Good Reason

Good Reason delves into a wide range of critical societal, economic, and cultural issues, challenging conventional wisdom and exploring the implications of common practices. It questions the status quo, from housing and bureaucracy to corporate culture and politics, aiming to provide insight and provoke thought on how societal norms and beliefs shape our world.

Economics Societal Impact Corporate Culture Politics Technology Comedy and Media Mathematics and Logic Healthcare and Bureaucracy

The hottest Substack posts of Good Reason

And their main takeaways

Throwing People Out Windows in the Time of the Plague

113 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Morality Justice Human nature
  1. People often focus on harm caused by others rather than systemic issues, leading to skewed priorities in addressing problems like disease during historical events.
  2. Our instinct to protect social order and punish those who harm it is crucial for maintaining peace and preventing individuals from causing significant harm.
  3. While outrage at harm caused by people is important, it's also essential to pay attention to systemic issues and larger threats like disease, to prevent neglecting significant problems in society.

The Relief And Horror That Renting Is More Financially Sound Than Buying

199 implied HN points • 14 Jan 24
💰 Finance Housing Personal Finance Wealth Investing Real Estate
  1. Renting is now more financially sound than buying due to high mortgage rates and home prices.
  2. Renting may save money now, but high rents are still a burden on many, making it hard to save for a home in the future.
  3. The current housing situation reflects negatively on society, with both buying and renting becoming expensive options.

When Your Map Doesn't Match Reality

227 implied HN points • 13 Dec 23
📖 Philosophy Reality Logic Hypocrisy Maps Bias
  1. Regardless of how well you know a situation, remember your knowledge is just a map and not reality itself.
  2. Be cautious of projecting your biases onto situations to force them to fit your preconceived notions.
  3. Acknowledging and being aware of your own potential biases can help prevent misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

Of Experts And Echo Chambers

284 implied HN points • 14 Nov 23
🔬 Science Medicine Research Experts Institutions Beliefs
  1. Experts can be wrong and have been wrong throughout history, like medieval doctors with bloodletting.
  2. Expert communities often become echo chambers, reinforcing shared beliefs and resisting change.
  3. Challenging experts and subjecting beliefs to testing, even within scientific-minded groups, is important to avoid falling into the trap of groupthink.
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A Very Merry Christmas Brainteaser

85 implied HN points • 25 Dec 23
🚌 Education
  1. Santa cannot distribute toys to children in a way that each kind of toy is given to a different number of children
  2. A solution using the Pigeonhole Principle proves that at least two kinds of toys will be given to the same number of children
  3. The brainteaser demonstrates a concept from discrete math known as the Pigeonhole Principle

An Infinity of Choices

455 implied HN points • 05 Feb 23
  1. Choose what's important; not everything can be important.
  2. Limit goals to focus on the most important ones.
  3. Be stingy with your goals; focus on the important ones for the new year.

On Corpspeak

231 HN points • 23 Aug 22
  1. Corporate jargon like 'corpspeak' can be confusing and unnecessary, but people use it to fit in and avoid confrontations.
  2. Corporate euphemisms are used to hide negative aspects of the workplace and maintain a neutral emotional atmosphere.
  3. Corpspeak words are often neutralisms, stripping everyday words of their emotional baggage to create a sterile corporate environment.

Profit-Maximizing Barbie

56 implied HN points • 19 Aug 23
🎭️ Culture Movies Critique Corporate Influence Body Image Consumer Culture
  1. The movie 'Barbie' critiqued the doll's unrealistic standards while making billions in profit.
  2. Corporate entities like Vought in 'The Boys' and Mattel with Barbie can profit off criticism and controversial themes.
  3. Mattel faced criticism for Barbie's body image standards, attempted changes, but struggled due to societal norms and children's preferences.

Housing Can’t Be Affordable and an Investment

3 HN points • 27 Feb 24
💰 Finance Housing Market Investment Wealth Inflation Income
  1. US housing has become extremely expensive, with a median single family home selling for over $400K and prices rising more than 7% annually since 2012.
  2. If housing prices continue to rise at 7% annually, they'll nearly double in 10 years and nearly quadruple in 20 years, making homes unaffordable for many.
  3. Treating housing as an investment has consequences, creating an underclass unable to afford homes and pushing more people into debt, cramped living situations, and even homelessness.

The Truthiness of Hasan Minhaj

3 HN points • 28 Sep 23
🎭️ Culture Comedy Satire Entertainment Social Commentary Media industry
  1. Comedians often exaggerate and fabricate stories, but there are limits to how far they can go.
  2. Shows like 'The Daily Show' and 'The Colbert Report' used comedy to critique mainstream news media and promote intellectual discourse.
  3. There is a risk of catering to audience expectations and generating 'clapter' in comedy, leading to echo chambers and a focus on emotional truth over factual truth.

On the Shocking Difficulty of Getting a Doctor’s Note, and the Not-So-Shocking Difficulty of Getting Anything Done in a Bureaucratic System

1 HN point • 15 Aug 23
🏥 Health & Wellness
  1. The process of getting a doctor's note and medical leave in a bureaucratic system can be excessively complicated and frustrating.
  2. Employees often encounter obstacles in bureaucratic systems that prioritize meeting requirements over user-friendly processes.
  3. Despite supportive individuals, systemic rules and processes can make navigating bureaucracies difficult and disconnected from the needs of users.

Who's Right on Inflation?

1 HN point • 09 May 22
  1. Inflation is a key economic factor that impacts the cost of goods and services.
  2. Experts like Larry Summers and Adam Tooze have differing views on the causes and solutions for inflation.
  3. Understanding the relationship between worker wages, labor market dynamics, and inflation is crucial in predicting economic trends.