Patrick Collison: We Know Shockingly Little About What Makes Humanity Prosper

nytimes.com

6 pointsmitchbob4 comments

Transcript: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/27/podcasts/transcript-ezra-...

For the last 20-30 years social sciences have absolutely figured out what makes people prosper and it has caused quite the upheaval. It's not that we know shockingly little, maybe the author knows little, but the discoveries are either counter intuitive or damaging to certain political worldviews. Nytimes is quite front and center on this one, obviously the wrong side.

I used to subscribe to as well as trust the journalistic integrity of The NYT. Not any more. In general, I interpret it as a narrative setter for the left-y elites, and sometimes the bipartisan status quo. In this case, this misdirection hopes to let The Ruling Class off the hook.

To your point, I'm sure we'll see this narrative parroted in the coming months. At that point it will be nearly impossible to correct. Propaganda - subtle or not - is a powerful force.

Could you please be more specific about what discoveries you mean?

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