Category Archives: Society

Must-Read: Anderson Cooper Comes Out

Posted on July 2, 2012 by

Here, presented without comment, is a link to Andrew Sullivan’s blog post, which contains an email from Anderson Cooper about the decision to maintain privacy as a public figure (for both personal and professional reasons) and the broader, often unintended … Continue reading →

Posted in Media, Miscellaneous, Society | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A dead boy, a racial controversy & a basketball team

Posted on March 24, 2012 by

This isn’t the first time, you know. No, this isn’t the first time a young Black boy lay dead on the street with his blood on the hands of someone who simply saw him as a “Black boy.” No, there … Continue reading →

Posted in Inequality, Society, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

No poker, just protests

Posted on March 18, 2012 by

While Wiesman regales you with tales of poker, I’m working on a post that considers the notion that our legal system searches for reasons to arrest Occupy protestors, but goes to such extents to ignore all reasons for arresting white-collar … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Miscellaneous, Poker, Society, Union Rights | 1 Comment

How Culture Influences Perception

Posted on March 16, 2012 by

I found an amazing video today that I wanted to share. It’s called: “Do you see what I see?” and it features the Himba tribe from Namibia in south west Africa. The Himba have defined colors very differently from Westerners. … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous, Society | Tagged , | 1 Comment

A letter to my nieces on race in America & the future

Posted on March 14, 2012 by

Dear Blair & Quinn, (A Letter to My Nieces) You were born into a family of love that has showered you with affection, positivity, and privilege since your first moments on the planet. Blair, I knew you understood this when … Continue reading →

Posted in Inequality, Society, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

On ghetto-ing MIT

Posted on February 26, 2012 by

Last week Brandon Briscoe (MIT, class of 2014) published an incendiary article on the decline of MIT’s excellence in The Tech (MIT’s student newspaper). http://tech.mit.edu/V132/N4/briscoe.html In short, Mr. Briscoe argues that affirmative action policies are ruining MIT’s standards and ability … Continue reading →

Posted in False Balance, Inequality, Science, Society | 6 Comments

Small Government (For Everyone Else)

Posted on February 14, 2012 by

Over the weekend The Times had a great piece on critics of government spending that also rely heavily on it. But the reality of life here is that Mr. Gulbranson and many of his neighbors continue to take as much help from the government … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, GOP Brilliance, Society, Tax policy | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Cars Have Destroyed Livable Communities

Posted on February 13, 2012 by

I’ve always been absolutely fascinated by the way communities organize themselves. Communities (including geography, infrastructure, cultural norms, etc) are an amazingly salient example of the huge impact technology and incentives have on adaptive systems. Learning about the historical mechanisms that … Continue reading →

Posted in Engineering, Society | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments