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This is the show notes to complement this weeks episode Thanks for reading Affix’s Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Main Article this week is ⁠The generous country by Ryan Ginard. It’s a bits and pieces article and perhaps the point is better made in the related podcast Scott Alexander against everyone on taste The histroy of the entire world I guess? Will it be great art that stands the test of time? You can be the judge People don’t like Monet if they think it’s AI This is only tangentially related to our discussion of gift economies, but I just found this article on African funerals amazing The large list of ⁠coffee bets⁠. Now with more resolutions!

The show notes can be delivered to you in handy substack form! If you click no other link in this then please subscribe to the substack! You can always contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]. I think you can also just reply to this email on substack? Main Article this week is Epistemology in the age of AI by Scott Sumner. Not going to lie, we're kind of rusty and I think Brian had to use his editing skills to reconstruct a wholly artificial opening by cutting out individual words to make something usable, but I think we hit our stride talking about art. I'm not totally sure why I'm linking The Great Wave as you've surely seen it, but it's always worth another look Brian has done another hyper specific history of world records The Banach–Tarski Paradox

This week we discuss whether moving from measuring Gross Domestic Product vs Gross National Happiness would improve underlying results for the world. There's a hint of an opinion in the title of the article we reference. The aim of maximising happiness is doomed to fail as a public policy The biggest news is that Brian has a substack! You should all go subscribe to it Also referenced: The centuries-old debt that's still paying interest Russ Roberts thinks you should be a vampire Why you can't argue that a $300 rebate will reduce inflation Why growth matters You can always contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]. I think you can also just reply to this email on substack?

The show notes can be delivered to you in handy substack form! If you click no other link in this then please subscribe to the substack! You can always contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]. I think you can also just reply to this email on substack? Main Article on housing

The show notes can be delivered to you in handy substack form! If you click no other link in this then please subscribe to the substack! You can always contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]. I think you can also just reply to this email on substack? Main Article rich friend poor friendChanticleer podcastAt the end of Age of Average was a link called So you say you want a devolution. It's... fine, though I only read it a couple of weeks ago and already remember nothing Why do all cars look like putty? - note: Neither Brian or us has watched this sow ho knows what it is! An Alphard - Looks like what the Yakuza would drive to the school drop-off The ACT clearly had it's top west corner cut off FTL is a pretty great game

We have a substack now!! If you click on no other link ever on the show notes except this one then you'll get all the show notes from now on in your email!! Please contact us we miss you!  I think you can also just reply to this email if you’re on substack? You can also find us on discord or reddit The obligitory Big list of coffee bets This week we discuss the Age of Average by Alex Murell.  We're sort of stumped by what to make of it, as it superficially makes some good points, but falls flat at the landing. In Diablo II news the 1 hour mark has been broken on both Paladin and Assassin! Obviouslly not on necromancer, that would be laughable. Brian would laugh at you and you won't be sure why!

We have a substack now!! If you click on no other link ever on the show notes except this one then you'll get all the show notes from now on in your email!! Please contact us we miss you!  I think you can also just reply to this email if you’re on substack? You can also find us on discord or reddit The obligitory Big list of coffee bets This week we discuss a list of job applications questions submitted by a user. List below! Which three books have influenced you the most? What do you want to be doing in 10 years’ time and what are you doing now to get there? What are the three most critical challenges facing Britain? What have you achieved that is unusual for your peer group? How has your worldview developed over time? Feel free to mention thinkers, books, and political leaders that have influenced you. You can put three figures, living or dead, into a room and listen in on the conversation. Who do you pick?If you had to recommend one piece of art, literature, film, television, or music that says something important about our world today, what would it be? Please briefly explain your answer.

We have a substack now!! If you click on no other link ever on the show notes except this one then you'll get all the show notes from now on in your email!! Please contact us we miss you!  I think you can also just reply to this email if you’re on substack? You can also find us on discord or reddit The obligitory Big list of coffee bets This week we discuss an ok-ish book that proves to be a good kicking off point for a conversation Die with Zero by Bill Perkins. Brian skimmed some blogs on it and Chris listened to the podcast version. We also have quite a lot of fun seeing how many people we kill or let die in absurd trolley problems Other stuff! We have a substack now so that you can read your blogs like a normal person instead of someone who reads blogs as links from their podcatcher. I think probably not many people do that which is why no one reads my show notes In Danny Kahneman’s book Thinking Fast and Slow they discuss why you might prefer more total pain in order to feel less total suffering. One of the greatest posts on the /r/financialindependance subreddit was Build the Life You Want, Then Save for It by Mr. Llama, surprisingly also a Diablo II streamer. Strange overlap between these two worlds.

Please contact us we miss you! This week we discuss The Wife Drought by Annabel Crab.    You can also find us on discord or reddit Big list of coffee bets ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meaning is a jumper you have to knit yourself - it keeps you warm Ideas, Technology, and Economic Change: The Impact of the Printing Press Fortune 500 companies employ 17.5% of the total U.S. workforce

Please contact us we miss you! This week we once again discuss whether progress is over, or even if people still want progress! The lure of technocracy can be great or terrible You can also find us on discord or reddit Big list of coffee bets ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pluto 1994 vs 2018 - PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK! I REALLY LIKE WHEN PEOPLE CLICK MY LINKS! Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue. A true story of a real conspiracy by Ryan Holiday Why did we wait so long for the bicycle? I must have linked this 5 times so far. If you haven't read it then you really should. It's amazing. Blueprint for Armageddon - A Dan Carlin podcast on the politics, technology and horror of WWI Dall-E 2 is an AI that can actually understand you and draw what you describe. It feels genuinely possible that it's "woken up" China Covid updates from Zvi. He's probably not as amazing as he was mid-pandemic, but I still think he's worth a read.

Please contact us we miss you! Chris wants to get into micro-grids. If you know anything about them please tell me! Our main article is about jobs that pay in status instead of money. You can also find us on discord or reddit Big list of coffee bets ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The year ahead - by the RBA. Chris got the gist, maybe you will too? Context is that which is scarce. Also apparently editors? I feel like that sentence could be much snappier? Minds almost meeting - a podcast of two highly intelligent and unorthodox thinkers recorded at the bottom of the ocean via two cans on a string

Please contact us or support us on Patreon! This will be the last of our regularly scheduled episode. As our lives ramp up and we take on different responsibilities we have decided to take a break from our schedule. We may come back from time to time, so if you'll have us in your feed, we'd love to stay! This week we mostly talk about ways we could use more energy after Matt Yglesias convinced us that we should You can also find us on discord or reddit Big list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Winners take all - a commentary on billionaire philanthropy by Anand Giridharadas Chris' fancy coffee machine - The Delonghi Dinamica S vs X-men Technology connections and Malcom Gladwell both love dishwashers! 80,000 hours rates climate change as  "This is a pressing problem to work on, but you may be able to have an even bigger impact by working on something else." Plasma cutters cut steel beems using electricity, contrary to what some say. Brian becomes a world record holder! He's not any more, but he was!!!!!

Please contact us or support us on Patreon! This week we discuss what's gone wrong with science and the replication crisis. We also discuss how inequality may improve life globally riffing off Scott Sumner. You can also find us on discord or reddit Big list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A plug for effective altruism - the statistical life you can save is still a life! Dominic Cummins has thoughts on how to make the government actually control the government again. Max the axe sure loved firing public servants. The data colada blog broke the story of the dishonesty in Dan Ariely's work on dishonesty. Psychology's "priming" is probably not real Diablo 2 resurrected has finally been released!

Please contact us or support us on Patreon! This week we discuss why the internet intelligentsia really do not like the Australian lockdowns (each word is a different link, that's how much they hate us). I try to explain to Brian why Slime Mold Time Mold thinks we're getting fat. Something to do with chemicals? Brian is launching his world famous youtube channel!!! You can also find us on discord or reddit Big list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stubborn Attachments - by Tyler Cowen. If we think that future lives are as valuable as our own, then economic growth is one of the highest moral imperatives. (Funny that an economist would have that thesis) A history of factory safety - possible pre-reading for a future episode! I tried to find a reference for my story about mega-yacht story, but I did find an article explaining how much yacht you can afford! I can afford a dinghy. John Howard sacked many high-ranking public servants upon coming to power in the night of the long knives The Jolly Swagman podcast has a fascinating episode on Australia's (botched) vaccine rollout. Ben and James from Exponant discuss the idea that you have to make your priority stack explicit when thinking about complicated issues. Why are we getting fat? Doomsday by Nero, what a banger

Please contact us or support us on Patreon! After opening this discussion saying we have no feedback or followup we spend half this podcast musing on questions raised about government power and growth. Our main topic this week is how politics isn't as bad as you think. You're allowed to not vote for someone because you don't like their tax policies, you don't have to paint them as an existensial threat to our entire way of life. If you know whether an Australian minister can fire a public servant we really want to know!! You can also find us on discord or reddit Big list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The giving what we can pledge is a movement founded by EA to encourage giving 10% of their income and then not feeling like you have to keep doing "more" The case against crisis-mongering - our main topic curtesy of Matty Glesias (or maybe Matt Yglesias, no one knows) Fight club perfectly encapsulated the post-cold war malaise of the late 90s Go find Brian on youtube talking about diablo 2 speed runs! (what else)