2026-03-09 02:45:18
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2026-03-08 23:47:58
2. Adam Smith against hegemony.
3. US median income vs. Europe.
4. The academic papers is a dead format these days (read the whole chain).
5. The wisdom of Daniel Gross.
6. The political economy of California initiatives.
The post Sunday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
2026-03-08 19:18:52
In 2024, the entire neuronal diagram of the fruit-fly brain–some 140,000 neurons and 50 million connections–was mapped. Later research showed that the map could be used to predict behavior. Now, Eon Systems a firm with some of the scientists involved in the fruit-fly research and with the goal of uploading a human brain has announced that they uploaded the fruit fly brain to a digital environment.
The digital fly appears to behave in the digital environment in reasonably fly like ways–this is not a simulation, the fly’s “sensors” are being activated by the digital environment and the neurons are responding. Some more details here.
N.b. this work is not yet published.
Addendum 1: Of course Robin Hanson is an advisor to Eon Systems.
Addendum 2: In other news, human brain cells on a chip learned to play Doom. No word on whether they were conscious or not.
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2026-03-08 15:08:22
The Army is launching a new Warrant Officer Retention Bonus Auction. This initiative introduces a market‑based approach to retaining senior technical talent while ensuring responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars. The program represents a shift from traditional, fixed‑rate bonuses to a more flexible, market-driven system.
The structure is designed to make the best strategy straightforward—bid your true value. Eligible warrant officers will submit a confidential bid indicating the minimum monthly bonus they would be satisfied receiving in exchange for a six‑year Active‑Duty Service Obligation. Overbidding increases the risk of missing out on a bonus, while underbidding could result in commitment to a lower rate. Army leadership believes the system rewards transparency and encourages officers to carefully consider the compensation that would make them comfortable with continued service.
“The goal is simple. Reward as many qualified Warrant Officers as possible with the most competitive bonus the budget allows,” said Lt. Col. Tim Justicz, an Army economist who helped design the program.
Once bids are submitted, the Army will determine a single market‑clearing bonus rate that retains the maximum number of qualified warrant officers within the available budget. Every warrant officer whose bid falls at or below that rate will receive the same bonus amount. This means that warrant officers who bid lower than the final rate will still receive the higher, market‑determined bonus.
Here is more, via Charles Klingman.
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2026-03-08 14:06:08
Fron anonymous:
I personally think social media is pretty bad for people (kids and adults). I got off Facebook around 2009. I never got on Twitter. I had Instagram for a while but only followed my wife to see her posts of our family. This worked great until Instagram started feeding me content beyond the people I was following (really just my wife), so I quit using it. The only social media I currently use is Substack (not sure if that counts?). But the same dynamic may be playing out there as well (the algorithm feeding me stuff I don’t want, and me getting locked into wasting time doom scrolling).
HOWEVER, I completely agree with your point about parents. Our 14-year-old son has an iPhone, but we have locked it down pretty tight. It took some work on our part, to be honest. And we have to be pretty vigilant about enforcing the no-phone-in-your-room rule (which is a source of conflict sometimes). Our son has no social media accounts. He can text and he has access to a few messaging apps that they use at his school. Beyond that, we’ve basically shut down his ability to access the internet on the phone. His Chromebook works perfectly well for any legitimate internet needs.
In principle, any parent can do what we’ve done. So why don’t they? Why are they begging the government to do something they could just do themselves, albeit with a little work? Well, I’ve been struck by how badly many parents desperately need their children’s approval. They find themselves incapable of disappointing or upsetting their children on even the smallest of things. They know they should tell their kids not to use TikTok (or whatever), but they don’t want to make their kids mad. That’s why they want someone else to do it for them.
I don’t get it. Perhaps I’m overly cranky, but I honestly don’t mind it if (when) my kids get mad when I do something I believe is in their best interest. I simply don’t believe my children’s emotional reaction is a very good guide to parenting. Because they’re children. And they don’t know very much. And they especially don’t know what they don’t know and that’s why I’m here. If I won’t tell my kids no when they need to hear it but don’t want to hear it, then what good am I? My wife feels the same way. But we see lots of families that clearly feel differently.
Okay rant over.
See also Arnold Kling on related ideas.
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2026-03-08 01:31:02
1. Baby names banned in Mexico?
2. Blind hearing tests for audiophiles.
3. AI models and the Coase conjecture.
4. Stopping unwanted audio recordings.
5. Swedish shootings continue to plummet.
6. The dangers of diplomatic parties in Iran.
The post Saturday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.