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The Elephant in the Room

Will Wilson

Of all our major columnists, Peggy Noonan has thought the most deeply about the anti-establishment sentiments roiling our political culture. In last week’s column, “How Global Elites Forsake Their...

The Peculiar Faith of the Mathematician or Scientist

Will Wilson

I’m delighted to see that Freddie deBoer and Led-the-commenter have delivered excellent pushback on a weak point of my previous post . Their point in brief is that the...

Can Reason Withstand the Death of God?

Will Wilson

Freddie has written a post that forces me into the odd position of defending Sam Harris; the crux of which is the claim that once we accept the human...

Onwards! Ever Onwards!

Will Wilson

Via Julian , I see that Yglesias has spun a narrative : For the past 65-70 years—and especially for the past 30 years since the end of the civil...

Whither the Post-Healthcare Realignment?

Will Wilson

Over at Cato, Julian Sanchez has written a post about how the aftermath of healthcare reform could reveal faultlines in existing political coalitions and trigger realignment: There’s no intrinsic...

“The Unsustainable Autonomy of Reason”

Will Wilson

When was the last time you heard a transhumanist say something like this? . . . the Enlightenment project of Reason to which many transhumanists are committed is self-erosive...

Beyond Möbius Bagels: Twisty Bagels

Will Wilson

Rarely do Joe Carter and MAKE Magazine point me towards the same online curiosity . The intersection of topology and breakfast must have considerable ecumenical appeal. I’m going to...

Which is more annoying?

Will Wilson

Which is more annoying: Leftists who in the wake of Climategate have suddenly discovered a love for public choice theory or libertarians who in the wake of Climategate have...

Unity through Beauty

Will Wilson

Longtime readers know of my obsession with mathematical beauty, so it should come as no surprise to find me hopping up and down most eagerly and pointing you towards...

The Neverending Loyalty Debate

Will Wilson

Responding to Helen , Conor fails to acknowledge the distinction between “critiquing an argument” and “writing a hit piece”, or at the very least implies that the two phrases...

Sayonara, Weber!

Will Wilson

Via Tyler Cowen, a paper by Davide Cantoni  casts some doubt on the efficacy of the Protestant Ethic: Many theories, most famously Max Weber’s essay on the ‘Protestant ethic,’...

If we add ONE more strawman to this pile, we’ll be in serious danger of a brushfire

Will Wilson

The Climategate tiff continues to annoy me. I have serious concerns about the methodology that has been used in the mathematical models which purportedly “prove” that we need to...

Americans Don’t Get Religion

Will Wilson

Rod Dreher is concerned about certain trends in law enforcement . He quotes Reul Marc Gerecht saying: For the FBI, religion remains a much too sensitive subject, much more...

Have a Very Scary Solstice

Will Wilson

Rick Brookhiser at NRO chimes into an ongoing discussion of horror fiction : One way to think of Lovecraft is as a demented anticipation of Russell Kirk. Kirk praised...

Nu-Paganism Watch

Will Wilson

Exciting news from the Bayside City Council elections : the Queens Tribune reported that a conservative Republican was running a strong race in the 19th district and had a...