Rags-to-Riches of the Century: Francis Ngannou
He nearly bled to death in the desert and crossed the Mediterranean on a pool toy. It'd be movie-worthy if he became an accountant in Cleveland, but instead, he became World Champion.
Jehan
The Best Prediction Ever: Darwin and the Founder Effect
How did Charles Darwin make the best prediction ever? Why are there more accents in the UK than in the US? Why are there yellow watermelons in Africa? Weirdly these all have the same answer.
Negative Opportunity Cost
Economists rate opportunity cost as the most important economic concept for the public to understand. Turns out it comes in two flavors.
When Bits Split Atoms
Artificial Intelligence and that time the US Secretary of Defense thought we were all going to die.
If the Present is Better than the Past, Bias Towards Action
If the mean human action has been positive, the base rate is a positive expected value.
The Theory of Displacement Value
What do homeopathy, Tourette's-like tics and traditional religion have in common? They have displacement value.
Pareto Chinese: Say Xi's
You should probably forget about learning Chinese meaningfully. So how does one learn Chinese meaninglessly? I’m so glad you asked.
You Think You’re The Addict, But You’re Really The Dealer
On social media, even if you're not dealing the crack, you are filling out the customer satisfaction surveys.
2050 Predictions: Eyes, Xi, Apps, Cars, Traits, Bounties
Parents will prevent nearsightedness, and other things you can look forward to 28 years from now.
Umami Exists and MSG is its Messenger
For a long time, I thought MSG was a food additive more like "Red 40", that it had some obscure food-science use and junk food companies were either too lazy or callous to replace it. It turns out it's more like salt. Good luck taking that out of your Cheetos.