Tag Archives: philosophy

On The Necessity Of Subjecting Kremlinologists (And Social Scientists) To Market Discipline

Posted on June 11, 2011 by AK

I have gone on record with the following odds on Russia’s next President: Medvedev – 70%, Putin – 25%, Other – 5%. The first betting site to offer odds on the Russian Presidential election has other ideas. As of June 2011, … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House, Da Russophile | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Walled Off By Complexity: Did China Stagnate Because Of Its Writing System?

Posted on May 7, 2011 by AK

One of the biggest questions in global history is why it was Western Europe that industrialized first, and ended up colonizing most of the rest of the world. As late as 1450, the possibility of such an outcome would have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Sublime Oblivion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 56 Comments

Poker And Capitalism

Posted on April 16, 2011 by AK

“[Poker] exemplifies the worst aspects of capitalism that have made [the United States] so great.” Just consider the array of similarities: 1. Though there are rules and etiquette loosely associated with it, otherwise everything goes: in other words, its fundamental nature … Continue reading →

Posted in A Gambler's Odyssey, Coffee House | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Our Lady Of Shadows

Posted on December 11, 2010 by AK

I was inspired to write this heretical poem after reading Paradise Lost and His Dark Materials. And there shall come a time of wistful woe, When flesh grows weak and spirit fails, Of dark foreboding (and of secret glee), When … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fantasy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Безродный Космополит

Posted on May 15, 2010 by AK

По окончании Великой Отечественной Войны, в известнoм тосте, Сталин выделил русских, составляющих большинство красноармейцев, как «наиболее выдающуюся нацию из всех наций, входящих в состав Советского Союза». На другой стороне земного шара, в рассказе “Conversation Piece, 1945”, Владимир Набоков описывает пикантную … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House, Da Russophile, Возвышенное Забвение | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Reconciling Stalin with Victory

Posted on May 9, 2010 by AK

За нас за вас и за десант и за спецназ! I would like to start off by expressing my deepest respects to the Red Army veterans who fought and died so that (literally) hundreds of millions of their Slavic brethren … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House, Da Russophile | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 34 Comments

Philosophical Musings #2

Posted on January 28, 2010 by AK

4. Freedom from fear, the only real freedom. Political scientists try to rank countries based on their levels of “freedom”, frequently arbitrarily defined and applied (Freedom House, Economist Democracy Index, Polity IV, etc). Yet despite the inconsistencies and difficulties with … Continue reading →

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What I Believe: 2 Year Update

Posted on January 26, 2010 by AK

I’ve remembered about the article What We Believe I wrote two years back, in the early days when I was still writing anonymously (as “stalker”) and was pretending to be a team. Had fun rereading it, almost like a time … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House, Life in General | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Meaning of Sublime Oblivion

Posted on January 24, 2010 by AK

This fragmentary text was found by priests of Kǎichè, May He Live Forever, Great Lord of the Last Empire, in the Year 220 AF. It was contained in a far north KHE resilience that had survived the Flame Deluge that ended … Continue reading →

Posted in Sublime Oblivion | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The Final Gambit: Geoengineering

Posted on January 20, 2010 by AK

It is very likely that efforts to prevent CO2 levels from soaring to 450ppm – the level we need to stop at to have any hope of limiting temperature rise to 2C or less – will fail. This will lead … Continue reading →

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