Monday, March 18, 2013

Ian’s Picks

by Ian Pollock

* Intrade recently shut down, for reasons that have yet to be clarified but look pretty suspicious. This is a big disappointment for prediction market fans like me, because they have the potential to be really useful and salutary for our political discourse.


* Cosma Shalizi’s fantastic linked notebooks on... a whole bunch of topics.

* Hyperphysics is a concise compendium of physics knowledge, an excellent reference.

* The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on torture. One interesting aspect is that the article (unlike most in the SEP) comes to some fairly strong conclusions: (1) an absolute moral prohibition on torture is implausible, and (2) institutionalized torture is a terrible idea.

* I am halfway through Red Plenty by Francis Spufford. It’s hard to pigeonhole this book into a genre, but its aim is roughly to novelize a discussion of how the Soviet economy of the 60s worked (or not). Highly recommended.

3 comments:

  1. Highly recommended.

    Crooked Timber had an interesting discussion of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! I am saving that for after I finish, but it's bound to be good.

      Delete
  2. Thanks Ian - Those Shalizi notebooks in particular look to be a goldmine of info !

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.