We Are Not Saved

The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life By: David Brooks The Chapo Guide to Revolution: A Manifesto Against Logic, Facts, and Reason By: Chapo Trap House Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose By: Deirdre Barrett My Life and Work By: Henry Ford My Inventions By: Nikola Tesla The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin By: Benjamin Franklin Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America By: Scott Adams The Library Book By: Susan Orleans Sophocles I: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus By: Sophocles

Scott Alexander of SlateStarCodex recently declared that "nobody ever really believed [that Fermi's Paradox] was a problem. I not only believed it was a problem I still believe it's a problem, and I think everyone else should as well. If you're one of those who don't think it is, then this episode is designed to change your mind.

In 1519 Cortés began his invasion of the Aztec empire. By 1520 Montezuma would be dead, and by 1521 the empire would have fallen. Within the next half dozen decades 95% of the Aztecs would be dead of disease. But Montezuma and the Aztecs had almost no warning of the cataclysm that was about to befall them. Is there some cataclysm waiting in our future which we will similarly be completely ignorant of until it is upon us? Probably. If that's the case what measures could we possibly take?

My annual episode where I look back on predictions I've made in the past (particularly my 100 year predictions) and make some predictions for the upcoming year. As you might imagine there would be no point of making 2020 predictions if I didn't cover the upcoming presidential election. I think there's a lot going on there, and while Bloomberg hasn't made a big impact he might still do that. Also Biden looks increasingly shaky as a front runner. Whatever happens it's going to be chaotic, but I take a stab at saying what exactly that chaos will look like.

Only the Dead: The Persistence of War in the Modern Age By: Bear F. Braumoeller Tower Lord (Raven’s Shadow #2) By: Anthony Ryan Oath of Swords (War God #1) By: David Weber The War God’s Own (War God #2) By: David Weber Aeschylus II: The Oresteia- Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides, Proteus (Fragments) By: Aeschylus The New Testament: A New Translation for Latter-day Saints (Religious) Translated By: Thomas A. Wayment The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Maxwell Institute Study Edition (Religious) Annotated by: Grant Hardy Republican Party Animal: The “Bad Boy of Holocaust History” Blows the Lid Off Hollywood’s Secret Right-Wing Underground By: David Cole Utterly Dwarfed (The Order of the Stick #6) By: Rich Burlew Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus By: Wizards RPG Team A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul By: Leo Tolstoy The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations for Clarity, Effectiveness, and Serenity By: Ryan Holiday The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory 1874-1932 (The Last Lion #1) By: William Manchester

A recent debate on the dangers of pornography, and whether government should restrict things more or whether people just need to "parent better" plus an article about "total sexual freedom" causing the collapse of a nation within three generations are all tied together into a discussion of how to deal with more subtle eschatological concerns.

The title pretty much says it all, but in case you don't know what an Eschatologist is, an eschatologist is someone who studies eschatology. And eschatology is "a part of theology concerned with the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity. This concept is commonly referred to as the 'end of the world' or 'end times'. In my discussion of eschatology I intend to broaden the definition both horizontally (to include secular concerns) and vertically (to include not merely the end of the world, but the end of the nation).

My book reviews for November: The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why By: Amanda Ripley The Mapping of Love and Death (Maisie Dobbs, #7) By: Jacqueline Winspear The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution By: Francis Fukuyama The Odyssey By: Homer Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl By: Harriet Ann Jacobs You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life By: Jen Sincero Ayoade on Top By: Richard Ayoade Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business By: Neil Postman Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology By: Neil Postman Midnight Riot (Peter Grant, #1) By: Ben Aaronovitch Aeschylus I: The Persians, The Seven Against Thebes, The Suppliant Maidens, Prometheus Bound By: Aeschylus

In 1985 Neil Postman published the book "Amusing Ourselves to Death". The central claim of the book was that TV had replaced the superior epistemology of the printed word with an inferior version focused entirely on entertainment. Now TV itself has been replaced as the dominant medium by the internet and social media. What epistemology has it brought with it, and is it better than TV or far, far worse?

After getting significant pushback I revisit my evaluation of Bryan Caplan's argument for open borders. I continue to maintain that if the average GDP of the US drops by half that some low-skilled workers will be caught in that. Even if many people end up benefiting. I bring in Garett Jones' argument against Caplan along with Caplan's response.