Utopian Dreams

Ratings and Recommendations

Numerical ratings encourage gaming, blandness, and compression. Utopia uses tag-based reviews and AI-driven prediction markets for personalized…

May 10

1

March 2026

Symmetry Breaking

The standard story is that the weak force breaks parity, but there are better models of fundamental physics that preserve symmetry and bring other…

Mar 18

1

1

February 2026

Prisons (Part 2: Dignity)

Normalization and self-staffing are generally good. Utopia emphasizes consent by allowing both prisons and prisoners to "shop around."

Feb 11

2

1

Prisons (Part 1: Spending)

Norway spends $150k/yr more than Poland for only modest recidivism gains. Violence is very bad, but high spending doesn't pay for re-offense damage…

Feb 9

3

January 2026

Auto(nomous Vehicle)s

AVs are very safe, but this is easier to see in the specific cases than in the statistics, which are complex and can be warped both for and against.

Jan 24

5

December 2025

Freethought

Free speech, which should be reframed as freedom to listen, is founded on freethought.

Dec 6, 2025

2

2

November 2025

Recycling

Modern landfill regulations have addressed most environmental costs. Even with externalities, household recycling programs are largely inefficient.

Nov 3, 2025

3

1

August 2025

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are great, and with a few improved design decisions, have the potential to replace forms, bespoke databases, and many websites.

Aug 11, 2025

3

4

July 2025

Empathy

“Empathy” is overloaded, conflating social reasoning, shared feeling, and compassion. Reason and compassion are good. Shared feeling is important, but…

Jul 28, 2025

1

8

June 2025

Adjudication (Part 2: Trials)

Speed, accuracy, and court cost are all important factors for justice. Incapacitation of criminals is the main goal. Executions are bad for multiple…

Jun 26, 2025

1

4

Adjudication (Part 1: Judges)

Criminal justice is important for protecting norms, and can apply to contract violation. Utopia distinguishes between local and universal crime, and…

Jun 22, 2025

1

1

Mate Selection

Old ways of mate selection are being replaced by dating apps, but these apps fail to provide the core ingredients of love. Utopia uses an opt-in signal…

Jun 14, 2025

2

2

1