Patri's Prose.

As an intelligent person who constantly analyzes the world around him, I have lots of opinions about lots of things. I've written some of them up and stuck 'em here. I've also done analyses or research on a number of random topics. If you are interested in publishing a version of one of these, or soliciting other prose via email, email me.

Categories

• Politics
• Culture
• Health
• Economics
• Rationality
• Computer Science

Politics

• Hope vs. Belief: Part I - Gambling is Good, Part II - Voting is Bad, Choice is Good. A pair of essays about the difference between hope and belief, and how different methods of choice (such as opining, betting, voting, or choosing) elicit one or the other..
• Why Redistribute Inefficiently? I've come to grips with the fact that liberals have different ends than I do, and there is nothing wrong with that. But I still get frustrated by the poor means they choose.
• Free State Project, a few potential problems with this idea, which is an excellent new approach to achieving liberty in the US.
• The Freedom Ship is an impractial vision, the reasons why I (and others) think so. This page resulted in the first time anyone ever threatened to sue me. How sweet...
• America World City: Jingoistic and impractical, a criticism of another, less libertarian, giant-floating-city project.
• New Utopia: Its a Scam. Some of the evidence. Can you tell I like criticizing crappy new country projects?
• Why Vote? a discussion of why voting is pointless for Libertarians, and they shouldn't think it will help them achieve their goals, and there are better ways.
• What's wrong with this country - my views on a favorite american subject. Somewhat of a rant. Not so well written.
• Why Drug Legalization Matters - drugs as a first, fumbling step along the path to freedom from our genetic masters.
• Net Present Value criterion for governments, some thoughts on whether a business criterion for evaluating the profitability of projects can appropriately be applied to the public sector.

Culture

• Darling, You Look Stereotypically Female Tonight - analyzing an Eric Clapton song. Warning: this is a feminist rant. It is not tongue-in-cheek.
• Naming Conventions - (that's when you get together at the Hilton to name things, right?)
• Why I think Pro Sports are bad.
• Romeo, Juliet, and Adam - ecstacy use in the 1996 film Romeo & Juliet.
• Hey kids, close your eyes to get work done! - A rant about Disney's movie "The Secret of Nimh".
• Christmas is a Negative-Sum Game These Days, my thoughts on why gift-exchanges are bad, and speculation as to why we do them.

Health

• The First Five Minutes - a polished essay about insomnia.
• Zolpidem for the treatment of chronic insomnia, abstracts of research relating to the topic.
• Is ketosis from a low-carb diet bad?. Atkins claims that it is totally harmless. Find the truth here, with references.
• Alternative Drugs for ADHD, a discussion of drugs other than Ritalin and Dexedrine which might be useful in treating ADHD.

Economics

• Experimental Econ - Some analysis and actual results of a game where participants try to guess 1/3 of the average guess.
• A brief intro to the Federal Reserve System and how it creates money, a topic I was interested in.
• US fiscal collapse, an LJ entry and discussion on the possibility.

Rationality

• The Sermon I gave @ Rob & Anna's wedding - about an important life skill.
• It Only Takes One Choice - to turn a normal person into a complete deviant.
  • An email response to the above.
  • My response to the email, which is longer than the original essay, discussing the evolutionary psychology of human irrationality, and some of the reasons why I feel different from rational people as well as irrational ones.

Computer Science

• A Critique of the Digital Monetary Trust - An analysis of the weaknesses of the DMT, an ecash system, and an outline of alternative systems which address these issues.

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Last Modified: December, 2002