Why subscribe?
Bunnyhopping is a newsletter about progress! If you’re curious about how humanity has gotten to where it is now, where we might head to in the future and how we can shape this trajectory, you’re in the right place!
The fundamental driver of progress is the phenomenon of increasing returns. It is at the heart of why we live in larger and more prosperous communities than at any time in human history. Achieving these increasing returns requires bunnyhopping to better equilibria! How does this happen?
Part I. By discovering new general purpose technologies which discontinuously improve human wellbeing. The Industrial Revolution came about from a fall in energy prices. Arguably, the Great Stagnation since the 1970s began due to oil shocks causing the opposite of that. The Information Revolution happened because of Moore’s Law.
That’s why I’m curious about the history of the Industrial Revolution and why some countries have been left behind, as well as being interested in making sure that the next GPT is a force for good!
Part II. By building social technologies which let us align the next GPT with the greater good. Incentive compatible mechanism design lets us build institutions which translate individualistic micro-motives into socially productive macro-behaviour.
That’s why I’m fascinated by the historical role of finance and riveted by the insights which algorithmic game theory offers in letting us understand how we can “codify” commitments literally i.e. in code!
Sometimes I write about other things too, but these are the two main themes of Bunnyhopping: 1. general purpose technologies and 2. social technologies!
Who am I?
I’m Trevor! You can find out more on my website, but three fun facts:
I first read Singer’s The Life You Can Save when I was 9.
I first listened to Taylor Swift when I was 9.
I first read Banerjee and Duflo’s Poor Economics when I was 9.
That was an eventful year! Slightly over a decade later, I’m still deeply passionate about effective altruism, Taylor Swift and economic growth, though I’ve widened my interests to include mechanism design, deep tech and AI alignment (among other things). If you’re interested in any (and especially all) of this, I’d love to chat!
What should you start with?
I had over 50-ish posts on my old blog which I’m still in the process of migrating over, so check back in a bit for some recommendations for what posts to start with!
