Marginal Revolution https://marginalrevolution.com/ Small Steps Toward A Much Better World Sun, 12 Apr 2026 22:35:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://marginalrevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/cropped-MR-logo-thumbnail-32x32.png Marginal REVOLUTION https://marginalrevolution.com/ 32 32 42693868 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/self-driving-vehicles-and-the-cross-country-drive.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=self-driving-vehicles-and-the-cross-country-drive Self-driving vehicles and the cross-country drive https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953708828/0/marginalrevolution~Selfdriving-vehicles-and-the-crosscountry-drive.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/self-driving-vehicles-and-the-cross-country-drive.html#respond Mon, 13 Apr 2026 04:51:26 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92815 Following my post on cross-country driving, a reader asked me about this prospect but I suppose I am skeptical. First, self-driving vehicles make it too easy to read a book or stare at your phone.  Driving yourself fixes your attention on what is unfolding before your eyes, and forces you to keep it there.  You […]

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]]> Following my post on cross-country driving, a reader asked me about this prospect but I suppose I am skeptical.

First, self-driving vehicles make it too easy to read a book or stare at your phone.  Driving yourself fixes your attention on what is unfolding before your eyes, and forces you to keep it there.  You might be bored for an hour, but you will catch periodic gems by always looking at the road before you and to the side.

Second, at least for a while self-driving vehicles will not be allowed to exceed speed limits.  Good luck with that.  A lot of America is marked at 25 mph when you can go 36 mph or maybe even 37 mph in a responsible manner.

Third, many of the best moments in cross-country driving come from the unexpected swerve — “hey, that looks interesting!”  And half of the time it is not.  Will the self-driving vehicle know when you might wish to swerve and pull over?

Fourth, there is something to be said for integrating the rhythms of your body with those of the car.  When you drive yourself, you feel the trip in a way the Waymo does not give you.  I would stress this point is a negative for most car trips, though perhaps not for a cross-country drive.  If you do not enjoy driving through the USA, maybe do not do the cross-country thing at all?  Walking through Paris or Istanbul remains a lovely alternative.

Automation and better AI might eventually solve or address some of those problems.  But the next available round of self-driving vehicles probably will not.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/self-driving-vehicles-and-the-cross-country-drive.html/feed 0 92815 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/orban-concedes.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=orban-concedes Orbán concedes https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953700443/0/marginalrevolution~Orb%c3%a1n-concedes.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/orban-concedes.html#comments Sun, 12 Apr 2026 21:47:37 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92820 And that is in Hungary, which does not have much of a democratic tradition.  People who suggest that democracy seriously is in danger in the United States need to rethink their world views (this claim however is slightly exaggerated).  The problem instead is that democracy does not always bring you desired results…

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]]> And that is in Hungary, which does not have much of a democratic tradition.  People who suggest that democracy seriously is in danger in the United States need to rethink their world views (this claim however is slightly exaggerated).  The problem instead is that democracy does not always bring you desired results…

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/orban-concedes.html/feed 91 92820 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/my-dialogue-with-jonathan-zittrain.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=my-dialogue-with-jonathan-zittrain My dialogue with Jonathan Zittrain https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953695391/0/marginalrevolution~My-dialogue-with-Jonathan-Zittrain.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/my-dialogue-with-jonathan-zittrain.html#comments Sun, 12 Apr 2026 17:45:48 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92813 At Harvard Law School, Jonathan is consistently excellent.

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At Harvard Law School, Jonathan is consistently excellent.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/my-dialogue-with-jonathan-zittrain.html/feed 3 92813 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/sunday-assorted-links-562.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sunday-assorted-links-562 Sunday assorted links https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953693807/0/marginalrevolution~Sunday-assorted-links.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/sunday-assorted-links-562.html#comments Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:14:35 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92806 1. Have recessions disappeared? 2. Humans are losing the fight against flying fish (WSJ). 3. In this study expert judges preferred the AI writing. 4. Helium is hard to replace. 5. Does using AI for legal research and work limit later comprehension? (No, it seems) 6. Can the CCP contain LLMs?

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]]> 1. Have recessions disappeared?

2. Humans are losing the fight against flying fish (WSJ).

3. In this study expert judges preferred the AI writing.

4. Helium is hard to replace.

5. Does using AI for legal research and work limit later comprehension? (No, it seems)

6. Can the CCP contain LLMs?

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/sunday-assorted-links-562.html/feed 64 92806 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/staged-homes-sell-for-more-than-empty-homes.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=staged-homes-sell-for-more-than-empty-homes Staged homes sell for more than empty homes https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953677208/0/marginalrevolution~Staged-homes-sell-for-more-than-empty-homes.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/staged-homes-sell-for-more-than-empty-homes.html#comments Sun, 12 Apr 2026 07:12:43 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92809 We examine the economic impact of non-consumable visual cues through home staging on high-stakes housing transactions. Using hand-collected listing photos for 15,777 transactions and a machine-learning algorithm to detect furniture, we provide the first large-scale evidence that staged homes sell for roughly 10% more and one week faster than comparable homes without furniture. Our pre-registered […]

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We examine the economic impact of non-consumable visual cues through home staging on high-stakes housing transactions. Using hand-collected listing photos for 15,777 transactions and a machine-learning algorithm to detect furniture, we provide the first large-scale evidence that staged homes sell for roughly 10% more and one week faster than comparable homes without furniture. Our pre-registered online experiment establishes causality and uncovers mechanisms. We find that furniture clarifies spatial use, while decor enhances emotional attachment, jointly driving the higher willingness-to-pay. These findings demonstrate how visual cues impact high-stakes decisions and systematically shape valuations in the largest asset market for households.

That is from Puja Bhattacharya, et.al., via the excellent Kevin Lewis.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/staged-homes-sell-for-more-than-empty-homes.html/feed 34 92809 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/another-possible-cyberequilibrium-from-my-email.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=another-possible-cyberequilibrium-from-my-email Another possible cyberequilibrium? (from my email) https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953674061/0/marginalrevolution~Another-possible-cyberequilibrium-from-my-email.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/another-possible-cyberequilibrium-from-my-email.html#comments Sun, 12 Apr 2026 04:21:46 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92811 I would not wish to bet on this, but it is an interesting idea: I wonder if the cyber capabilities of Mythos and future models ultimately lower the returns to ‘hacking,’ perhaps below the point where such efforts are worth investing in. Say you’re a nefarious actor and uncover a critical, zero-day exploit in an […]

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]]> I would not wish to bet on this, but it is an interesting idea:

I wonder if the cyber capabilities of Mythos and future models ultimately lower the returns to ‘hacking,’ perhaps below the point where such efforts are worth investing in.

Say you’re a nefarious actor and uncover a critical, zero-day exploit in an important system. How do you extract the most value from that exploit? There are more valuable and less valuable times to deploy it, and usually the best time won’t be “immediately.” You may only get to deploy it once or a small number of times. You have to consider:

  1. How long do I expect the vulnerability to persist?
  2. What material gain do I get by exploiting it at a given time?
  3. How does exploiting it increase my personal risk (by focusing countermeasures in my direction)?

The answer to (1) is now “a much shorter time than before”, while 2 and 3 are mostly unchanged. In the new world, yes, exploits are much easier to find, but the expected value of a given exploit has also shrunk. The odds of an opportune moment falling within the ‘window of usefulness’ of that exploit are much lower. It’s plausible that the new equilibrium becomes “it’s not even worth spending money to find vulnerabilities in most systems, because the chances of being able to do something useful with it before it’s patched is close to zero.”

Much of the fear around cybersecurity vulnerabilities is something like: our adversaries accumulate a pile of highly damaging (to physical infrastructure, military assets, communication systems, …) exploits, which in the event of a conflict they then rapidly deploy to cause damage. Mythos would seem to favor defense here, because the usable lifetime of any exploit is much shorter. Any cyberattack that is timing-dependent now has lower utility.

Yes, there are more mundane cybersecurity concerns like ransomware or data theft, but these aren’t hugely significant in the scheme of things. And I would expect within a few years we’ll have fairly robust tools for automated vulnerability discovery and patching that any large business that cares about these things can deploy.

No doubt this assumes you can trust those in control of the leading-edge models. But even if you’re a bit behind, the situation may not be so bad. There isn’t an infinite supply of exploits, and again, most of them only need to be found ‘fast enough’ in order to mitigate the damage.

From Jacob Gloudemans.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/another-possible-cyberequilibrium-from-my-email.html/feed 25 92811 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/the-wisdom-of-roon.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-wisdom-of-roon The wisdom of Roon https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953664170/0/marginalrevolution~The-wisdom-of-Roon.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/the-wisdom-of-roon.html#comments Sat, 11 Apr 2026 19:09:53 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92807 renaissance rationalization is a process that commodified itself rapidly: despite the europeans discovering most technology during the early modern period it spread everywhere within a few centuries, and the rate of spread has been increasing dramatically knowledge of the scientific frontier dissipates around the world faster as science has enabled better communication technologies. it’s getting even […]

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renaissance rationalization is a process that commodified itself rapidly: despite the europeans discovering most technology during the early modern period it spread everywhere within a few centuries, and the rate of spread has been increasing dramatically

knowledge of the scientific frontier dissipates around the world faster as science has enabled better communication technologies. it’s getting even faster with INTELLIGENCE technologies which actually explain themselves and help you build them

as we approach more powerful intelligence, the ability to train powerful models is self commodifying rather than building a huge and runaway advantage for a handful of recursive self improvers. this is one reason why you should expect almost all of the benefits of superintelligence to be captured by the public

Here is the tweet.  That said, it would be useful to relax constraints on the supply of both energy and land, so that the benefits could diffuse more widely yet.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/the-wisdom-of-roon.html/feed 41 92807 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/saturday-assorted-links-556.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=saturday-assorted-links-556 Saturday assorted links https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953660417/0/marginalrevolution~Saturday-assorted-links.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/saturday-assorted-links-556.html#comments Sat, 11 Apr 2026 16:20:03 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92805 1. What is the chance we live inside a black hole? 2. Observations on ambition, though it is sad he does not grasp the value of Jiro. 3. A brief history of lab notebooks. 4. “Hero rat who sniffed out over 100 land mines is honored with giant statue.” 5. The new LACMA (NYT).  And […]

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]]> 1. What is the chance we live inside a black hole?

2. Observations on ambition, though it is sad he does not grasp the value of Jiro.

3. A brief history of lab notebooks.

4. “Hero rat who sniffed out over 100 land mines is honored with giant statue.”

5. The new LACMA (NYT).  And Hausa erotica, published on WhatsApp (NYT).

6. Henry Oliver on Buddenbrooks.

7. “Play chess with Yoko Ono.“

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/saturday-assorted-links-556.html/feed 59 92805 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/struan-moffett-on-south-africa-from-my-email.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=struan-moffett-on-south-africa-from-my-email Struan Moffett on South Africa (from my email) https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953646890/0/marginalrevolution~Struan-Moffett-on-South-Africa-from-my-email.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/struan-moffett-on-south-africa-from-my-email.html#comments Sat, 11 Apr 2026 09:09:20 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92810 I think one important point you missed is that South Africa’s recent (and ancient) history has forced the population to work quite aggressively through racial differences at speeds that other developed nations have not. ‘Racial harmony’ would be a stretch, but I would say that most (all?) South African’s have a ‘racial understanding’. South Africa […]

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I think one important point you missed is that South Africa’s recent (and ancient) history has forced the population to work quite aggressively through racial differences at speeds that other developed nations have not. ‘Racial harmony’ would be a stretch, but I would say that most (all?) South African’s have a ‘racial understanding’. South Africa is also very post-racial in the sense that most understand racial differences to actually be cultural differences – for myself, growing up English in Durban, I felt more of a kinship with educated Indians than with the (white) Afrikaners. It would make absolutely no sense from a strictly Western perspective that the English and the Afrikaners (both ‘white’) couldn’t be more different!

Here is my original post.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/struan-moffett-on-south-africa-from-my-email.html/feed 31 92810 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/driving-cross-country.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=driving-cross-country Driving cross-country https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953641283/0/marginalrevolution~Driving-crosscountry.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/driving-cross-country.html#comments Sat, 11 Apr 2026 04:33:47 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92781 I have driven cross-country four times, at least if you count a 3/4 trip as valid.  I also have driving experience in virtually all states, including Hawaii and Alaska, neither of which would be part of typical cross-country travel. I recommend this mode of transport highly, especially for the United States.  Here are a few […]

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]]> I have driven cross-country four times, at least if you count a 3/4 trip as valid.  I also have driving experience in virtually all states, including Hawaii and Alaska, neither of which would be part of typical cross-country travel.

I recommend this mode of transport highly, especially for the United States.  Here are a few observations:

No matter which route you take, so often Mexican food is your best option.

I most prefer the southern route, involving Memphis, Texas, and southern Utah/north rim of the Grand Canyon.  Do I have to tell you no major highways?

The extreme northern route is better than the middle route.  Visit Duluth.

The music you bring is essential.  While this will depend on your taste, in general try to have some regional music to match your route.  Dylan and also folk music sound good in most parts of the country.  CDs can be a better medium than online music for these trips.  Do not listen to music when you start your day’s drive, however, as you will end up burnt out.  Save it for after a few hours of driving.  Nor should you listen to too much high energy music.  Woody Guthrie is better than Led Zeppelin in this setting.

How much you should roll down car windows, vs. relying on air conditioning, is a critical decision.  The correct answer will depend on the route and time of year, but please do not screw this one up.  Usually I like windows down, but with raised windows you can hear the music better.

Salads in the Midwest can be good.

In Texas and Oklahoma you may see some amazing storms.  Texas is the best state for random food stops.

Use paper maps, GPS may bring you along too efficient a route.

Issues of children aside, optimal group size is two, no larger.  To avoid least common denominator effects.

You can do these trips at any pace you want, even an hour in a place can teach you a good deal.

You could do a trip simply by stopping in every interesting place in New Jersey, one of the smallest states.

I prefer Vermont to New Hampshire, at least for driving purposes.  I also prefer Montana to Wyoming, the latter for me being beautiful but somehow quite a boring state outside of Yellowstone?  You cannot spend too much time in Utah.

Oregon is one state where I never have been driving.  Is that a great loss?  I know only Portland there.

Driving cross country, or only parts of it, is the very best way to see America.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/driving-cross-country.html/feed 131 92781 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/what-should-i-ask-bob-spitz.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-should-i-ask-bob-spitz What should I ask Bob Spitz? https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953624618/0/marginalrevolution~What-should-I-ask-Bob-Spitz.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/what-should-i-ask-bob-spitz.html#comments Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:02:20 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92797 Yes I will be doing a Conversation with him, Wikipedia here.  I very much enjoyed his new book on the Rolling Stones, plus he has many older books of note, including on the 1969-1970 Knicks, Woodstock, Ronald Reagan, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Julia Child.  All good books!  He also for a while […]

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]]> Yes I will be doing a Conversation with him, Wikipedia here.  I very much enjoyed his new book on the Rolling Stones, plus he has many older books of note, including on the 1969-1970 Knicks, Woodstock, Ronald Reagan, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Julia Child.  All good books!  He also for a while worked as manager to both Bruce Springsteen and Elton John.

So what should I ask him?

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/what-should-i-ask-bob-spitz.html/feed 21 92797 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/friday-assorted-links-567.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=friday-assorted-links-567 Friday assorted links https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953621453/0/marginalrevolution~Friday-assorted-links.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/friday-assorted-links-567.html#comments Fri, 10 Apr 2026 15:31:24 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92780 1. Trump’s focus on cultural issues (NYT). 2. Claims about Mythos (speculations).  And a claim that the power of Mythos is being exaggerated. 3. The wage returns on industry credentials. 4. 2026 Roots of Progress blog-building intensive program. 5. Brian Albrecht reviews The Marginal Revolution. 6. Those new service sector jobs. 7. Harvard Crimson on […]

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]]> 1. Trump’s focus on cultural issues (NYT).

2. Claims about Mythos (speculations).  And a claim that the power of Mythos is being exaggerated.

3. The wage returns on industry credentials.

4. 2026 Roots of Progress blog-building intensive program.

5. Brian Albrecht reviews The Marginal Revolution.

6. Those new service sector jobs.

7. Harvard Crimson on Ludwig Straub.

8. How and why the Democratic Party has been evolving?  Less interest in predistribution?

9. The price of GPT Pro is being cut in half?

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/friday-assorted-links-567.html/feed 95 92780 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/a-market-based-solution-to-nba-draft-tanking.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-market-based-solution-to-nba-draft-tanking A market-based solution to NBA draft tanking? https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953617442/0/marginalrevolution~A-marketbased-solution-to-NBA-draft-tanking.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/a-market-based-solution-to-nba-draft-tanking.html#comments Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:53:03 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92812 Zach Lowe shares a tanking solution idea that came up in the GMs meeting that intrigued a few General Managers: A proposal to not get rid of the draft entirely, but get rid of the draft order. Every team gets 100 draft credits let’s say. You bid your draft credits on every individual slot in […]

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Zach Lowe shares a tanking solution idea that came up in the GMs meeting that intrigued a few General Managers:

A proposal to not get rid of the draft entirely, but get rid of the draft order. Every team gets 100 draft credits let’s say. You bid your draft credits on every individual slot in the draft. You can also trade your draft credits like a veteran player for 40 draft credits if you want to go in a rebuilding direction. As teams advance in the playoffs, they lose draft credits so the best teams would have less to bid on individual picks. So you can take all your credits and bid on the number 1 pick in the draft if you want. Or if you think next years draft is better, you roll your credits over.

Can that work?  Here is the tweet.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/a-market-based-solution-to-nba-draft-tanking.html/feed 50 92812 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/cape-town-estimate-of-the-day.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cape-town-estimate-of-the-day Cape Town estimate of the day https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953605124/0/marginalrevolution~Cape-Town-estimate-of-the-day.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/cape-town-estimate-of-the-day.html#comments Fri, 10 Apr 2026 09:22:55 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92795 From young professionals to the working poor, many Cape Town residents complain that out-of-control housing prices have forced them to live far from the jobs, affluent schools and healthy supermarkets available in the city center. They blame deep-pocketed tourists for occupying housing in prime locations and developers for pricing them out. Some 70 percent of […]

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From young professionals to the working poor, many Cape Town residents complain that out-of-control housing prices have forced them to live far from the jobs, affluent schools and healthy supermarkets available in the city center. They blame deep-pocketed tourists for occupying housing in prime locations and developers for pricing them out.

Some 70 percent of the downtown residential housing stock is dedicated to hotel rooms or short-term rentals, according to a report the city released last year.

“The city’s actually being upgraded for tourists,” said Lizanne Domingo, a telemarketer. She takes a daily two-hour commute to work each way because she can’t afford to live close to the city, she said. “It’s not for our own people because the cost of living is ridiculously expensive.”

…housing prices in the city have surged 38 percent over the past six years.

Here is more from the NYT.  It is one of the very best places in the world to visit right now.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/cape-town-estimate-of-the-day.html/feed 33 92795 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/south-african-profundities.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=south-african-profundities South African discussions https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953599292/0/marginalrevolution~South-African-discussions.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/south-african-profundities.html#comments Fri, 10 Apr 2026 04:53:00 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92778 These days South Africa is one of the best places to go to have interesting conversations.  Obviously an English-fluent country does have many people following Trump, Islam in Europe, and so on.  But you can have so many conversations about quite different topics, topics that are hardly covered in other parts of the world. Like […]

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]]> These days South Africa is one of the best places to go to have interesting conversations.  Obviously an English-fluent country does have many people following Trump, Islam in Europe, and so on.  But you can have so many conversations about quite different topics, topics that are hardly covered in other parts of the world.

Like South Africa.  But not only.  The southern part of Africa too.  People who live there are on the whole quite historically aware, since their history remains so influential on a day-to-day basis.  I recall being introduced to one person who is a “Huguenot,” as his ancestors came over with the 100 or so Huguenots who came to South Africa in the 1680s.  He is in fact a Huguenot.

Since the Gini coefficient of South Africa is about the same as the Gini coefficient of the world, South Africans are typically thinking about problems that are pretty close to the problems of the world as a whole.  That is not usually the case for say Americans or Brits.

Few South Africans will underrate the importance of Africa for the world’s future.

It is easy to get into conversations with people from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Congo, and sometimes Nigeria.  There are also readily accessible Jewish and Muslim communities, yet with perspectives different from what you might find elsewhere.

There is plenty of religion, if that is your interest.  Plenty of good music too, sometimes on the street.  An excellent arts scene, and past Kentridge probably you have not heard of any of the creators.  The art too gives you a lot to talk about.

All sorts of tribes and languages, many of which I had never heard of before.

The European parts of the citizenry have some pre-Enlightenment origins and overall do not seem incredibly Woke.   Your mileage there may vary, but again it is different from the educated classes in many other parts of the west.

Again for better or worse, but the “trad wife” phenomenon seems quite normal there, they might just use the word “wife.”

In some parts of the country, you can watch gentrification in reverse.

Most of all, South Africans have a finely-tuned sense of contingency.  Things for them could go pretty well, or they could go pretty badly.  Most people know that, and perhaps that is the greatest wisdom yet?  Many of the rest of us try to deny that.

Visiting South Africa makes so many things transparent, or at least less opaque.  Go!

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