Applied Rationality News Today

Book review of Hidden Genius

On Silicon Valley’s Endarkenment

The combination of insularity and shared purpose that makes it so attractive also makes it a hunting ground for con artists, sexual predators and megalomaniacs.

Ecstatic states have lost their mystical roots

Spock is famous for logic. Ask anyone, even people who arent necessarily  Star Trek fans, and theyll tell you that the half-human, half-Vulcan science officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise is the guy whos always looking for the most logical, rational way to tackle any problem, whether were talking about discovering new life and new civilizations or just trying to figure out what to have for lunch. But does that approach always serve Spock well? One expert says no, and she has the data to prove it....

In the franchise, Spock makes confident predictions based on his superior Vulcan mind. Galef was curious to see exactly how often these predictions pan out. “I went through all of the Star Trek episodes and movies—all of the transcripts that I could find—and searched for any instance in which Spock is using the words ‘odds,’ ‘probability,’ ‘chance,’ ‘definitely,’ ‘probably,’ etc.,” she says. “I catalogued all instances in which Spock made a prediction and that pred...