Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

kulesa.substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 112 posts

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#71

Post by lostcolony »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #56
qqtt wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the very least we can recognize that "market value" and "aesthetic value" are two different things. The only thing you are really measuring when looking at the economics of art is the "market value" so the other thing you have to pass over in silence, as Wittgenstein would say. The art world is notorious for being a tax avoidance scheme, on top of money laundering and all sorts of other related activities. Tying m…

> Tying market value and aesthetic value in the art world makes about as much sense as introducing the concept of "aesthetic value" when talking about Apple's stock price. What about introducing it when talking about GameStop's stock price?

So artistry has long included subverting people's expectations and perspectives. That doesn't mean aesthetics, which is linked to artistry, is the same as the thing being subverted, or innately measured in the same way as how subverted the thing is.

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#72

Post by jhayward »

kqr wrote: post #37
keiferski wrote: post #14

The section on art collecting highlights the limitations of an economics-based approach to defining "talent." Cowen is an economist and this colors his entire approach. “You learn about other cultures, you learn different points of view by refining your eye and you develop a skill that is extremely useful for judging other things and cracking cultural codes in other settings. It’s an education in market economics - a…

> there is very little connection between "aesthetic value" and "market value." Wait, so how do you determine this "aesthetic value" if not by how much people are willing to work to acquire it? Your personal opinion? Some authority figure? Maths?

Let me reverse your question: why would you use "how much oligarchic wealth someone has" or, possibly, "how intent on money laundering the buyer is", to determine aesthetic value?

Because that's how art is sold today.

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#73

Post by blacktriangle »

Steer wrote: post #70
keiferski wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Philosophers, artists, and other thinkers have written about aesthetics for thousands of years. Truly answering your question would take a long time, but a short version might be something like: the collective opinions of a diverse group of highly informed and experienced (not necessarily educated as in a university) individuals. But that's just one approach and there are many others. Even then, anything is probably…

This reminds me of a debate we're having in Sweden presently around architecture. Most contemporary architects seem to prefer buildings as big concrete blocks while most "common folk" would prefer something... less modern? A perfect example is the new art museum which you can see here https://www.svd.se/liljevalchs-tillbyggnad--ett-bankvalv-for... . I personally find it revolting, but am I then the person without tas…

It's not you, it's them. That building is revolting.

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#74

Post by 1123581321 »

adlorger wrote: post #41
bwanab wrote: post #28

I highly recommend his blog/newsletter “Marginal Revolution”.

prob safe to assume that almost everyone who has clicked into a HN article mentioning TC is already very familiar with MR

I may be a minority but I’ve only heard his podcast.

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#75

Post by Symmetry »

adlorger wrote: post #41
bwanab wrote: post #28

I highly recommend his blog/newsletter “Marginal Revolution”.

prob safe to assume that almost everyone who has clicked into a HN article mentioning TC is already very familiar with MR

Everybody has to go through the lucky 10,000 at some point. https://xkcd.com/1053/

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#76

Post by emtel »

colinmhayes wrote: post #45
drpgq wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Econtalk is a pretty good podcast that's similar.

Russ tries really hard to keep an open mind, but especially now that he's getting more into political philosophy I find it hard to take him seriously depending on the guest. It can be interesting to listen to his shit takes for a while, but it grows tiresome pretty quickly.

Wow, is there some other Russ Roberts with a podcast? I can't believe you'd say this. He's the most thoughtful, humble, and introspective interviewer I'm aware of. What in the world do you mean by "shit takes"?

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#77

Post by caycep »

borroka wrote: post #63
Dumblydorr wrote: post #51

What a sensational title, it's so tech-focused and the article fetishizes smartness in a bizarre way. There are talent curators in every single field, for instance from baseball, this reminds me of those old advisors in the movie Moneyball, who look at how people seem to be rather than using actual evidence of prior performance. Where is the quantification of TC's magical power? It's narrative, not numbers. The artic…

Am I the only one here who thinks TC knows nothing about many things and his main skill is putting himself out there? I admire his range and understanding and use of the halo effect, but when he talks about some of the fields I know, I can't help but notice that he waves his hands more than those airfield attendants who tell pilots how to move runaway planes.

I glance at his blog on my RSS reader...he likes to talk and can talk intelligently. My (layperson) gist is that his economist posts are middling at best, but he is a decent consumer of art and culture at least

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#78

Post by mrosett »

drpgq wrote: post #19
legitster wrote: post #13

Cowen is truly unique. He's one of the only "public intellectuals" who has replied to my random emails on multiple occasions. Everyone should listen to some episodes of Conversations with Tyler. I normally hate interview podcasts, but it is bar none the best one out there. It doesn't matter the topic - the questions he is able to hit his subjects with are amazing, nothing at all like how most interviews go.

Econtalk is a pretty good podcast that's similar.

I like Econtalk, but I wish Russ would talk less. He sometimes goes on his own digressions that don't add much.

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#79

Post by borroka »

caycep wrote: post #77
borroka wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one here who thinks TC knows nothing about many things and his main skill is putting himself out there? I admire his range and understanding and use of the halo effect, but when he talks about some of the fields I know, I can't help but notice that he waves his hands more than those airfield attendants who tell pilots how to move runaway planes.

I glance at his blog on my RSS reader...he likes to talk and can talk intelligently. My (layperson) gist is that his economist posts are middling at best, but he is a decent consumer of art and culture at least

You make a good point, but I'd like to add an adverb: he can speak in a seemingly intelligent way about many topics.

Also, he is mostly a commentator, which is much easier than be a "creator" of something tangible, he is never put on the spot by anybody because he is TC and he has quick obscure comebacks that are challenging to address, like "I like Vietnamese cuisine", and he comes back with "but how has it changed since Vietnam moved to a more capitalistic society?". I mean, how come you answer that?

I am not hating on TC, he is a brilliant man, but for the life of me after his interviews (both as an interviewer and interviewee), I cannot remember a damn thing.

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#80

Post by nuclearnice3 »

blacktriangle wrote: post #73
Steer wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of a debate we're having in Sweden presently around architecture. Most contemporary architects seem to prefer buildings as big concrete blocks while most "common folk" would prefer something... less modern? A perfect example is the new art museum which you can see here https://www.svd.se/liljevalchs-tillbyggnad--ett-bankvalv-for... . I personally find it revolting, but am I then the person without tas…

It's not you, it's them. That building is revolting.

I looked up the architect, Gert Wingårdh. Wikipedia reports his father owned the local cement factory.
Post reply on HN