The Monday Mix (04/10/2021)
Hi friends,
I’ve been slacking with writing new articles recently and that’s something I want to change this month. Other pursuits have got in the way and taken precedence. As much as I’m enjoying them, I am missing writing.
Hopefully, this month I can find the time to write a few more articles but I can’t guarantee anything. I’m going to send at least one of my older essays this week and a new one if I can.
Anyway, here’s what I want to share with you this week.
Pinker’s Progress
Steven Pinker is a controversial figure. Some laud him as a visionary for his views on how society has become less violent over time, while others say he cherrypicks data to support his claims. Nassim Taleb is prominent in his belief Pinker is a ‘BS vendor.’
I haven’t read any of his books, but I’ve always felt Pinker’s worldview is heavily optimistic. As Taleb states, Turkeys consider that every day will follow the pattern of the previous ones until that pattern is interrupted when they’re slaughtered and put onto our tables for Christmas. Just because a trend has continued to decrease or increase doesn’t mean it will always do so.
This article is an interesting look at Pinker and his views. The author follows him around tries to elicit nuggets of information on his views and books. I’m undecided on whether Pinker is a ‘BS vendor’ as Taleb states, or not. There’s no doubt, his work is interesting but whether it’s as rigorous as Pinker claims is another matter.
Pandora Papers
This is the latest set of files related to the tax interests of the super-rich and powerful. There are a lot of revelations, so I’ve left a link that summarises what’s been disclosed from the 11.9 million files so far. As you can imagine, some of the revelations are shocking and highlight the gulf between the super-wealthy and the rest of us.
If history is a guide, this increasing wealth and seeming disdain for the less fortunate could have ramifications similar to that which toppled the Ancien Regime in France in 1789. Is there the political and societal will to tackle this problem? I doubt the guillotines will be broken out, but should the gulf in wealth increase any further, a sea change might not be far away.
Facebook Down
The irony of Facebook being down a day after major revelations about the companies internal processes were highlighted on an American topical TV programme, is not lost on me. While I doubt the two are related, this outage does reveal some interesting questions about a company as powerful and integral to our lives on the internet.
It wasn’t just Facebook that went down, it was Instagram and WhatsApp too, entities owned by Facebook. That’s three pieces of critical internet infrastructure taken out in one fell swoop. This highlights the dangers of large swathes of the internet being under the control of one company. Should an issue arise it can affect all the parts of the company. As Nassim Taleb would say, this makes Facebook inherently fragile as a company.
The important question I’m pondering is should we settle for this situation, where we’re held to ransom by one supercompany? I don’t think so. A much better solution would be for Facebook to be broken up and the companies operated independently. It’s a nice thought, but one unlikely to come to pass without a sea change from antitrust regulators in the States.
Book I’m reading - The Rise and Fall of The Dinosaurs
I’ve had this book on my shelf for nearly a year now without reading it, so it’s about time I made a start! I’ve only just opened it, so I can’t divulge much about its contents (you’ll have to wait for the October reading list for that!), but if you like dinosaurs as much as I do, it’s a must-read!
Quote I’m pondering: “In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom.” - J.G. Ballard
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom