According to @robinhanson, life is full of hidden motives: politics is not about policy, school is not about learning, charity is not about helping, etc. Well, I have a new one to add to the list: arguing is not about persuasion. (Link below).

This meme has officially become annoying.

The votes are in, and we have a winner. Get ready for "AI Doomerism Is Bullshit."

Thanks! Info below.

Particularly insightful conversation between @AgnesCallard and @robinhanson on what it means to treat someone with "respect". 👇youtube.com/watch?v=K3koQ_AD…

If you’d like to read more about this and see some additional arguments, check out my two blog posts on the topic: “Happiness Is Bullshit” (my first post) and “You Actually Want to Suffer” (my most recent post). The blog is called "Everything Is Bullshit". 🐂💩(22/22)

The best theories of motivation (i.e., theories of homeostasis) say that our motivations are like complicated thermostats. They’re cybernetic systems. They have present-states and goal-states. They act to minimize the difference based on feedback from the environment. (6/22)

Think of a thermostat. It does not need happiness or suffering to keep our homes at the right temperature, does it? No, it just needs to be wired up right. A diagram of a thermostat needs no boxes for "happiness" or "suffering". Neither does a diagram of motivation. (5/22)

The conventional wisdom is that happiness and suffering motivate us, like carrots and sticks. Happiness is a “reward” for achieving a goal. Suffering is a “punishment” for failure. Our life is ruled by the pursuit of happiness and the avoidance of suffering. (2/22)

Nobody wants to be happy. Nobody wants to avoid suffering. The things we want are in the world—not in our heads. A thread. (1/22)

For those of you who suspect Republicans are being hypocritical about free speech and kneeling during the national anthem, I have empirical data that they are. This is from a poll of 800 Republicans we did back in December. See more at thepulseofthenation.com/#pol…

Favorite finding of the month: Most of the people who think their economic opinions are well-informed cannot name a single living economist. (more at thepulseofthenation.com/#pol…) #pulseofthenation

Here's another surprise from this month: most people say they know a mix of liberals and conservatives, defying the "echo chamber" narrative. Are they lying? Or is that narrative overblown? See the rest of the results here: thepulseofthenation.com/#pol…

Favorite finding from this month's #pulseofthenation: We asked people "If you were a Mexican trying to illegally enter the United States, do you think you could probably find a way to get past Trump's border wall?" Over half (60%) of the people who support the wall said yes.

Here's one of my favorite graphs. It's a venn diagram showing overlap between Republicans who think "people should not be so easily offended" and Republicans who think Black Lives Matter is offensive.

Cool test to find out how politically biased you are. Very proud of my results. vox.com/2015/9/10/9188517/po…