A mild superpower

Matt Nolan's convincing demonstration of the superiority of economists over Jedi reminded me of Scott Adams's useful description of economics:

When you have a working knowledge of economics, it’s like having a mild super power. For example, I use my knowledge of economics to avoid speeding tickets. I assume the local law enforcement agencies have limited funding and can’t be everywhere at the same time. That tells me, fairly reliably, when I can speed without detection and when I can’t.

I think his analysis there misses the important technological innovation that comes with speed cameras: the road to the airport is exactly where I'd put speed cameras rather than actual police: they extract revenues from folks who are scared of missing their flights but without generating the kind of political backlash that might come from making too many people miss their flights. I hope Scott Adams has a decent radar detector and a speed camera overlay on his GPS.

It's often safe to speed, and failing to speed can also get you pulled over.

Back to Scott Adams:

My reason for majoring in economics in college was to understand how the world works, so I would be more equipped to navigate in it. I think it was a good choice. Has your college major given you any mild super powers?

This ought to be front and centre on our Economics Department enrolment handbook. Take economics, get a mild superpower. Dilbert says so, so it must be true (Jedi mind trick hand wave...).

Religion in New Zealand politics

I love New Zealand politics. First, LibertariaNZ seeks alliance with the Jedi Church:

Libertarianz Request Audience With Jedi Religious Leaders

Monday, 7 February 2011, 3:08 pm
Press Release: Libertarianz Party
Libertarianz Request Audience With Jedi Religious Leaders

In the wake of what he describes as “the annual farce played out at the Ratana marae, where Labour and National leaders fall over each other to ingratiate themselves and buy votes,” Libertarianz leader Richard McGrath said he would like to prostrate himself before the hierarchy of this country’s Jedi religion to which - according to the 2001 census - 1.5% of New Zealanders were affiliated. [note: I think I listed my religion as Jedi on Eleanor's birth certificate]

“The Church of Jedi will be feeling alienated in their own country, with no politicians queueing up at their doorstep to participate in a vote auction,” he said.

“I can’t see why the people of Ratana should be a special case when there are other religions out there whose members whose votes, like those of Ratana, could also be purchased using taxpayer dollars,” he added.

He suggests religious organizations register with TradeMe so that political parties can bid online for the votes of their membership, as this would save a lot of unnecessary travelling and allow political parties to allocate their vote-buying budgets in a more planned and strategic manner.

Then, the Jedi responded:

Jedi Council rejects Libertarianz overtures

Tuesday, 8 February 2011, 9:35 am
Press Release: Jedi High Council
[Parody]
Jedi Council rejects Libertarianz overtures
Monday, 7 February 2011, 5:30 pm
Press Release: Jedi High Council

The Jedi High Council has rejected a recent overture from the Libertarianz party.

"Believe in universal compassion, we do," said Master Yoda, leader of the Council. "Attachment, possession, forbidden they are".

Master Yoda went on to criticise the Libertarianz' fundamental philosophy: "Fear. Selfishness. Greed. Manifestations of the Dark Side, they are," he said. "Greed leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering. That is the way of the Dark Side"

A spokesperson for the Council said that a Jedi Knight would be dispatched to monitor the "Dark Side cult" and restore balance to the force if necessary.

No way that the Jedi are libertarian. They're basically the Republic's secret police.

Then, the LibertariaNZ suggest that the above press release wasn't from the real Jedi:

Jedi High Council Statement Challenged

Thursday, 10 February 2011, 11:45 am
Press Release: Libertarianz Party
PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Religious Freedom

Jedi High Council Statement Challenged

Libertarianz leader Richard McGrath suggested a press statement from an entity known as Master Yoda - who claimed to represent the ‘Jedi High Council’ - was a hoax, after receiving a private communication from the Jedi Church.

“The Libertarianz Party and the Jedi Church are now in discussion, and will be releasing a joint statement outlining common concerns regarding freedom of speech, freedom of religious choice and the need for government to respect the personal beliefs of New Zealanders,” he said.

Dr McGrath said both the Libertarianz Party and the Jedi Church have serious concerns about the upcoming five-yearly census, and his party is planning a repeat of the organized civil disobedience – including the burning of census papers - that followed previous attempts by the government to forcibly gather information about people’s private activities.

As always, the Sith have the final word:

Sith laugh evilly at Libertarianz

Thursday, 10 February 2011, 1:44 pm
Press Release: Sith Conclave
10 Feburary 2011

Sith laugh evilly at Libertarianz

Press release in response to http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1102/S00082/jedi-high-council-statement-challenged.htm

The Libertarianz party of New Zealand is destined to be one of mediocrity and will never truly know the power of the Dark Side, the New Zealand Sith Conclave said today.

"By seeking an alliance with the Jedi Council the Libertarianz have confirmed their weakness," Sith Lord Darth Vader said.

"We care not for freedom of speech, freedom of religious choice and the need for government to respect the personal beliefs of New Zealanders — we believe only in power.

"By not having any power, whatsoever, at all, in New Zealand politics we are sure that the Libertarianz are not practitioners of either side of the force.

'The Sith Conclave was invited to their AGM last year. I have never seen a more wretched hive of scum and villany.

Mr Vader was quick to point out that the Sith Conclave is very active in New Zealand politics.

"The Sith are great. While we don't generally operate in the open, I think it is safe to lay claim to destroying the rebel Alliance in 2002.

"We're also lucky that not all of the Brash emails were leaked — that could've been very embarassing," Mr Vader chuckled.

Mr Vader was quick to point out that he was not Libertarianz Leader, Richard McGrath's father.

This is the most awesome political exchange I've read all year. Can we just appoint the authors of the press releases to Cabinet?

I far prefer political debate over which parties are Jedi and Sith allied, taken in fun, to serious political discussion over whether some candidate is actually a witch. Count this as another win for New Zealand.

HT: @LyndonHood

Update: The Official Jedi Church has replied. As expected, they're hardly libertarian.

Emergency Powers

INTERIOR: CORUSCANT, MAIN SENATE CHAMBER - EVENINGWELLINGTON, THE BEEHIVE - AFTERNOON

JAR JAR GERRY BROWNLEE stands in his pod before the chamber, as it floats in the middle of the taking up a vast space.

JAR JAR: BROWNLEE: In response to the direct threat to the Republic Christchurch mesa propose that the Senate Parliament give immediately emergency powers to the Supreme Chancellor Governor in Council.

Uproar. JAR JAR BROWNLEE looks a little sheepish.

Brief silence, then a rolling wave of APPLAUSE. JAR JAR BROWNLEE beams and bows.

PALPATINE KEY rises.

PALPATINE KEY: It is with great reluctance that I have agreed to this calling legislation. I love democracy... I love the Republic Constitutional Monarchy. But I am mild by nature, and I do not desire to see the destruction of democracy. The power you give me I will lay down when this crisis has abated legislation expires, I promise you. And as my first act with this new authority, I will create a grand army of the Republic Earthquake Recovery Commission to counter the increasing threats of the separatists of spending an extra day drafting legislation that takes due account of our constitutional freedoms rather than commencing reconstruction immediately under emergency powers allowing me to strike down any legislation that stands in my way.

For context, see DimPost, Graeme Edgeler, NoRightTurn, Andrew Geddis, Kiwipolitico, NotPC, and Attack of the Clones.

1% chance or less that this leads to the abandoning of the Republic and the formation of the First Southern Oceanic Empire. But would the extra day's delay to craft sound legislation actually have been all that bad? My best guess is that the government actually really doesn't know what bits of legislation would get in the way of rebuilding so it's given itself the power to void all of it. Which kinda points out that it might just have been a bit too complicated for us regular folks to get building consents prior to the Quake.

First Gollum, now Anakin

We previously noted Gollum's conflicting psychiatric diagnoses, which seemed to point more to the problems of diagnosing and categorizing mental illnesses than to anything in particular about Gollum (who I still think was just twisted by the Ring - Alberich's curse or Sauron's...).

Now we find that Anakin Skywalker may have suffered from borderline personality disorder.

"I had watched the two prequel movies ["Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith"], and it was during my residency in psychiatry while trying to explain borderline personality disorder to medical students that I thought of Anakin," said Eric Bui, a psychiatrist at Toulouse University Hospital in France.

Bui and his colleagues first presented their diagnosis at the annual convention of the American Psychiatric Association in 2007. Now, their letter to the editor titled "Is Anakin Skywalker suffering from borderline personality disorder?" is slated to appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Psychiatry Research.

Skywalker hit six out of the nine borderline personality disorder criteria as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV). He only needed to meet five criteria to qualify as suffering from the disorder.

...
Two displays of dissociative episodes took place when Skywalker tried to distance himself from stressful events. The first episode took place after he slaughtered a local tribe of Tuskens responsible for his mother's death. A second episode occurred following his murderous rampage among young Jedi trainees, as he voiced paranoid thoughts about Obi-Wan Kenobi and his wife.

Leaving aside my general anti-Tusken prejudices, I'd have diagnosed Anakin first with gross stupidity. The evil guys tell you that the only way to make sure that your pregnant wife survives childbirth is to join up with the evil guys, and you don't even think to get her checked out by a medical droid first? Stupid stupid stupid. Incomprehensibly stupid, unless he was just looking for an excuse to join up with the bad guys all along. Or, unless Lucas was just fobbing stuff off in the first three episodes and expecting any of it to make sense is hopeless. Red Letter Media nailed it.

I wonder if the Bui letter will generate the same storm of competing diagnoses that followed the initial Gollum diagnosis.