#AcademicRunPlaylist - 2/14/25

Well, I finally arrived in Kyoto! It was an extremely long day, but at least on the way I was able to listen to some talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist! (1/4) 

First was an interesting talk by Baptiste Caramiaux on creating interactive machine learning systems at UCLIC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrYbZJDgBXA (2/4)

Next was “The Great Leveler” by Walter Scheidel. Using expansive historical economic, anthropological, and archaeological research, Scheidel convincingly demonstrates that one of the only consistent sources of income inequality reduction comes from war. To be fair, economic development prior to the industrial revolution was anemic, however the data since then as well is decently convincing. It’s a depressing conclusion, but one that should challenge us to think of more peaceful but nonetheless radical ways to overturn centuries of history. Highly recommend https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691183251/the-great-leveler (3/4)

Last was “Debt” by David Graeber. This is an extremely well argued, thought-provoking book, philosophically deconstructing the notion of debt to its core and then following its historical trajectory to the present day. As a corollary, Graeber shows how true “barter economies” have basically never existed, but the notion of money and debt has significantly evolved from its original development. The book goes a bit off the rails and is wildly inaccurate at the end once it gets into post-industrial economies, and the fact that Graeber doesn’t show his work and makes huge assumptions leaves lots to poke holes in. However, overall this is still an impressive and important book. Highly recommend https://davidgraeber.org/books/debt-the-first-5000-years/ (4/4)