Comments on: Around the Web – January 18th, 2011

By: Abelard Lindsey

Abelard Lindsey — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:37:34 +0000

The singularity is a geek-farce. We are always told to fear the boogie man under the bed. First it was Nazis and then commies. In the 70′s its was the limit to growth BS, followed by Japan. Most recently, it was the Muslim Jahadis and China. Now they say its the signularity and that the machines will take over. All of this is just so much horse pucky.
The only threats to liberty and prosperity come from bureaucrats and other rent-seeking parasites. Get ride of the parasites and everything will be fine.

This is also the case with the globalization vs. nation-state deal. The best way for nation-states to deal with globalization is to eliminate bureaucracy, government regulation, and the pernicious effects of rent-seeking parasites as much as possible. Become a place that is attractive to entrepreneurs and other productive people who want to do things and not be dicked with. Singapore and Hong Kong are good examples to follow. Those that don’t do this deserve what comes to them.

The rent-seeking parasites in any given nation-state whine about globalization because it reduces their monopoly power to parasitize the productive. Get rid of the parasites and the contradictions between the nation-state and globalization resolve themselves on their own.

Of course climate change affected historical societies. It was bouts of global cooling that crashed both Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire. The latter was crashed because global cooling made living in Central Asia too cold and the barbarian hordes were driven into the warmer regions of the Roman Empire, thus crashing the Empire.

Global warming has never been a problem and, in fact, has always been beneficial to human societies through out history.

By: Zach K

Zach K — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 07:38:59 +0000

@Kevembuangga – that article doesn’t seem to address any actual arguments raised by serious “singulatarians.” Seems to be mostly strawmen.

By: Kevembuangga

Kevembuangga — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:44:18 +0000

Yes, The Singularity is ... most likely bollocks!

By: Arseny

Arseny — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:29:44 +0000

Dear Razib Khan,
I am sorry for an offtopic, but if you could answer one question of mine, I would be really thankful to you! Could you please recommend 1-3 best introductory books on genetics of different nations, folks, tribes, races, religions and languages? Are there any good solid introductions for a non-specialist to read? Something that a person with no background in history would understand? Ideally, something slow enough for me to remember at least something from there, but at the same time simple and interesting enough to keep reading? If you are to recommend one or two books on these “Human Genomics” topics, what would you recommend?

I personally love your blog and your posts, but I really feel I need to start with something introductory, and rather consecutive, organized, to get some basic understanding of methods, types of study, and at least some examples of good sound findings. The only name I have in mind is that of Cavalli-Sforza, but I’m not sure if it is a best match, so I decided to ask you as a specialist before I borrow something from the library and invest in reading. The choice of a first book in a new subject is always a matter of importance, as it will always lay the foundation of your views on this subjects, even if you read 10 or 50 more books about it later…

Thank you in advance!