First Derivative [44]
risk—Estonia — Mozart — van Gogh — Aquinas — (post)modernity — Rohingya genocide — globalism — YouTube — Xiaomi
The Three-Body Problem by W. Ben Hunt, Ph.D. (Epsilon Theory): Three-body, basis risk, and bees. An apiary view of risk, uncertainty, and investing — TK
Estonia, The Digital Republic by Nathan Heller (The New Yorker)
Mozart’s Gift by Stephen F. Hayes (The Weekly Standard): “Mozart indicates even the most grisly feelings and possibilities beautifully. He never makes the expressionist move of identifying the genuine or the intense with the ugly.”
Van Gogh’s Ear by Adam Gopnik (The New Yorker): “the pursuit of moral luck remains alien to a liberal civilization that always, and usually intelligently, prefers compromise to courage”
A Burnt-Out Case by Jonathan Malesic (Commonweal): “In the capitalist ethos today, we look at the people we exploit, and we see humility, or love, or a simple desire to have a job done. This illusion salves our conscience; their ceaseless labor is a consequence of their virtue, not our vice.”
Evergreen State and the Battle for Modernity by Michael Aaron (Quillette): “you have the real equity movement, which are people who wish to end oppression… another movement that wishes to reverse oppression, and they don’t know that they are different because until you reach equity, they are pointing in the same direction.”
What Happens When the Richest U.S. Cities Turn to the World? by Emily Badger (The New York Times): Not just economic but civic. Growing affinity among residents of global megacities over fellow citizens. — TK
2017 was YouTube’s best year ever. It was also its worst by Ben Popper (The Verge): “will regulators follow Minow’s example, demanding that more be done to police what is arguably the world’s most popular platform for children’s entertainment?”
Behind the Fall and Rise of China’s Xiaomi by David Kline (WIRED)
