Rule of Experts

Wouldn’t it be nice if experts ruled place? Instead of politicians who know nothing, you could get a domain expert to make informed decisions.

The Coddling of the American Mind

Note: I might want to just publish the summary, or omit parts of the reading notes.

Summary #

Reading Notes #

p. 28: I love the cross-talk between some of Taleb’s ideas (specifically about antifragility) and what a university is supposed to provide. Part of the problem with these “safe spaces” is that, by validating people’s feelings and deeply-held beliefs by removing them from alternative viewpoints, you are suggesting that their beliefs, formed without a wholistic perspective, are good enough. It destructs the entire purpose of learning.

Why Privacy

why should anyone care about privacy? Privacy is important because it prevents bad actors from learning about you. If a bad actor can learn about you, they can anticipate your actions and beliefs, and uses things in coordination to influence your behavior without your awareness.

I think that digital surveillance is in part responsible for the polarization we see in our society. When people know that they are being watched, or that their events are being broadcast to a wide audience, they may act in ways that are easier to define. Instead of being a moderate who agrees with Democrats on some issues but Republicans on some other issues, the persona they broadcast online encourages some more pure, more extreme beliefs.