Category Archives: Geeky Musings

Thinking aloud about all manner of voodoo and geekery from resident Club Troppo geeks.

Could Obamacare have lead to lower fertility?

Posted on June 11, 2018 by Paul Frijters

[just a thought] US total fertility rates were bobbing along very placidly around 2.05 live births per woman from 1990 to 2010, when suddenly there was a clear drop to 1.8 in 2010-2017. That drop has even continued to 1.76 … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Employment, Geeky Musings, Gender, Health, History, Medical, Science, Social Policy | Leave a comment

Thought of the day: could there be an equilibrium of personality types?

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Paul Frijters

Suppose you buy the idea popular in psychology that there are stable personality types largely formed in childhood and that the population has relatively stable proportions of these personality types. The Big5 personality types are agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness and … Continue reading →

Posted in bubble, Geeky Musings, Miscellaneous, Parenting | 19 Comments

Brexit Scenarios and some Advice for Brexiteers

Posted on March 2, 2018 by Paul Frijters

Brexit is the main political issue in the UK, competing with sex for the attention of the public. It is a daily gamble whether the news headline is about some politician fondling a knee 55 years ago or a row … Continue reading →

Posted in bubble, Cultural Critique, Democracy, Geeky Musings, Humour, Political theory, Politics - international, Social, Society | 11 Comments

Anglo-Saxon histories (US, UK, AUS)

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Paul Frijters

Anglo-Saxon countries are often heaped together as having a single culture. When it comes to migration, attitudes to sex, teenage-pregnancy, inequality, language, and bellicosity, that seems about right. At least, the UK, the US, and Australia are pretty close on … Continue reading →

Posted in bubble, Bullshit, Cultural Critique, Ethics, Geeky Musings, History, Humour, Indigenous, Libertarian Musings, Politics - international, Politics - national | 30 Comments

Advance Australia Fair: ignore the other national histories on offer.

Posted on November 15, 2017 by Paul Frijters

National history is the story that binds ‘us who make up the nation’ into a single entity with a collective memory. It has a purpose and as such we can choose what historical events and realities to put into that … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Critique, Death and taxes, Democracy, Ethics, Geeky Musings, History, Humour, Indigenous, Life, Politics - national, Race and indigenous, Social, Society | 36 Comments

Let’s have another World War!

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Paul Frijters

Sometimes, it feels like 1910 all over again. Then, a confident Germany was the up-and-coming industrial power house, fearing an even more up-and-coming Russia, with the UK and France desperately holding on to their colonial empires. Now, a confident China … Continue reading →

Posted in Bullshit, Business, Climate Change, Cultural Critique, Death and taxes, Democracy, Economics and public policy, Employment, Environment, Ethics, Geeky Musings, Gender, History, Humour, Immigration and refugees, Indigenous, Inequality, Information, Innovation, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Journalism, Media, Miscellaneous, Music, Philosophy, Political theory, Politics - international, Politics - national, Public and Private Goods, Race and indigenous, regulation, Religion, Science, Social, Social Policy, Society, Sport-general, Theatre, Travel | 5 Comments

Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence.

Posted on September 23, 2017 by Paul Frijters

[Note to self. Geeks only] Over the fold I muse on the nature of human intelligence, social intelligence, and the options for artificial intelligence to become ‘smarter than humans’ in the areas of social power and law-making. It is taken … Continue reading →

Posted in bubble, Bullshit, Business, Ethics, Geeky Musings, Innovation, IT and Internet, Science | 26 Comments