Got it!

He did actually choose a short life with glory over a long and undistinguished one when Thetis offered him the one or the other

Full quote from that email I sent a few weeks ago: " imo the reason text elemental is so good is because it captures the notion of something that is animate, but not conscious so much as an expression of the fundamental nature of the substance of which it is composed. Like something from Mieville."

How rightwing crackpottery has evolved over two decades: from All Must Have Prizes to Must Have All Prizes.

much more obscure (it didn't get much pickup amidst everything else that was happening)

glass half-full - he still has a shot at the Economics prize for his contributions to trade theory!

This looks great

no worries at all and lovely to meet !

I do have incoming on this but it is taking some time to write...

If you like this, you should check out his novel Red Plenty, which this is a sort-of sidequest from (covering market weirdness rather than the calculation debate which is what the novel is about)

In addition to Francis' essay, I think Scott Atran's "In Gods We Trust" is really helpful in thinking through why it is that we tend to attribute divinity to complex phenomena (part of the broader Paris/Sperber approach to cognition if you know that crowd).

to be completely clear on my own part - I am _much_ more interested in all of us opening up arguments and debates so that we get away from the somewhat ridiculous mock battles that we have at the moment to useful disagreement and/or convergence on the topics that matter. Criticism/pushback is great!

that must have been terrible wording on my part - I was trying to convey some version of the argument you were presenting to me yesterday evening!

I was hearing great things about your work from an attendee yesterday evening! it sounds as though there are some complementary ways of thinking.