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Society
Education Cannot Save Us
Education has many advantages, but fixing disputes isn’t one of them. “But education does not—cannot—produce agreement on contested values. It cannot bridge axiom gaps. It cannot compel belief in those who smell the compulsion. It cannot cure the biases of… Read More »Education Cannot Save Us
Burnout is a Modern Invention
Early retirement was always the default. “Even during the commercial efflorescence of the late Republic and Principate, no one argued that accumulation was virtuous in itself. The rich man who kept working when he could afford otium was pitiable or… Read More »Burnout is a Modern Invention
The Fourth Ground
A fun little game. “Try this. I’ll give you data. You interpret it. Then I’ll give you more data. Watch what your mind does.” https://tantaman.com/2026-03-04-fourth-way-of-knowing.html
Institutions are how we scale up cooperation among millions
We need institutions to live. “Every day, we trust countless strangers – people who share no blood with us, whom we will never meet again, and who could easily betray that trust without anyone watching. We step into traffic assuming… Read More »Institutions are how we scale up cooperation among millions
living in surreal times
Been thinking about this a lot recently. “We don’t realise how much it takes to do something simple like sit down and have a coffee while listening to some music. When the consciousness is filled with stress and anxiety, or… Read More »living in surreal times
The Data Doesn’t Speak
Our values influence the questions we ask. “Studies show that women in traditional religious communities with dense communal structures report high satisfaction — often higher than women in the “liberated” middle. A standard social scientist, formed by the assumption that… Read More »The Data Doesn’t Speak
The Optimization Trap: Why the Birth Rate Can’t Be Fixed
It is about values. “The danger isn’t that modern people are optimizing toward the wrong end — pursuing status when they should pursue family, or wealth when they should pursue meaning. The danger is that optimization has become a mode… Read More »The Optimization Trap: Why the Birth Rate Can’t Be Fixed
There are no psychopaths
Another myth busted by science. “Just about every claim made about psychopathy follows the same path. It begins with one or two studies that find tentative evidence to support some common claim. But a few years later, there is a… Read More »There are no psychopaths
Paper Straw Suck
Science.