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Black Death -> Autoimmunity



Interesting discussion in this time-stamped link about black death as a forcing function driving selection effects for overly active immune systems (why we have so much autoimmunity):

https://pca.st/episode/a8480134-d4f4-4587-8a9b-0cc2d60d1624?t=1828

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8% of humanity



ChatGPT tells me it’s hard to estimate but if it must the total number of people who have ever lived on earth is around 100 billion.

The current world population is ~8 billion.

8% of humans to ever exist are currently alive.

Are we contributing 8% of civilizational (or individual) progress?

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Excellent anecdote re: digital market distortions



Anyone know how to link in a specific audio clip from a podcast episode? The timestamps in the link are not honored in how WordPress picks up the link.

Nevertheless, check out 15m30s to 16m30s here from Ross Roberts:

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War on the Rocks recco



Such a good podcast find earlier this summer. Not too late to jump in to get your Ukraine war updates:

https://warontherocks.com/category/podcasts/war-on-the-rocks/

For example this week:

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Cowen Instagram counterfactuals



I would make two more general points.  First, you could very easily argue that eyeglasses make (many not all) teenage girls feel worse about their body image.  Lots of things will.  Automobiles.  Parties.  Clothes shops.  Such costs are not zero, but they have to be put in perspective.

Second, the lives of teenage girls are messy and complex. Anything that plays a noticeable role in said lives also will have effects that are messy and complex. Deal with it. The same used to be true of the (old-fashioned) telephone as well, not to mention birth control pills and automobiles.

https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/10/more-details-on-instagram-being-underrated.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=more-details-on-instagram-being-underrated

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