Musings on pop music and the nature of life

Some thoughts from a conversation about learning. Unfiltered, unedited.

Sometimes democracy can go all reverse age Benjamin Button on us.

A poem written halfway around the world, halfway off the earth.

Think of the classic scene when Tom Sawyer convinces another boy to paint a fence for him by pretending it’s the most fun thing he’s ever done. Tom does not force Ben Rogers to do anything; he pump-fakes and lets Ben fall under the weight of his own gullibility. Spoofers do basically the same thing, pretending they want to buy something until someone comes in and says, “Me too!” There is one market that consistently pulls this move on a huge scale: the software startup IPO market.