prior probability

That is the title of this classic paper by Steven Lubar, which was published in 1992 in Volume 15 of The Journal of American Culture. What other arcane or obsolete physical objects are deserving of having their cultural histories told? (hat tip: chad wellmon, @cwellmon)

Which one?! My “bitcoin prior” is that Bitcoin is insanely-overvalued, that it’s a purely speculative “bubble” akin to the South Sea Bubble of 1720 or the even more famous episode of Tulip mania in 17th-Century Amsterdam. Now that I see this “map of bitcoin forks” (pictured below), in which direction should I update my bitcoin prior? As an aside, I wrote about the taxation of Bitcoin here, and here is a bonus Bitcoin video (starring Remy): https://youtube.com/watch?v=UG7zLhEWanc

I am considering adding a new “Taxonomy Tuesdays” section as a regular feature on this blog. In the meantime, enjoy …

This tongue-in-cheek taxonomy is across three dimensions: cartoon avatar, leisure-time activity, and footwear. What other dimensions might be important, e.g. latest-book read, type of car, etc.?

Probably–after all, Rawls’ “reflective equilibrium” concept is pure philosophical nonsense, and the inferences he draws from his “original position/veil of ignorance” thought-experiment are unsound. (If you disagree, ask John Harsanyi.) Nevertheless, in honor of what would’ve been Rawls’ 100th birthday (21 Feb. 2021), the Boston Review just published ten new essays to commemorate the occasion. Also, my colleague Larry Solum honors the late Rawls here.

What’s it like to be a surfer in Cuba, a country without a single surf shop? Check out the new documentary film HAVANA LIBRE (trailer below), which premiered on Feb. 19, opening night of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana. More details about this project are available here.

The great John Lewis would have been 81 years old today! Here is the speech he gave in August of 1963 immediately before MLK’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech:

Here is the list by Alex Greenburger (ArtNews). Hat tip: @kottke. (If you wish to compare notes, so to speak, here is a separate listing of the top-ten art heists of all time.)

… to paraphrase FDR’s famous remark in response to Japan’s attack of Pearl Harbor. On this day in history, two months after Pearl Harbor and fearing the threat of military invasion on the West Coast, FDR signed Executive Order 9066 into law, a modern-day “removal act” creating a legal framework for the internment of all persons of Japanese ancestry in the U.S. More details about E.O. 9066 are available here, via Josh Blackman & Randy Barnett.

Check out this amazing tool from the Open Culture Syllabus Project, which contains a database of 7,292,573 college course syllabi and 1,138,841 of the most frequently assigned books and scholarly papers on those syllabi. (#1 is Strunk & White; “The Economics of the Undead,” to which I contributed a chapter, is assigned in six courses!) This database is presented visually on a searchable, user-friendly, Google Maps-style interface. More details about this fantastic project are available here. Hat tip: Christine Corcos (@LpcProf).