Fascinating!: Deconstructing Conventional Wisdom to See the World with New Clarity

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In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan reports on the ongoing research into the behavior of Physarum, aka slime mold.  The behavior of slime mold is an awe-inspiring and humbling example of the evolved wisdom of nature.  This simple superorganism forages efficiently and knows when it is time to produce spores, all based on mechanical and chemical signals.

Listen to find out the latest!

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In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan reviews the collaborative effort of Thomas Piketty and Michael Sandel to pitch their scheme of confiscatory taxation in their new book, in the name of the nebulous concept of equality, for the undefined and undefinable "common good", in order to counter the effects uneven luck distribution, the machinations of an imaginary malicious oligarchy, and perceived patterns of accidental historical processes. They back up their pitch with claims of piety - they are supposedly the heroes who will place limits on the evils that emerge from the operation of markets. 

Rik demonstrates that neither man has even a weak grasp of how an economic system functions.  To them, the "economy" is a black box, and they believe that it will continue to crank out goods and services even if their proposed interventions create perverse incentives, and interrupt the evolved and evolving feedback loops that make the whole system work, and the existence of which our heroes are unaware.

It is likewise clear that their proposed scheme could only be implemented by totalitarian government, in spite of the lip service they both pay to liberty and democratic government; and that the implementation of their scheme would make the poor, and everyone else, poorer, even in the doubtful case that it actually were to reduce the disparities they lament.  

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The short answer to this question is "no".  Listen to this episode for details.

The Federal Reserve Bank (the "Fed") stands as an example of the collateral messiness, and the distortions, that inevitably accompany intelligent design projects.  In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan explains why the Fed has always failed, and always will fail, in its mandate to stabilize prices; and why, rather than containing systemic risk, the Fed has itself been a major SOURCE of systemic risk.

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In this episode, senior contributing editor Prego de Nada proposes that Earthlings would be happier, and life on Earth would be better, if they were to jettison the practice of characterizing their choices as between "good things" and "bad things", and instead adopt the practice of viewing the expected consequences of their choices as tradeoffs, where decisions are made by comparing values and costs.
Tune in for details.

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In this episode, contributing editor Slainte na Zdorovya considers the tale of Alice meeting Tweedledee and Tweedledum in the Dark Woods.  This tale is from the second Alice book, "Through the Looking Glass".  Slainte's aim in this essay is to spread the word to Earthlings that they can liberate themselves from a lot of unnecessary worry by learning to recognize the insignificant, and to ignore it.  Remember that Tweedledee and Tweedledum are motivated by a desire for Alice to remain in the Woods, and the last thing they plan to do is to help her leave.

If you are an Alice, still taking the Woods stuff seriously, this message is for you!

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Nobody's right if everybody's wrong, in the words of the Buffalo Springfield song. 
In today's world it is difficult for an Earthling of a scientific bent to choose who or what to support in the political arena, when ecnarongi (i.e, ignorance in reverse, "knowing" that which is not true) prevails on all sides.
In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan argues that better education of young Earthlings must take place before political participation on your planet can be considered meaningful.  Earthlings must root out medievalist ways of thinking based on intelligent design, and start inculcating modern ways of thinking based on natural evolution before meaningful political discourse will ever be possible.
Please do not despair, however, if it seems to you that political action is our only hope, because there is much more going on outside of what we might call the political realm than you might have yet realized.  
Many Earthlings believe that what happens in the political arena is central to civilized existence, but in truth politics is more of a sideshow - "Real Politicians of Washington DC" in the words of Wait-But-Why Blogger Tim Urban.  
The MAIN attractions are scientific discovery, technological innovation, free enterprise in production and commerce, and a strict regard for the human rights to life, liberty and property.

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In this final episode of Season 4, Rik from Planet Vulcan reviews his mission on Planet Earth, which is to advocate for a world view based on the scientific investigation of natural processes; and reviews the essays published during Season 4.
Rik and his little female Earthling pal are traveling to the the land of Aloha until winter has passed in the Smoky Mountains, with plans to return with more essays in the spring.

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In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan demonstrates that the notion that international trade amounts to warfare that someone wins and someone loses is another of those pervasive undead ideas on Planet Earth that keep rising from the grave, wandering the land and eating brains.
In truth international trade is an unalloyed benefit to consumers in all countries simultaneously, both because of comparative advantage and because it subjects producers to greater competition.  
And while it's generally true that consumers are also producers, it's also generally true that what the typical Earthling producer loses by having to face competition is far less than what the typical Earthling consumer gains as a result of free trade, especially when you consider the long-term systemic effects of tariffs and quotas:  stagnation and decline.
Protectionism ought to be regarded as anti-social and uncivil.

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In this episode, Rik from Planet Vulcan draws a straight line from the mindset and the actions of white European colonialists in the 19th Century to the mindset and the actions of would-be intelligent designers in our own time, particularly within the Progressive movement that began in the late nineteenth century and continues to this day.  Rik notes that in these two cases, and in any agenda based on intelligent-design thinking, the outcomes seldom match the intentions, and actual outcomes in many cases have been appalling.

Earthlings are not generally schooled in the thinking that emerges from a study of evolutionary processes, especially as it applies to your socioeconomic systems;  you seldom question the idea that intelligent design is necessary; and many of you are surprised, even disbelieving, when they are exposed to the idea of spontaneous emergent order, how much it explains and how it opens the door to better thinking.

Prepare to be exposed.

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Does Warren Buffett truly pay less income tax than his secretary?  In this episode of Fascinating!, Rik from Planet Vulcan questions the narrative that high earners do not pay their fair share of the income tax by proposing a different perspective, while also arguing that on another level the argument is moot anyway, because income ought not to be taxed in any case - there are alternative ways to fund government operations that would very likely work better for society in general.