The Matter With Things – Review by Takashi Baba

The Matter With Things – Review by Takashi Baba

Our memories are often fuzzy and people sometimes make up stories after the fact.  We are governed by irrational biases and can be easily fooled. I like to read books on brain science and behavioral economics and have gathered knowledge on this and that about the...
Insights from ‘The Matter With Things’

Insights from ‘The Matter With Things’

Why is this worth your time? Regular readers will be aware that I think Dr. Iain McGilchrist is one of the most consequential minds of our times. Last month he published a monster 1,400 page book, The Matter With Things. It’s his masterpiece, and an attempt to comprehensively expand on a thesis that has changed my life. I had the privilege of interviewing him last week.

Adam Smith on Self-Deceit

Adam Smith on Self-Deceit

Adam Smith on Self-Deceit Daniel B. Klein December 7, 2021 This essay originally appeared at Adam Smith Works. The University of Virginia Center for Politics, led by Larry Sabato, provides polling results that show deep social, political, and psychological divides...
Falling Into The Song Of Gaia

Falling Into The Song Of Gaia

Enchantment is essentially an experience of wonder, and like the experience itself, the subject is hard to pin down. So think of this essay instead as a wander through one corner of it, with glimpses farther afield.

Tocqueville’s Dystopias: The Bad And The Very Bad

Tocqueville’s Dystopias: The Bad And The Very Bad

Tocqueville’s Dystopias: The Bad And The Very Bad Daniel B. Klein September 6, 2021 [A version of this piece appeared originally at City Journal.]     Alexis de Tocqueville   “The entire book that you are going to read,” wrote Alexis de Tocqueville in...