You sound like an idiot — For someone with a background in law and political science, there are few things more frustrating than trying to have a conversation about all the anti-democratic features of our political and legal system, only to be told “well, we’re a republic, not a democracy.” For example, when Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez…

His criticism of plus-size model Yumi Nu was both ignorant and hypocritical — In May, Sports Illustrated (SI) released its annual swimsuit edition, featuring plus-sized model Yumi Nu on the cover. Shortly thereafter, Jordan Peterson tweeted an image of the cover with the following caption: “Sorry. Not beautiful. And no amount of authoritarian tolerance is going to change that.” After a fierce backlash…

How “wise restraints” make us free — In “Anarchy, State, and Utopia,” Robert Nozick made the case for a strong libertarianism. According to Nozick, the only just obligations are those we assume voluntarily. The imposition of any further obligation on an individual is a violation of his inherent right to liberty. …

Why our technology outruns our humanity — Martin Luther King, Jr. famously observed that “our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.” He and other luminaries, like Albert Einstein and Carl Sagan, have noted the alarming fact that our technology continues to advance beyond our capacity to wield it responsibly…

You can’t serve two masters — Speaking to an audience of young conservatives last weekend, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said that “we should be Christian nationalists.” For reasons that I’ll explain in a moment, the very idea of a “Christian nationalist” is a contradiction in terms. …

For mid-level players, it isn’t lack of knowledge that’s hurting your game — Are you a decent club player who’s having trouble climbing past a Class C-D rating? Probably you’ve read a few books on strategy and you’ve got a good handle on positional concepts like piece activity, pawn structure, and king safety. …

Digital immortality isn’t as straightforward as it seems — Ever since human beings became aware of their own mortality, they’ve been looking for ways to escape it. …

Let’s keep it that way — In a piece in the New York Times yesterday, linguist John McWhorter made the case for simplifying English spelling. Citing numerous examples of quirky inconsistencies (think about “cough,” “tough,” “though,” and “bough,” for example), McWhorter urges us to adopt a more rational system. The question is whether we’ll proceed until…

How language lets us transcend our evolved cognition — A major critique of evolutionary epistemology is that evolution doesn’t select for sense organs or brains capable of representing the world as it is in itself. …