- David C. Krakauer for Nautilus: What Makes Humans Stupid. The answer: misapplied intelligence. “A person who does not know the answer to a question is merely ignorant. A person who constructs an ingenious hundred-page argument for the wrong answer is stupid.” Who said DOGE?
- Anna Louie Sussman for The NYT: Is Kidmaxxing the Ultimate Status Symbol for Ultimate Wealth?. It shouldn’t be. But the ultra-wealthy rubbing it in to people who would may want to have more kids but think they can’t afford it is not helping the situation below.
- Andy Hall: AI is the Democratic Party’s Next Villain. The title should have started with “AI and billionaires are…” but that is not as snappy. Tyler Cowen flippantly called it billionaire derangement syndrome. How they got their billions aside, why would it be deranged to feel threatened by the increasing coupling of money with political power? We have seen this story many times and it ultimately doesn’t end well for the few greedy ones who covet both wealth and power.
- Tess Joosse for Science Adviser: How do wombats poop cubes? Scientists get to the bottom of the mystery. An A+ headline and a fascinating photo of a wombat poop cube.
- Josephine Riesman on Bluesky: John Oliver’s three-day stint/stunt as a corporate villain on legendary soap opera “General Hospital” appears to be going… fucking brilliantly??. No notes.