Random links
- China will ban people with poor ‘social credit’ from planes and trains
- "Starting in May, Chinese citizens who rank low on the country’s burgeoning “social credit” system will be in danger of being banned from buying plane or train tickets for up to a year, according to statements recently released by the country’s National Development and Reform Commission." See also China Is Using Facial Recognition Technology to Send Jaywalkers Fines Through Text Messages.
- On Truth and Beauty
- "Chinese women of the Han Dynasty (c.206BC – 220AD) were expected to have long black hair, red lips and white teeth, among other things. But also on the list was pale skin, and unless you’ve been living under a rock since the 1960s you’ll know that no shortage of intellectuals have blamed the desire for pale skin on the nefarious effects of colonialism. That its presence was a beauty criterion as long ago (and as far away from Europe) as Han China is telling, to say the least."
- Ad hominem attacks on scientists are just as likely to undermine public faith in research as legitimate empirical critiques
- A good reason, whatever your beliefs, to read at least a sample of those getting heavy amounts of negative press.