Thought for the day

Human Guidance Systems Engineered
in the Age of Reptiles


 
8 May 2024
 
Why we often choose to believe in economic theories that take no account of human eccentricities and truly awful economic data

Human Guidance Systems Engineered - in the Age of Reptiles





“So here we stand, and walk, having arrived helter-skelter after 3.8 billion years of lineage endowed with no certain purpose beyond carrying still forward the vagaries of mutation and natural selection, erect, bipedal, bone-strutted bags of salty water led by guidance systems engineered back in the Age of Reptiles.”

Quoted from Edward O. Wilson’s book “Genesis , on the deep origin of societies”.

Edward Wilson was widely recognised as one of the world’s pre-eminent biologists and naturalists.  See more data...



More perspectives using World Economics data



The World’s Biggest Economy
There is some dispute over which of the two undisputed superpowers is the biggest. The Economist (for example) clearly thinks America remains king of the jungle. Its issue dated May 13th 2023 subheads a paper called Peak China with the unequivocal "The meteoric rise of China's economy is ending". And notes later that "Even if China's economy does become the biggest in the world, i...


Which European Countries are Likely to Suffer First from Global Warming?
Climate change is likely to cause many different problems ranging from rising sea levels to more erratic and severe weather patterns. While impossible to be sure of the precise impact of global warming, it is reasonable to suppose that those countries with the highest average temperatures today will be first in line to suffer serious problems. The United Nations Climate Action Fa...


NATO vs. Russia
Today's chart looks at actual defence expenditures of NATO countries combined, and at the change when the US spend is excluded from the NATO total, plus a bar showing the change to NATO less US expenditures if all NATO countries spend 2% of GDP on defence. Notes: GDP in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for ...