• Humanities Magazine, A Chat with Mark Lilla about Those Who Think “History Has Gone Off Course.” I just finished reading Lilla’s book The Shipwrecked Mind yesterday, in fact. Before that, I read another of his books, The Reckless Mind. I highly recommend both.
• Sonny Bunch, “You People Wanted the Politicized Life? Congrats, You Got It” (On a related note, David Malki)
• Jesse Singal, “Psychology’s Favorite Tool for Measuring Racism Isn’t Up to the Job.” I have long been skeptical that the Implicit Association Test was good for anything more than fertilizing crops, so I’m glad to see that my intuition served me well. Apparently, however, according to IAT co-creator Mahzarin Banaji, I am just one of a half-dozen or so aggrieved, insignificant, reactionary individuals afraid to know his own mind, and am probably motivated by racism anyway.
• Brad Warner, “Retreats for Nuthin’ and Your Zen for Free.” Brad attempts to relay some basic understanding of economics to people who only understand social justice slogans. I had never heard of “upper-Middle Way” being used as a snarky signifier in Buddhism before, but I can’t say I’m surprised. Buddhism in America has long been associated with leftish politics, so it was probably inevitable that it would take on the same characteristics as so many other cultural phenomena. A little later, Warner finds the same website pushing for a more political (read: left-wing) Buddhism: “Should Plumbing Be Political?” I’ve read and enjoyed Warner’s books and blog for many years now, and I will be terribly sad to see him end up in the pillory, as he almost certainly will if he keeps talking sense to ideologues.