Apr
9
2026

It's the Bug That Hums

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Bryan Caplan has an interesting approach to some thorny questions: The Philosophy of Bah. And I'll boldface the one I'm most interested in:

During my early years in philosophy, I was almost intellectually paralyzed by the subject’s seemingly impossible challenges. Challenges like…

Prove the external world exists. No proof? Then you can’t reject solipsism.

Prove you actually know anything. No proof? Then you can’t reject radical skepticism.

Prove all your memories aren’t fabricated. No proof? Then you can’t reject memory skepticism.

Prove you even exist as a durable mental being. No proof? Then you can’t reject Hume’s dissolution of the self.

Prove any mental states exist. No proof? Then you can’t reject eliminative materialism.

Prove your sense of free will isn’t an illusion. No proof? Then you can’t reject determinism.

Prove you know anything is morally right or wrong. No proof? Then you can’t reject moral nihilism.

What does he recommend?

[Michael] Huemer called it “intuitionism,” but it’s largely a rebranding of the pre-existing “philosophy of common sense.” The Huemerian response to all of the preceding demands for “proof” boils down to, “It’s obvious! End of story.” The less terse version: “The point of a proof is to move from more obvious propositions to less obvious propositions. So demands for ‘proof’ of the most obvious propositions are confused.” The maximally terse version, though, is a simple: “Bah!"

It's interesting that the most steadfast free-will deniers ("determinists") don't seem to also buy into those other beliefs: solipsism, radical skepticism, memory skepticism, self-dissolution, eliminative materialism, moral nihilism.

Is the reality of free will somehow different from the other things Bryan lists that we can't "prove"? Something to think about when I'm having difficulty falling asleep, I guess.

Also of note:

  • Fortunately, I'm not in the market yet. George Will sometimes can't resist tweaking the statists: A casket cartel tries to bury the competition.

    “You’re doin’ fine, Oklahoma!” — Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein (1943)

    No, you’re not. The waving wheat might sure smell sweet when the wind comes right behind the rain, but there is an unpleasantly pungent aroma surrounding the rent-seeking you allow. Would that Oklahoma’s legislators took the U.S. Constitution as seriously as they take caskets.

    In the town of Calvin, the married couple Candi Mentink and Todd Collard conceived an entrepreneurial idea that their state’s law says is forbidden. They sell inexpensive caskets wrapped in vinyl graphic designs depicting hunting, fishing, religious motifs, sports teams’ logos, perhaps even the likeness of famous Oklahomans. Imagine whiling away eternity in a Mickey Mantle casket. Heavenly.

    I have no idea what New Hampshire's casket regulations are. I hope I won't need to find out.

  • No Queens? That would seem to be an issue over in Maine, as Jonathan Turley narrates The Maine Event: Shenna Bellows Runs for Governor on Unconstitutional Effort to Bar Trump from Ballot.

    Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is actually running for governor on her willingness to take flagrantly unconstitutional action. Bellows is touting her removal of Trump from the ballot, an effort that led to a unanimous Supreme Court swatting down Colorado and Maine. Bellows is virtually giddy recounting her efforts to stymie democracy and prevent voters from casting their ballots for the man who ultimately won the election.

    Democrats have been running this year on the pledges to launch a virtual roundup of Trump officials and supporters for investigations and impeachments. New York congressional candidate George Conway is pledging to change impeachment rules to secure the removal of President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. However, Bellows, the former ACLU executive director in Maine, is parading her willingness to do things barred by the Constitution.

    Campaigning on an unconstitutional act rejected 9-0 by the Supreme Court (including three liberal justices) truly captures this age of rage. It is the equivalent to how mobsters “make their bones” by whacking someone. Bellows is effectively saying that she was willing to do what other Democrats were unwilling to do: violate the Constitution.

    The spittle-flecked folks outraged (with reason) about Trump's various efforts to skirt the Constitution seem to be pretty quiet about Shenna.

  • Sorry for the repetition, but: No Queens! At Cato, Norbert Michel and Nicholas Anthony offer some advice to Fauxcahontas: Leave MrBeast Alone, Senator Warren!

    Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson is the latest target in Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D‑MA) crosshairs.

    For anyone who might be unfamiliar, MrBeast has built an empire on YouTube. He got his start with gaming videos and silly stunts like counting to 100,000, but he has since changed the lives of countless people for the better. In addition to giving away hundreds of millions of dollars, MrBeast has built 100 wells in Africa, paid for thousands of people with disabilities to receive medical treatment, and much more.

    Yet, it’s his latest venture that has caught Senator Warren’s attention. Senator Warren is concerned that MrBeast is expanding to financial services after purchasing the banking app Step. MrBeast said he started the venture because he wanted “to give millions of young people the financial foundation I never had.” Senator Warren wants to know how the North Carolinian entrepreneur plans to make that work—asking for answers about how the company markets to younger audiences, its approach to cryptocurrency, and its banking partners.

    Is there any innovative venture out there that she won't look to shut down?