kovboydan's recent activity
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Comment on Charles Brannock: Foot measuring device in ~engineering
kovboydan (OP) Link -
Charles Brannock: Foot measuring device
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Comment on Where does your username come from? (Following up on last year's thread) in ~tildes
kovboydan LinkFrom a major player in the cowboy scene. His name was Cowboy Dan. Quite a tragic tale. And the English translation is “from a cowboy” so it is also a self explanatory handle.From a major player in the cowboy scene. His name was Cowboy Dan. Quite a tragic tale.
And the English translation is “from a cowboy” so it is also a self explanatory handle.
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Comment on The University of Michigan doubled down on D.E.I. What went wrong? in ~society
kovboydan LinkThat was a very long read. These are the two paragraphs that I found most interesting.That was a very long read. These are the two paragraphs that I found most interesting.
D.E.I. theory and debates over nomenclature sometimes obscured real-world barriers to inclusion. The strategic plan for Michigan’s renowned arboretum and botanical gardens calls for employees to rethink the use of Latin and English plant names, which “actively erased” other “ways of knowing,” and adopt “a ‘polycentric’ paradigm, decentering singular ways of knowing and cocreating meaning through a variety of epistemic frames, including dominant scientific and horticultural modalities, Two-Eyed Seeing, Kinomaage and other cocreated power realignments.”
Only one sentence in the 37-page plan is devoted to the biggest impediment to making the gardens accessible to a more diverse array of visitors: It is hard to get there without a car. (While the arboretum is adjacent to campus, the gardens are some miles away.) “The No. 1 issue across the board was always transportation,” said Bob Grese, who led the arboretum and gardens until 2020. “We were never able to get funding for that.”
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Comment on BTK-gate, Turkey's massive surveillance state: Internet activity, identity, and personal data of all users in Turkey is collected in ~tech
kovboydan Link ParentI don’t think I’ve ever heard a Turkish speaker say Türkiye in English, even in Turglish groups with frequent code-switching. Not as a political choice but a practical one, really. Super...I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Turkish speaker say Türkiye in English, even in Turglish groups with frequent code-switching.
Not as a political choice but a practical one, really.
Super unrealistic example conversation:
Vedat: Naber kanka?
Evren: Getting ready to go to Turkey next week.
Vedat: Amk. -
Comment on Looking for slim wallet recommendations in ~life.style
kovboydan Link ParentThen the second link would be better than the first: cards on one side, cash in the other.Then the second link would be better than the first: cards on one side, cash in the other.
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Comment on Looking for slim wallet recommendations in ~life.style
kovboydan LinkI discovered I didn’t need - actually use - more than a few cards daily and downsized from a traditional bifold to this Chums slim bifold. I think I’ve got 2-3 credit cards, two licenses,...I discovered I didn’t need - actually use - more than a few cards daily and downsized from a traditional bifold to this Chums slim bifold.
I think I’ve got 2-3 credit cards, two licenses, insurance cards, and one or two miscellaneous cards in it on any given day (plus some cash).
In cash heavy contexts, I switch to this.
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Comment on Linguaphiles of Tildes: where do you get your words? in ~humanities.languages
kovboydan LinkYou don’t need to go that far back for fiction with bougie words, e.g Le Guin and Walker Percy drop bougie words like Pitbull drops summer jams.I also love the traditional word hunt through reading authors like Dickens.
You don’t need to go that far back for fiction with bougie words, e.g Le Guin and Walker Percy drop bougie words like Pitbull drops summer jams.
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Comment on Recommend some new(ish) metal bands in ~music
kovboydan LinkBrowse the Metal Encyclopedia for bands and genres similar to what you liked back in the day?Browse the Metal Encyclopedia for bands and genres similar to what you liked back in the day?
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Comment on Linguaphiles of Tildes: where do you get your words? in ~humanities.languages
kovboydan Link ParentWe’re not mortal enemies! I checked myself to make sure I wasn’t tripping and I might have figured out why I’m all in on hedge + im (as in important) + ony (as in phony). Parsimony, matrimony, and...We’re not mortal enemies! I checked myself to make sure I wasn’t tripping and I might have figured out why I’m all in on hedge + im (as in important) + ony (as in phony).
Parsimony, matrimony, and hegemony walk into a bar.
Parsimony ordered a glass of water.
Matrimony ordered two coffees: one for themself and one for their partner - patrimony - who was on the way but running late.
Hegemony ordered a whiskey and thought to themself: “Jiminy cricket! Why can people pronounce my siblings names but not mine! I must assert dominance!”
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Comment on Linguaphiles of Tildes: where do you get your words? in ~humanities.languages
kovboydan Link ParentSpeaking of pronunciation, could we all get on team hege-mony not hegem-ony?Speaking of pronunciation, could we all get on team hege-mony not hegem-ony?
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Comment on Linguaphiles of Tildes: where do you get your words? in ~humanities.languages
kovboydan Link ParentToday’s word is: code-switching. Today’s goal is: code-switch so you more effectively communicate with your audience and don’t seem like an uppity asshole. It’s a skill I started working on...Today’s word is: code-switching.
Today’s goal is: code-switch so you more effectively communicate with your audience and don’t seem like an uppity asshole.
It’s a skill I started working on decades ago so I didn’t get beat up in primary school and still serves me well.
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan Link ParentI agree it’s nice to see fuller, longer-lived conversations. skybrian and everyone else have seemed cordial and well intentioned in these comments. And approaching things from outside your normal...I agree it’s nice to see fuller, longer-lived conversations. skybrian and everyone else have seemed cordial and well intentioned in these comments.
And approaching things from outside your normal framework is laudable, so is challenging your own assumptions.
But doing that based on a rando LiveJournal post that starts with obviously flawed reasoning, ends with explicitly discriminatory proposals, and plays loose with factual accuracy?
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan Link ParentI’m kind of disappointed something so low quality was shared. The first three sentences of the second paragraph are basically a giant, flashing “Stop” sign: That’s as far you need to go before you...I’m kind of disappointed something so low quality was shared.
The first three sentences of the second paragraph are basically a giant, flashing “Stop” sign:
Broad conclusion: economic interventions fail.
Specific intervention: Hungary spends 5% of GDP on this.
Specific outcome: Hungary’s situation has improved.That’s as far you need to go before you close the tab and move on.
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan Link ParentNo, it was to show that the fertility rates there “(Before the war.)” had been declining on average for 50 years and aren’t exceptionally high globally. It’s aggregate, but TFR is similar to Kenya...No, it was to show that the fertility rates there “(Before the war.)” had been declining on average for 50 years and aren’t exceptionally high globally.
It’s aggregate, but TFR is similar to Kenya and Uzbekistan for example. And if you look at birth rate it’s similar to Somoa.
The intent was to show it wasn’t an outlier. The information about the US was included because it was interesting to me.
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan Link ParentI’m not sure I understand where population density came from or why we would expect faster deceleration from a higher starting point? And yeah, the birth rate in the US is higher for immigrant...I’m not sure I understand where population density came from or why we would expect faster deceleration from a higher starting point?
And yeah, the birth rate in the US is higher for immigrant women than native born women and is also declining more quickly.
But are we talking about birth rate, fertility rate, population density, or population growth?
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan Link ParentUNPF and World Bank use slightly different methodologies. Did you compare the 2024 and 2022 numbers on the wiki page or did you compare different years from a single source?UNPF and World Bank use slightly different methodologies.
Did you compare the 2024 and 2022 numbers on the wiki page or did you compare different years from a single source?
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan (edited )Link ParentClarifying first: a country’s fertility decreases as a country’s GDP per capita increases. Broadly speaking, from a demand perspective, children behave like an inferior good. Yes, a consumer with...Clarifying first: a country’s fertility decreases as a country’s GDP per capita increases.
Broadly speaking, from a demand perspective, children behave like an inferior good.
Yes, a consumer with a large budget may very well have more of a particular good than that same consumer with a lower budget? But that’s a shift from Macro-land to Micro-land where we’d want to talk about indifference curves, expansion paths, isoquants, etc..
Edit: I think consumer micro can feel more intuitive if you’re not already familiar with it, but in this context I might suggest starting on the producer side with something like Marginal Rate of Technical Substitution?
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan Link ParentThe fertility rate there peaked in the 1960s around 8.0, in the top 5, and declined steadily to 4.2 since the 1970s, outside the top 40. The USA’s has declined from around 3.23 to 1.88 over the...The fertility rate there peaked in the 1960s around 8.0, in the top 5, and declined steadily to 4.2 since the 1970s, outside the top 40. The USA’s has declined from around 3.23 to 1.88 over the same period. That’s a decline of -47.5% and -41.8% respectively.
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan (edited )LinkAcemoğlu or some other modern pop econ author had a section about birth rates in an early chapter of one of their books. And Freakonomics addressed it in 2011. Children seem to be inferior goods,...Acemoğlu or some other modern pop econ author had a section about birth rates in an early chapter of one of their books. And Freakonomics addressed it in 2011.
Children seem to be inferior goods, even if it might feel “wrong” to think of them that way, and they seem to have been inferior goods as far back as the 1820s.
[Edit] Consumption of inferior goods decreases as income increases. [/Edit]
This conversation isn’t new either. Harvey Leibenstein wrote about it in 1974 and 1975.
1974, Socio-economic Fertility Theories and Their Relevance to Population Policy, International Labour Review, May/June 1974.
1974, An Interpretation of the Economic Theory of Fertility, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. XII, No. 2, June 1974.
1975, The Economic Theory of Fertility Decline, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol LXXXIX, No. 1, February 1975.
Gary Becker wrote about, most notably in 1969 and 1973:
1969, "An economic analysis of fertility", in National Bureau of Economic Research (ed.), Demographic and economic change in developed countries, a conference of the universities, New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 209–240.
1973, "On the interaction between the quantity and quality of children" (PDF). Journal of Political Economy. 81 (2): 279–288.
The author’s proposals could make sense initially: make people poorer and they’ll “consume” more children. And by extension the obvious way to keep the birth rate up would be to keep people poor, which I suppose might be the ultimate goal: make and keep people poor.
And higher education isn’t a Giffen good.