Josh Schwartz

Engineering prof. Also teaches about "Why People Believe Weird Things". Interested in how and why people disagree over facts and values. Heavy metal enthusiast.

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

Any serious scientist wants to know what is true. We may fumble in our attempts to find out, but our craft is always in the service of knowing what *is* and from there can flow all the discussions of what humans should do. The arrows do not go the other way.

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

Is the Down's Syndrome baby discourse basically just the generic abortion discourse reheated with a specific case? Does anybody internally hold different opinions on those two issues?

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

@terrynewman What should they do afterwards, though?

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

@harpsibored The temperature tomorrow will be 9999.

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

@foolishly I would absolutely love to be that guy in some Philosophy courses... or maybe Sociology, where I'd be an even bigger headache about research methods.

[Musa al-Gharbi @Musa_alGharbi]

This essay, straight into my veins. Are educators taking the permissive postures many have adopted because that's what's actually best for *students*? Or is it because it's what's easiest for *us,* and most flattering to the self-image we want to project?

Is the approach we adopt for our students the same as we apply to our own children (pretending as if they're not morally responsible for anything, holding them to no standards, excusing any bad behavior, failing to push or discipline them for anything)? Likely not. For good reason.

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

@ErbunnNinja We can call things other words, if need be.

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

On "falling in love": I totally get it when aesthetic or behavioral reasons prompt this feeling... you observe someone and are smitten! It just sort of happens to you.

What I don't understand is when pragmatic concerns are driving the bus.

"This person has wealth" is pragmatic... yes, it is desirable for obvious reasons, but is that even really the same thing as "love?"

[Paul Novosad @paulnovosad]

Humans have deep-rooted desires for status.

These are best accommodated in diversified small human communities, where everyone can be the expert at their thing.

Social media makes us unhappy, because our community becomes the world, and to a first approximation, we are all peasants.

We are uglier than the people on Instagram, our families are doing worse than the families on Facebook, on Twitter we are nobody.

So we use the weapons of the weak, we ridicule those with power and try to tear down their reputations, we participate in cathartic expressions of moral superiority. But it is a weak balm for the psychological pain of being low status in a human community.

[Abby Heugel @AbbyHasIssues]

Please arrive at your appointment 15 minutes early so you can fill out the same forms you filled out online and then be asked the same questions when the doctor actually sees you.

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

My alma mater, graduating a cohort that openly airs contempt for it.

[Terry Newman @terrynewman]

It looks like they may need to shut down McGill until they solve the infiltration problem

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

@RabbiPoupko I left because of a job opportunity.

[ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕂𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕒 @ChanKulatunga]

I think this is spot on! There is a similar dynamic, on both the left and the right where I've noticed personal identity becomes fused with political ideology and people become incapable of reflection. @sbkaufman, thoughts? https://t.co/BOMzN2N5L9

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

@MelissaLantsman @SavvyAuntie What concrete actions would solve it?

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

@shafu0x @KeatonS400

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

"Boys are more likely than girls to say they want to get married someday (74% vs. 61%), but this wasn’t always the case. In 1993, a larger share of girls (83%) than boys (76%) said they wanted to get married.

The share of boys saying this is virtually unchanged over the 30-year period. But the share among girls dropped by 22 percentage points."

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

@EyeOnStalk @LisaBritton It's hard to go beyond survey data on what people "want" here.. but the fact that boys have been steady while girls have dropped suggests the girl's behavior is changing, not boys. https://t.co/nKUMEULKyo

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

A whole lotta people actually do want a leader who persecutes entire groups of people because of the actions of a few.
They know it's an ugly thing to admit, so they tie themselves in knots trying to give cover to the basic idea.

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

@terrynewman The problem is that statements are performative and the people demanding them are wasting time.

[Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias]

Beating Ken Paxton is very important but also objectively very difficult — it would be worth swallowing a *lot* of moderation on issues to make it happen.

https://t.co/L7LObQBvJ6

[Josh Schwartz @Metal_Crow]

@EyeOnStalk @LisaBritton Data shows that more men than women currently want kids now, though, so this can't be right.