Someone in the Slate Star Codex subreddit wasn't very convinced by my previous post.
I copy here 4bpp's comment:
I don't find the Artir post's section on homeopathy very convincing. He writes:
Against homeopathy: Violation of the laws of physics, the consensus of medical scientists, several meta-analysis finding no effects. Most of the evidence for homeopathy comes from homeopaths.
Except for the laws of physics (and I doubt that Artir has a sufficiently good understanding of physics to arbitrate on that…
I recently wondered how the Soviet healthcare system worked. Initially, I thought, based on broad ideas about the USSR, that it wouldn't work very well. After a literature review, I confirmed that it was the case.
But would it have been epistemically responsible to proclaim that it was awful without having done that literature review? Probably yes, but without much confidence. Before the review, I just had my opinion, based on background knowledge about how central planning works. Perhaps I was wrong on thi…
EDIT: Read beyond the first paragraph! Also, read this to understand how to reject something without reading it.
I have never read a piece of work from Ayn Rand, beyond some paragraphs and extracts here and there on the internet. I never gave Objectivism, her system of thought, much importance.
But there are people -Objectivists- who think she is one of the greatest, or the greatest, philosopher ever (along with Aristotle, they'll add). Sometimes, Objectivists tell people who have not read Rand to read her…
A veces se dice que existen diferencias de preferencias insalvables entre los jóvenes y los mayores, lo que puede terminar traduciéndose en partidos que favorezcan más a unos o a otros. ¿Pero es esto cierto?
Kiko Llaneras afirma aquíque los mayores votan más, que votan a los partidos clásicos, y que las pensiones han subido, y que la pobreza entre los mayores ha caído de forma apreciable, mientras que la general e infantil han subido algo.
En este artículo, disputo la tesis principal: no existe un conflicto…
[Part of the Soviet Union series]
The Soviet Constitution said
ARTICLE 119. Citizens of the U.S.S.R. have the right to rest and leisure. The right to rest and leisure is ensured by the reduction of the working day to seven hours for the overwhelming majority of the workers, the institution of annual vacations with full pay for workers and employees and the provision of a wide network of sanatoria, rest homes and clubs for the accommodation of the working people. (Soviet Constitution 1936)
Article 41. Cit…
What would have happened if Russia, Venezuela, and Cuba hadn't had the leaders mentioned in the title?
There is one paper for each country that tries to address that really hard question. Spoiler: the countries would have been better off.
Was Stalin necessary for Russia's economic development? (2013) by Anton Cheremukhin, Mikhail Golosov, Sergei Guriev, and Aleh Tsyvinski. (Full paper)
Therefore our answer to the ‘Was Stalin Necessary?’ question is a definite ‘no’. Even though we do not consider the human …