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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   30074 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 12, 2024

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What does the histogram look like? A bimodal distribution is compatible with the poverty->crime theory.

The nation’s capital is next door; they’re included in the same pay scale. I doubt white-collar policy wonks are smashing windows for drug money. But they’re definitely bringing up that GDP per capita.

I believe Jordan Peterson once said the strongest correlation in social science is between income inequality in a place and the rate of male homicide -- and the second-strongest is between IQ and various indicators of life success.

It would not at all surprise me to find such a bimodal distribution in a place known for criminality, if that correlation is indeed as strong as he let on.

I'm still quite sad about what happened to JP. Benzos, and getting off Benzos, definitely did a number on him. His podcast isn't that bad, but dunno what's going on with his Twitter. Canada also did him really dirty and put a huge chip on his shoulder.

As you can see the among EU and US states, those which have the lowest gdp per capita are all EU ones. Yet the states, EU or US, which have the lowest murder rate per capita are also all EU ones. Any explanation why relies upon microgeography to explain away the anti-correlation shown @johnfabian, must look at the wider picture.

The bimodal distribution is an argument against using average GDP to assume away poverty. Clearly, poor people can exist even when wealthy ones are nearby.

Is it actually anti-correlated? I would expect two similar curves, each with a negative correlation between wealth and murders. But one of them was flattened by two world wars and an iron curtain. I can’t draw plots at the moment, but I bet you could make all sorts of correlations with the right gerrymandering.

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