signaling

Google+ and the False Sense of Privacy

by Brian on 07-02-2011

in web

I’ll probably use Google+ for sharing photos, but not much else, for now. It seems great for that, giving me enough reason to recommend it. For conversation and news sharing I’ll have to wait and see. I’ve wanted a way to share family photos, etc., without sharing everything with every acquaintance — not because I [...]

Today I was trying to answer this question in a group discussion at AgendaCamp. Most of the time we talked about reasons to not stay in London. Personally, I moved back to London in 2000 after finishing school to regroup before figuring out what to do with my life… And I stayed in London because [...]

Copenhagen Wasn’t About Climate

by Brian on 12-23-2009

in civics,global

On the surface the Copenhagen summit was about cutting carbon emissions, but the situation reminds me of Robin Hanson’s well known countrarian notion that politics is not about policy: Civics teachers talk as if politics is about policy, that politics is our system for choosing policies to deal with common problems.  But as Tyler Cowen suggests, real [...]

Hipsters and Signaling

by Brian on 05-24-2009

in creativity,culture

Richard Florida responds to my last post by referencing a 1948 essay by Anatole Broyard, “A Portrait of the Hipster,” via this article: Broyard was less enthusiastic about these supposed new rebels, and saw the attempts to escape from the restraints of society through narcotics, jazz, and general disaffiliation, as merely ways to a new conformity. [...]