First Derivative [62]
first Derivative [62]
June 13, 2018
Number One In Poverty, California Isn’t Our Most Progressive State — It’s Our Most Racist One
by Eric Shellenberger (Forbes)
Perfect contrast piece here. Read both and decide which is more persuasive. — TK
Atonement as Activism
by John McWhorter (American Interest)
“Fifty years ago, a white person learning about the race problem came away asking “How can I help?” Today the same person too often comes away asking, “How can I show that I’m a moral person?” That isn’t what the Civil Rights revolution was about; it is the product of decades of missioncreep aided by the emergence of social media.”
The High Price of Stale Grievances
by Coleman Hughes (Quillette)
Another hard-hitting piece by Coleman Hughes with great questions about our racial politics—TK
Artificial Intelligence — The Revolution Hasn’t Happened Yet
by Michael I. Jordan (Medium)
“we do have a major challenge on our hands in bringing together computers and humans in ways that enhance human life. While this challenge is viewed by some as subservient to the creation of “artificial intelligence,” it can also be viewed more prosaically — but with no less reverence — as the creation of a new branch of engineering.”
The Strange Case of the Missing Joyce Scholar
by Jack Hitt (NYT)
h/t to reader GJB—TK
The Crisis of Everyday Life
by Yuval Levin (New Atlantis)
"Under crisis conditions, we allow ourselves to do things we would never otherwise contemplate. In triage mode, we ruthlessly select among the living to help those who have the best chance at survival. For the sake of savinglife, even the most observant Jew can violate the Sabbath. But if life is always at risk and we are always in crisis, then we must always do things that moral contemplation would suggest are wrong… if we must always be engaged in saving life, then we are always justified in breaking the Sabbath, so that in effect there is no Sabbath”
Behind the Messy, Expensive Split Between Facebook and WhatsApp’s Founders
by Kirsten Grind and Deepa Seetharaman (WSJ)
Two conflicting philosophies on ads and privacy—TK
China Is Genetically Engineering Monkeys With Brain Disorders
by Sarah Zhang (Atlantic)
“Yet Feng now travels to China several times a year, because there, he can pursue research he has not yet been able to carry out in the United States… a type of cutting-edge research too expensive and too impractical — and maybe too ethically sensitive — in the United States.”
Trump and Kim Have Just Walked Us Back From the Brink of War
by Victor Cha (WaPo)
“To be sure, the joint statement that Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim released after their meeting left a lot to be desired… Mr. Trump’s diplomacy, however unconventional, has pierced the isolation bubble of the North Korean leadership, which no previous president could do.”
16 Years Late, $13B Short, but Optimistic: Where Growth Will Take the Music Biz
by Matthew Ball (REDEF)
“The most transformative changes will go beyond replicating the label model or snapping up top artists as their deals expire. Spotify and Apple are likely to use their customer data to identify and test up-and-coming artists and predict future performance for major artists, then offer advances in exchange for reduced royalty rates on a defined number of streams (to recoup) and then a permanent royalty rate that, while lower than the gross rate paid today, would provide the artists with significantly more than they receive after a label’s cut.”
ABOUT fD
fD is a newsletter focusing on signal insights and deep trends in ideas, technology, politics, economics, foreign affairs, culture, philosophy, and more. The goal is to deliver content and analyses that matter beyond the present moment.
I hope you enjoy. Questions and comments always welcome (just respond to this email)—TK
EPHEMERA
The new show on HBO, Succession, looks alright. Just finished the first season of The Expanse (Amazon Prime) too