the Vulcan's-eye view.
In modern times on Planet Earth, the practice of slavery has come to be regarded as morally abhorrent, and unjust to the victims of slavery; but there is an asterisk.
Student loan indebtedness has grown into a major problem. The problems that have arisen demonstrate the folly of attempts at intelligent design and social engineering in general. How does all of this look to someone who understands evolutionary thinking?
What it the proper response by government to the problem of "misinformation" on social media? Hear commentary from Rik about a recent episode of Sam Harris' Making Sense podcast, where Sam's guest is legal scholar Cass Sunstein.
Searching on YouTube for "Fascinating" can be difficult because so many different things come up. To find my YouTube Channel, search instead for "Fascinating@pregodenada". The channel, identified by the Vulcan salute, should then appear and you can access the seven videos which have been posted to date.
It's high time Earthlings threw off the shackles of unearned guilt which makes them vulnerable to moral blackmail. Recognize it for what it is, and DO NOT PAY - it only encourages them.
The Fascinating! YouTube Channel is now active, with the first three videos uploaded. There is an introductory essay, and there are re-creations of two popular podcast essays from the first three seasons: Learning from Fractal Geometry, and Learning from Sociobiology.
I hope you will find the visual enhancements a valuable addition.
Academics have taken the idea of social construction to some pretty flaky places, but that doesn't mean we should ignore it entirely. Properly understood, and reconciled with evolutionary thinking, this idea can produce valuable insights.
Conventional thinking tells us that the self is something that mostly gets in the way of ethical behavior. The argument that ego is illusory seems to be an attempt to support the widespread notion that right-thinking Earthlings must deny the self in order to be moral.
Let's examine this conventional thinking in light of evolutionary thinking.
How concerned should we truly be about the increasing use of machine technology to amplify human intelligence?
In this essay, senior contributing editor Prego de Nada argues that in spite of widely publicized concerns, the news is mostly, not just good, but very good.
Evolutionary thinking is the scientific alternative to intelligent-design thinking. Most Earthlings, however, are still not aware of the nature and the scope of evolutionary thinking, and of how pervasive intelligent-design thinking still is.
Have a look.
"Ardnassac" is Cassandra spelt backwards. In ancient Greek mythology, Cassandra made accurate prophesies but nobody believed her. We now have Ardnassac, who makes mistaken prophesies, but everybody continues believing him.
Listen to this episode to learn the identity of Ardnassac.
What exactly was redlining supposed to do, and how did it get started? Another sad lesson from an attempt at social engineering.
Examples of the use of framing as a tactic of misdirection by cynical operators on Planet Earth.
A concise and accessible explanation of the implications of emergent order in nature, and how this idea is a "universal acid" that defeats all attempts to contain it.
A discussion of the works of psychologist Daniel Kahneman and of economist Vernon L. Smith, who shared the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002.
A critique of communitarian philosophy as a particularly awful example of intelligent design thinking.
Thoughts on why Ayn Rand is such a polarizing figure, and why her writings deserve serious attention.
Further discussion of the idea of moral principles from a utilitarian point of view, with examples from Sam Harris' Making Sense podcast, where he interviews fellow neuroscientist Eric Hoel.
An introduction to the moral philosophy of utilitarianism, as presented in Sam Harris's 2010 book, "The Moral Landscape"
A reiteration of the motivation behind these podcasts, with a look forward to some of the essays to be published in the coming season.
A brief review of the lessons from nature that were covered in the Season 2 podcasts.
Look for Season 3 to begin in the springtime.
Equality of outcomes doesn't just happen on its own, and simply striving for equality of opportunity has not worked, and is not going to work. Equality of outcomes can only be insured by wise and compassionate interventions.
What is meant by "justice"? Earthlings can't seem to agree even on what it means, much less how to achieve it. It might be a good time to think a little deeper.
Has nature left Earthlings with an unfortunate set of evolved traits? The modern world is quite different in many respects from the world in which Earthlings evolved, after all. Is it time to step in and correct nature's mistakes?
The straw man argument is a classic debating tactic. You set up a straw man by putting words into your debating opponent's mouth that they never spoke, and then by demolishing the straw man's argument and declaring victory in the debate. Here is an example.
Friedrich Hayek was arguably the deepest-thinking philosopher/economist of the twentieth century. His ideas have already been deeply influential and will undoubtedly become more and more influential. Learn why in this installment.
Do you believe that the only path to riches lies in doing harm to others? You might wish to reconsider this belief.
Earthlings - you cannot afford to f**k this one up.
You can deal with the challenge of climate change, but it's going to take more than good intentions combined with coercive policies.
Recapitulates the theme of evolution vs. intelligent design, with focus on ecnarongi, and hints of themes to be covered in future season two essays.
Is control an illusion? Insights from fractal geometry into why nature is unpredictable.
Consider using ganja as an enhancement to the process of learning and improving your game