simon_

5 ms·

1.
by simon_ 10y ago
Analyses on this topic are always so bad. Some counterpoints: (1) CEOs are intentionally aligned with shareholders, for good reason. Shareholders often make money due to luck, so eliminating luck from CEO compensation without breaking align
2.
by simon_ 10y ago
One might as well say: "20K+ fatalities on the Boko Haram insurgency, and counting, but you're up in arms about one maybe-murder in the most privileged city in the world." Not every community needs to be about every thing.
3.
by simon_ 11y ago
Sigh, it is hard for me to imagine that this comment was made in good faith. First of all, owning "free and clear" is hardly the expected meaning of ownership in the context of cars or especially houses in the US. I have a mortgag
4.
by simon_ 11y ago
It does. Big pharma constantly acquires research-focused junior companies to input into its pipeline for regulatory approval / commercialization.
5.
by simon_ 11y ago
Well, it is also the world of professors, grad students, administrators, etc. I know American culture is in love with undergrads and their "college experience", but I don't see why they are such key stakeholders that they sho
6.
by simon_ 11y ago
I would not write them off - my whole point is that by making the double argument people are trying to avoid having to think about trade offs. I get very suspicious when I see conjunctive arguments that neuter hard value judgments. It'
7.
by simon_ 11y ago
I am always annoyed by the argument that torture is unacceptable AND it doesn't work. It's not totally implausible that this is true, but I think it's very likely that torture "works" in some sense and certainly eve
8.
by simon_ 11y ago
I think when he says "genuine", he means they are genuinely giving it a try, not that they are doing it out of pure spiritual authenticity. Most business decisions (and most decisions) are made on some other basis than passion, no
9.
by simon_ 11y ago
I won't presume to tell you that you've evaluated your situation fundamentally incorrectly. If you've come to this point, I doubt that hearing "there is always hope" is going to sway you. Personally, I think you hav
10.
by simon_ 11y ago
Yep, having ever had to make hard decisions in serious situations should definitely disqualify presidential hopefuls.
11.
by simon_ 12y ago
Not a non-sequitur. The point is that AirBnB landlords are being singled out as though their apartments "belong" in some sense on the market, when nobody cares much about the million other ways real estate is re-purposed away from
12.
by simon_ 12y ago
I guess all hotels are also guilty of "displacing New Yorkers" by re-purposing perfectly good real-estate for the benefit of "tourists"?
13.
by simon_ 12y ago
"Some researchers now say that as many as 1 person in 100 has some form of [atypical sex]." If the "simplistic" male/female binary explains >99% of observations, there does not seem to be a strong case for descri
14.
by simon_ 12y ago
Ugh, this apology seems lamely antiseptic. "We are reviewing our notification procedures" is not the level of self-abasement I would expect after a mistake this serious.
15.
by simon_ 12y ago
Could someone weigh in on the following quote? Sounds fishy / wrong to me: To put this in perspective, a balloon that is one kilometer in diameter is capable of lifting about 700,000 tons, or the weight of two Empire State Buildings. A
16.
by simon_ 12y ago
I really appreciate your response, but I think there is a problem with our mental model of a moral paragon. Is it really smart to believe that childlike simplicity of purpose is morally admirable? That never being seen to take a side in an
17.
by simon_ 12y ago
It is uncharitable and silly to believe that a good person could not have those positions in good faith. You may disagree with it, but "torture is sometimes permissible" is not an evil opinion held exclusively by evil people.
18.
by simon_ 12y ago
What you're saying is only true if you assume the existence of a modern test-prep mentality. Do the applicants know in advance which facts they will be asked to regurgitate, or do they need to understand a wide variety of material at t
19.
by simon_ 12y ago
Yeah, the strength of field that would literally destroy molecules is a ridiculously loose upper bound.
20.
by simon_ 12y ago
Without saying anything about the broader thrust of an argument, I'll highlight a pet peeve: the drawing of wildly overconfident conclusions from social science research. The economics experiment on how rural Indian farmers respond to
21.
by simon_ 12y ago
If we stipulate that the charter schools in question have strong selection biases in their student bodies and better resources relative to public schools, then: a) It's true that statistics are frequently misused by journalists and adv
22.
by simon_ 12y ago
Maybe, but I would wait to hear from a physicist. When I was a student, one of the most important papers one year was about a dark matter (WIMP) detector that failed to find anything, thus "trimming the parameter space" for what t
23.
by simon_ 12y ago
The year-long isolation seems to me like a much crueler part of the ordeal than anything food related. We consider it inhumane to do this to convicted murderers, even when they have interactions with guards and activity time that make them
24.
by simon_ 12y ago
This is one example of a number of ways the article is weirdly disingenuous. Thea author compares returns to equities but risks to nothing, as you point out. Separately, when he cites an estimate of 3.01% annual return from alpha and 4.62%
25.
by simon_ 12y ago
The gap between the US and the rest of the West is clearly (if you look at the charts) closing due to rapid catch-up growth from the others, not decline in the US. Wouldn't it be kind of odd if the rest of the developed world did not c
26.
by simon_ 12y ago
I assume he will do this as himself, and not as "Stephen Colbert"?
27.
by simon_ 12y ago
And keep in mind that facilities fees often go to highly profitable outpatient facilities owned by the doctors.
28.
by simon_ 12y ago
That is quite a distinction!
29.
by simon_ 12y ago
Interesting: approximately half of this (my) cohort's children do not live with married parents. EDIT: Even more interesting, 41% of single (living alone) women at 27 have a child.
30.
by simon_ 12y ago
To summarize a sentiment I see underlying some of the "conservative" positions on HN on Eich: all of us who are pro gay marriage (me very much included[0]) might want to think pretty carefully about the political culture we want t

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