Asterisk Magazine

What Are Schools For?—Asterisk The modern education system around the world continues to bear the imprint of mass education’s original goal: obedience.

Super fun interview with @asteriskmag.bsky.social in which we talk about "Raised to Obey" (@princetonupress.bsky.social) but also:

- is "indoctrination for democracy" desirable?
- is low education quality driven by "low state capacity"?

and more!

asteriskmag.com/issues/10/wh...

What Are Schools For?—Asterisk The modern education system around the world continues to bear the imprint of mass education’s original goal: obedience.

"The primary purpose behind the creation of primary education systems was to convert unruly children into obedient citizens who would respect the state and its laws." asteriskmag.com/issues/10/wh...

Traffic Fatalities Are a Choice—Asterisk America’s roads are more dangerous than those of almost every country in the developed world. We know how to change that.

Monday's Most Read # 1 - Traffic Fatalities Are a Choice link.theoverheadwire.com/uw8ka @asteriskmag.bsky.social

Can We Trust Social Science Yet?—Asterisk Everyone likes the idea of evidence-based policy, but it’s hard to realize it when our most reputable social science journals are still publishing poor quality research.

Research scandals make headlines, but that AI materials science paper is still just the tip of the iceberg

@ryancbriggs.net walks through the gauntlet of issues in the research published in even our most reputable peer-reviewed journals
asteriskmag.com/issues/10/ca...

Text from an article: Given the current state of evidence production in the social sciences, I believe that many - perhaps most - attempts to use social scientific evidence to inform policy will not lead to better outcomes. This is not because of politics or the challenges of scaling small programs. The problem is more immediate. Much of social science research is of poor quality, and sorting the trustworthy work from bad work is difficult, costly, and time-consuming.

I think the current state of social science research is pretty bad and I wrote something for @asteriskmag.bsky.social about it. asteriskmag.com/issues/10/ca...

Some very depressing forecasts on the impact of USAID cuts in the recent @asteriskmag.bsky.social special edition: asteriskmag.substack.com/p/forecast-...

For the past month, @asteriskmag.bsky.social has been working with a group of forecasters for a series on the mortality impacts of the Trump Administration's USAID cuts

5 forecasts, transparent and probabilistic, on PEPFAR, malaria, TB, nutrition, and WASH asteriskmag.substack.com/p/forecast-s...

Reports of the Death of California High-Speed Rail Have Been Greatly Exaggerated—Asterisk Building a high-speed rail between Los Angeles and San Francisco was never going to be easy — but the critics who write it off are missing the real source of the project’s struggles.

California High Speed Rail has had real issues, many of them common to other transportation infrastructure projects, but one of its biggest obstacles has been insufficient funding. Read this deep dive for more of the story: asteriskmag.com/issues/10/re...

Reports of the Death of California High-Speed Rail Have Been Greatly Exaggerated—Asterisk Building a high-speed rail between Los Angeles and San Francisco was never going to be easy — but the critics who write it off are missing the real source of the project’s struggles.

Rare analysis of CAHSR that contextualizes its difficulty/cost in @asteriskmag.bsky.social. Abundance dems should fight to accelerate, not abandon, this project. Complaints about how gov fails at building belies fact that we have *barely even tried*. Funding at less than $1B/year in $4T CA economy!

Reports of the Death of California High-Speed Rail Have Been Greatly Exaggerated—Asterisk Building a high-speed rail between Los Angeles and San Francisco was never going to be easy — but the critics who write it off are missing the real source of the project’s struggles.

We hereby declare an end to the "boondoggle" meme asteriskmag.com/issues/10/re...

The Case for Insect Consciousness—Asterisk The evidence that insects feel pain is mounting, however we approach the issue.

Our board president (Bob Fischer) recently published an article in @asteriskmag.bsky.social on the topic of invertebrate sentience. Check it out: asteriskmag.com/issues/09/th...

Does Abundance Start at Home?—Asterisk Kelsey Piper and Jasmine Sun talk about microschools, whether localism is the enemy of Abundance, and why Chinese bureaucrats are like Growth PMs.

@asteriskmag.bsky.social is where the adults are talking about adult stuff asteriskmag.com/issues/09/ab...

The Future of American Foreign Aid—Asterisk USAID has been slashed, and it is unclear what shape its predecessor will take. How might American foreign assistance be restructured to maintain critical functions? And how should we think about its ...

asteriskmag.com/issues/09/th...

Greening the Solar System—Asterisk A future where life flourishes beyond Earth is closer than you think. How, precisely, will we get there?

We could — if we tried — potentially raise Mars's temperature by 30°C well within this century
asteriskmag.com/issues/09/gr...

We're officially sold out! You can still buy tickets for the livestream starting at 6PM PDT. Donation-based, $1 minimum. Link below! Excited to see everyone in person!

The Unbearable Loudness of Chewing - Longreads "Why do some people find certain sounds intolerable? And why has it taken so long for scientists to get even a preliminary answer?"

"What appears to be a deep aversive reaction to sounds that most people don’t like can seem — I speak from personal experience here — like you’re hard to tolerate." @jakee.bsky.social @asteriskmag.bsky.social

Have been reading Longreads well over a decade! A real privilege to be featured

We raised the attendance cap on this from 80 to 100 after high demand! Will sell-out! Donation-based! Very important topic! Very interesting questions! Very cool people! I will ask about panpsychism! Can't wait to meet you there!!!

We're nearly sold out in-person for this event! Grab your tickets now!
www.eventbrite.com/e/where-huma...

The Unbearable Loudness of Chewing—Asterisk Why do some people find certain sounds intolerable? And why has it taken so long for scientists to get even a preliminary answer?

SUCH a good article about misophonia from @jakee.bsky.social. It's so hard for me to articulate my relationship with stimuli such as chewing and repetitive sounds, it's not just that I don't like them it's the uncontrollable full-body aversive reaction. Glad to see more serious research on this.

The Science of Woo—Asterisk A conversation about neuroscience, meditation, and the many paths to insight.

Absolute pleasure to speak with Kati Devaney for this issue.

We covered a lot of territory: the deep-end of meditation, the neuroscience of cessation, the concept of "weird," and whether enlightenment is in the Overton window yet
asteriskmag.com/issues/09/th...

Are AIs People?—Asterisk Every year, AI models get better at thinking. Could they possibly be capable of feeling? And if they are, how would we know?

asteriskmag.com/issues/09/ar...

A Defense of Weird Research—Asterisk Government-funded scientific research may appear strange or impractical, but it has repeatedly yielded scientific breakthroughs — and continues to pay for itself many times over.

DOGE wants to cut 'low-impact' science. But important innovations—like mRNA vaccines, PCR, and the internet—once looked pointless, too. Kill the research pipeline, kill future advances. @lgilbert.co and I write about this in @asteriskmag.bsky.social: asteriskmag.com/issues/09/a... /3

Thrilled to announce that @asteriskmag.bsky.social and I will be hosting a conversation between Rob Long and Kati Devaney on where two tracks in consciousness research — AI and meditation — collide

If you're local to the Bay, would love to see you there!
www.eventbrite.com/e/where-huma...

Yes, Shrimp Matter—Asterisk What made a private equity analyst decide to devote his life to tiny aquatic crustaceans?

There are 3 things one should never discuss in polite company: money, politics, and shrimp.
asteriskmag.com/issues/09/ye...

A Defense of Weird Research—Asterisk Government-funded scientific research may appear strange or impractical, but it has repeatedly yielded scientific breakthroughs — and continues to pay for itself many times over.

Some economists believe that all growth in living standards comes from scientific research and development. asteriskmag.com/issues/09/a-... @asteriskmag.bsky.social

The Case for Insect Consciousness—Asterisk The evidence that insects feel pain is mounting, however we approach the issue.

🦗🧠 A growing number of studies are exploring the extent to which #insects can experience pain, feelings & more.

This mounting evidence calls for us to question our assumptions about insect #sentience. A thought piece in @asteriskmag.bsky.social digs deeper. https://bit.ly/4kacSke

Forecasting & global health friends!

@asteriskmag.bsky.social is working on a mini-series forecasting the impacts of USAID/other funding cuts over the next year

A Defense of Weird Research—Asterisk Government-funded scientific research may appear strange or impractical, but it has repeatedly yielded scientific breakthroughs — and continues to pay for itself many times over.

Basic research, even when it appears weird — from levitating frogs to the sex lives of beetles to fishing in geysers for bacteria — is a government investment with extremely high ROI
asteriskmag.com/issues/09/a-...

This article by @adammarblestone.bsky.social brilliantly illustrates how Lean and other proof assistants are enabling new forms of mathematical collaboration and verification in our AI-driven world. We're grateful for Adam's valuable guidance as a board member of the Lean FRO!

#LeanLang #LeanProver