Barry Lam
@hiphination.bsky.social
Philosophy professor at UCR. Podcast at Slate. Associate director at Marc Sanders Foundation. hiphination.org
Pinned
Barry Lam
@hiphination.bsky.social
· Dec 9
Fewer Rules, Better People
A philosopher argues that the proliferation of rules and mandates is making us dumber, less moral, more deceptive, and less able to govern important institutions., Fewer Rules, Better People, The Case...
wwnorton.com
Announcing my first book, with my style of longform narrative journalism and philosophy with @wwnorton.bsky.social. It's about the clash between governing by top-down rules versus discretionary decision-making, in law, in sports, in the household. Pre-order now here! wwnorton.com/books/fewer-...
Consciousness is overrated. I’m conscious, and I can’t do multiple layers of matrix multiplication. I couldn’t even remember the mineral water I’ve ordered 30 times in the past. Was in Tampico? Pico de Gallo? Consciousness is the precondition for preferring to be unconscious.
November 10, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Consciousness is overrated. I’m conscious, and I can’t do multiple layers of matrix multiplication. I couldn’t even remember the mineral water I’ve ordered 30 times in the past. Was in Tampico? Pico de Gallo? Consciousness is the precondition for preferring to be unconscious.
What is the tax rate at which billionaires won’t leave the city and also would pay rather than move money around so as to avoid the taxes?
November 8, 2025 at 2:55 PM
What is the tax rate at which billionaires won’t leave the city and also would pay rather than move money around so as to avoid the taxes?
Hey @mixedlinguist.bsky.social, I just heard an exchange whereby someone "goes to the gym" even if they never work out at the gym. As in "hey Jimmy, you look like you go to the gym." Jimmy, who works out at home says: "I do." What's this called? Idiom, euphemism? Seems more interesting than that.
November 5, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Hey @mixedlinguist.bsky.social, I just heard an exchange whereby someone "goes to the gym" even if they never work out at the gym. As in "hey Jimmy, you look like you go to the gym." Jimmy, who works out at home says: "I do." What's this called? Idiom, euphemism? Seems more interesting than that.
Reposted by Barry Lam
Bay Area peeps! See you at 2pm today (11/2), Book Passage in the Ferry Bldg!
If you can't make it today, come find me at Stanford's "Philosophers for a Brighter World" working group tomorrow at 4!
@mitpress.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social #booksky #socialchange
If you can't make it today, come find me at Stanford's "Philosophers for a Brighter World" working group tomorrow at 4!
@mitpress.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social #booksky #socialchange
Sun. Nov. 2nd, Alex @madva.bsky.social presents "Somebody Should Do Something" at Book Passage — the Bay Area's liveliest bookstore! Join him to learn how anyone can help create social change: www.bookpassage.com/event/alex-m... #IndieBookstore
Alex Madva - Somebody Should Do Something (Ferry Building Store)
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www.bookpassage.com
November 2, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Bay Area peeps! See you at 2pm today (11/2), Book Passage in the Ferry Bldg!
If you can't make it today, come find me at Stanford's "Philosophers for a Brighter World" working group tomorrow at 4!
@mitpress.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social #booksky #socialchange
If you can't make it today, come find me at Stanford's "Philosophers for a Brighter World" working group tomorrow at 4!
@mitpress.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social #booksky #socialchange
All of you trying to shame us Angelinos on social justice grounds, I get it. No one likes the moneyed Goliath. But, I mean, know your baseball history a little.
November 2, 2025 at 4:26 AM
All of you trying to shame us Angelinos on social justice grounds, I get it. No one likes the moneyed Goliath. But, I mean, know your baseball history a little.
Look if we’re allowed to fantasize about the storybook ending, Ohtani for the go ahead, Kershaw for the save.
November 2, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Look if we’re allowed to fantasize about the storybook ending, Ohtani for the go ahead, Kershaw for the save.
it’s like the baseball gods wanted to manufacture the most dramatic end to this series.
November 2, 2025 at 3:36 AM
it’s like the baseball gods wanted to manufacture the most dramatic end to this series.
I can’t believe it, the great Rebecca Goldstein is now on Substack! Everyone go read and subscribe now! The Mattering Map rebeccanewbergergoldstein.substack.com?r=i44h&utm_c...
The Mattering Map | Rebecca Goldstein | Substack
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein's reflections on Philosophy, Fiction, Science, & Human Longing. Click to read The Mattering Map, by Rebecca Goldstein, a Substack publication. Launched 2 hours ago.
rebeccanewbergergoldstein.substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 6:09 PM
I can’t believe it, the great Rebecca Goldstein is now on Substack! Everyone go read and subscribe now! The Mattering Map rebeccanewbergergoldstein.substack.com?r=i44h&utm_c...
Rojas the hero tonight. Dodgers can’t win tomorrow unless they pick it up on offense, but it’s one game, anything can happen. Hell of a series.
November 1, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Rojas the hero tonight. Dodgers can’t win tomorrow unless they pick it up on offense, but it’s one game, anything can happen. Hell of a series.
Looking forward to all of the think pieces about how to understand the Mamdani voter, why unreasonable demands of orthodox thinking drove voters to Mamdani, and why we need to tone down the rhetoric so as not to alienate Mamdani voters.
October 31, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Looking forward to all of the think pieces about how to understand the Mamdani voter, why unreasonable demands of orthodox thinking drove voters to Mamdani, and why we need to tone down the rhetoric so as not to alienate Mamdani voters.
Every nutrition/wellness piece I've read in the NYTimes in the past 20 years: "Is (tumeric/green tea/protein/crossfit/seed oil) really good/bad for you?" There is theory to support the claim, not enough experimental data, experts recommend moderation/reversion to received wisdom.
October 30, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Every nutrition/wellness piece I've read in the NYTimes in the past 20 years: "Is (tumeric/green tea/protein/crossfit/seed oil) really good/bad for you?" There is theory to support the claim, not enough experimental data, experts recommend moderation/reversion to received wisdom.
My unpopular view that everyone I know, including my spouse, disagrees with me strongly about is that we coddle our children more this generation of parenting because we love them more than our parents loved us. They figured; eh, if they're kidnapped while out 9am-7pm, I'll just have another one.
October 29, 2025 at 10:46 PM
My unpopular view that everyone I know, including my spouse, disagrees with me strongly about is that we coddle our children more this generation of parenting because we love them more than our parents loved us. They figured; eh, if they're kidnapped while out 9am-7pm, I'll just have another one.
Reposted by Barry Lam
It's pub day (birthday 0?) for Writing Through Writer's Block: Lessons from Modern American Fiction! This is a study of how authors have used the archetype of the blocked writer to identify, analyze, and ultimately work through both internal and external constraints on their creative abilities.
Writing Through Writer’s Block
uipress.uiowa.edu
October 29, 2025 at 12:17 AM
It's pub day (birthday 0?) for Writing Through Writer's Block: Lessons from Modern American Fiction! This is a study of how authors have used the archetype of the blocked writer to identify, analyze, and ultimately work through both internal and external constraints on their creative abilities.
From far away, this looked like another Luigi’s arcade.
October 26, 2025 at 2:36 AM
From far away, this looked like another Luigi’s arcade.
This Halloween, my family decided to dress up together as a theme. I was thinking Regressive U.S. Tax Policies. I'll be the Carried Interest Loophole, wife will be the Estate Tax Exemption, and my kid will be the scariest, the Step-up in Basis.
October 20, 2025 at 12:32 AM
This Halloween, my family decided to dress up together as a theme. I was thinking Regressive U.S. Tax Policies. I'll be the Carried Interest Loophole, wife will be the Estate Tax Exemption, and my kid will be the scariest, the Step-up in Basis.
Shohei Ohtani is one good thing about living in the 20s. Matcha and Dubai chocolate are two bad things about it.
October 18, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Shohei Ohtani is one good thing about living in the 20s. Matcha and Dubai chocolate are two bad things about it.
Reposted by Barry Lam
some thoughts, with folk like Barry Lam, Ethan Kross, Lisa Feldman Barrett, Michele Tugade, and Dave DeSteno in mind!
@hiphination.bsky.social @lisafeldmanbarrett.com @micheletugade.bsky.social @daviddesteno.bsky.social @vassar.bsky.social
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mirr...
@hiphination.bsky.social @lisafeldmanbarrett.com @micheletugade.bsky.social @daviddesteno.bsky.social @vassar.bsky.social
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mirr...
Why Scholars Should Take Their Show On the Road
To ensure that informed and nuanced perspectives are part of public dialogue, academics need to hone their persuasive communication skills.
www.psychologytoday.com
October 11, 2025 at 12:48 PM
some thoughts, with folk like Barry Lam, Ethan Kross, Lisa Feldman Barrett, Michele Tugade, and Dave DeSteno in mind!
@hiphination.bsky.social @lisafeldmanbarrett.com @micheletugade.bsky.social @daviddesteno.bsky.social @vassar.bsky.social
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mirr...
@hiphination.bsky.social @lisafeldmanbarrett.com @micheletugade.bsky.social @daviddesteno.bsky.social @vassar.bsky.social
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mirr...
This looks like a hell of a job and a hell of a salary. Mellon Foundation Program Officer $300K. workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
Recruitment
workforcenow.adp.com
October 6, 2025 at 7:28 PM
This looks like a hell of a job and a hell of a salary. Mellon Foundation Program Officer $300K. workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
In 2022, philosopher Erin Kelly won a Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Last year Kate Manne was a finalist for a National Book Award. As a field, some of us should strive to win these things. It would be particularly amazing if we ever won any of these specifically for philosophy.
September 26, 2025 at 5:38 PM
In 2022, philosopher Erin Kelly won a Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Last year Kate Manne was a finalist for a National Book Award. As a field, some of us should strive to win these things. It would be particularly amazing if we ever won any of these specifically for philosophy.
Why I Hate how PE is taught in Public Schools, and how what it says about the philosophy of education. open.substack.com/pub/hiphinat...
Why I Hate how PE is taught in Public Schools
What P.E. tells us about the Philosophy of Education
open.substack.com
September 24, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Why I Hate how PE is taught in Public Schools, and how what it says about the philosophy of education. open.substack.com/pub/hiphinat...
Wouldn’t it be funny if these AI-polyamorous people, people with many different AI-companions, decide after a couple months that it’s just too high maintenance?
September 21, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Wouldn’t it be funny if these AI-polyamorous people, people with many different AI-companions, decide after a couple months that it’s just too high maintenance?
I’m so old Im asleep by 10:30pm, and have been for years. But I do watch bits and clips, and I have to say, even independent of all the current events, it’s been a really good era for late night. I think it’s been a golden age.
September 20, 2025 at 5:44 AM
I’m so old Im asleep by 10:30pm, and have been for years. But I do watch bits and clips, and I have to say, even independent of all the current events, it’s been a really good era for late night. I think it’s been a golden age.
This piece is amazing. Incredible. Couldn't agree with it more. What insightful and provocative source material. Bravo.
The rules seem broken: we’ve installed too many in the wrong places, and too few in the right ones. Maybe, Joshua Rothman writes, it’s worth asking whether we’ve forgotten what makes rules effective.
Does Society Have Too Many Rules?
When regular people seem burdened by bureaucracy, and the powerful act as they choose, it’s worth asking whether we’ve forgotten what makes rules effective.
www.newyorker.com
September 9, 2025 at 10:58 PM
This piece is amazing. Incredible. Couldn't agree with it more. What insightful and provocative source material. Bravo.
From a chair’s perspective, this is what the politics of course scheduling feels like.
open.substack.com/pub/hiphinat...
open.substack.com/pub/hiphinat...
I Don't Have Kids. Why Should I Always Cover for You?
The Politics of University Course Scheduling
open.substack.com
September 9, 2025 at 1:40 PM
From a chair’s perspective, this is what the politics of course scheduling feels like.
open.substack.com/pub/hiphinat...
open.substack.com/pub/hiphinat...
Every “the problem with college these days” thinkpiece cites all these practices only the Yales, Stanfords, and Dukes of the world can afford to do. The modal college student commutes into a state school, does some classes online, majors in business, health, or engineering, and finishes in 6 years.
September 4, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Every “the problem with college these days” thinkpiece cites all these practices only the Yales, Stanfords, and Dukes of the world can afford to do. The modal college student commutes into a state school, does some classes online, majors in business, health, or engineering, and finishes in 6 years.