On the face of it, this is kind of amazing: flat-out admitting the problem but not wanting to do anything about it! As Francis says, it’s opposition to opposition.

More generally, there are people in academia who take an anti-anti-junk science stand. They’re not exactly in favor of junk science—if you pressed them on it they would accept that open data is better than not, that non-replication tells us something, that accurate measurement is a good idea, etc.—but what really bugs them is when people are anti-junk science.

… I’m reminded of Clarke’s Law: Any sufficiently crappy research is indistinguishable from fraud. I don’t know if the numbers in the article in question were made up, or rounded and unrounded too many times, or mistyped, or maybe Francis messed up in his calculations—I’m guessing the most likely possibility is that the authors messed up in some small way in their analysis, including certain data in some comparisons but not others—but it really doesn’t matter, except for historical reasons, to help understand how things went so wrong for so long in that field.

(Via Andrew)

Also, literally, Hanlon’s Razor: never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. And note my addendum: … or laziness or hubris.

This horizontal format, black and white photograph documents an unpolished dressing room interior. One girl primps in front of a large mirror, while another watches from behind her. The lines of the electrical wire that draw-up the composition are delicate and architectural, carving out a space for the viewer to see more than the superficial simulation that is reflected. One girl is heavily dressed in dark colors, with only her face shining through. The other wears sari wrapped lightly around her middle, her choli baring her stomach and neck. The spontaneous and improvisational approach is palpable, and is coupled with the artist’s acute sense of focus. The print quality is grainy further evidence of Ketaki Sheth’s documentary style. As we continue to build our holdings, particularly the relationship between the works by Singh and Sheth help to form a substantial and significant foundation for the collection of documentary images of South Asia.

Budget Culture and the Dave Ramseyfication of Money:

Budget culture is the damaging set of beliefs around money that — like so-called diet culture does for food and bodies — rewards restriction and deprivation, and promotes an unhealthy and fantastical ideal of financial success. …

The broader problem with budget culture is its emphasis on individual responsibility and insistence on ignoring the varying levels of access and privilege in our world. It vilifies and oppresses anyone who doesn’t live up to the ideal, regardless of their circumstances. And that ideal is, unsurprisingly, rooted in maleness and whiteness in the way many of our cultural ideals are. … 

But all we’re really doing is peddling the same worn promises wrapped in a veneer of language around “wellness” instead of “being rich.” The brass tacks of advice for financial wellness still emphasize restriction and individual responsibility, and “getting our act together” is still predicated on the fantasy of being rich. Because actually countering budget culture is a tall order, for individuals and society.

It requires: 

• Getting comfortable not knowing the “right” answers.
• Changing not just how you talk about money to others, but how you use money in your life.
• Pay transparency — with your friends, communities and colleagues, and in job descriptions.
• Seeing and acknowledging your privilege.
• Rethinking how we compensate for every kind of labor.
• Framing taxes as sharing privilege, not impeding personal wealth.
• Admitting net worth is an imaginary number.
• Creatively supporting people with financial need and protecting them from the tyranny of credit reports.
• Reckoning with the fact that the American Dream of homeownership relies on hoarding stolen wealth.

It’s… a lot. 

It sure is.

Originals by Adam Grant and Ilium by Dan Simmons

A plane parked at Narita Airport, Tokyo

Dear valued employee,

We want you to know what we value most in you is your commitment and loyalty to our company. And that commitment and loyalty is what makes our company valuable to others. And as we all learned in small, middle, high, and college school, it’s all about how others value us — especially shareholders — that make us valuable. It’s external validation, the best validation!

And you? You’re the tops! Ducky! The cat’s pajamas! The bees knees!

Thanks for loyalty, your work, your commitment, and of course your loyalty.

Have a great weekend!

One minor thing before we’re all “slipping on chili dogs outside and tasting free” as America’s Poet Laureate, John Cougartown, R.I.P., wrote about our freedom and Indiana. You guys and gals and other employees get to work from home next week, that will be great for everyone. Yes, we were requiring on-site attendance 3-4 days per week after the pandemic was solved through the government sanctioned use of light and bleach inside human bodies. Think of the 5 full days working from home next week like a throw back to the good old times when we disinfected groceries, but this time with a benevolent company AI, Phil, always there to help you achieve your best.

To sum up: good on us defeating COVID, freedom, turgid about the company’s success, don’t show up in the office next week, what union?, and enjoy these pictures of cats wearing pajamas! Seriously, though, don’t come to the office.

Kudos to Jane Reads, KeCute, and Loucodorgado for the pics.

A pipe burst yesterday. It’s in an unheated bonus room, so I started up my portable heater when it froze. The rest of the house was fine, so I soldiered on with my lazy Christmas Eve day. Then I noticed the water pressure in the house dropped. The pipe burst, and it was kind of unsurprising as there’s almost no insulation out there for the pipes.

The new whole house shutoff I had installed this year worked a treat, but it left me without flowing water, but …

I filled up my big bathtub last week before the cold snap hit. I happened to have been sous vide-ing some beef in a large container. I keep a 7-gallon water container filled. I always keep a pitcher of water in the fridge. And my humidifiers were all filled and misting my place into a decent humidity. Good planning and happenstance!

Then the utility announced rolling blackouts. The fire, with ample wood, was already going for heat and ambiance. I ended up “roughing it” in my house, making tacos with a big cast iron grille on the fire, and ready to read books with my well charged eInk reader in the dark. No blackout for me, thankfully, so I watched a bunch of non-Christmas Christmas movies.

The bottom line: a little bit of advanced planning paid dividends when things weren’t going right. nIt makes it so much easier to make it into an adventure instead of a disaster. Happy Holidays, y’all!