Technology

How Not To Invest – A Lesson From The University of Chicago

/ SupremeCmdr / 4 Comments

CRSP’s origins date back to the 1960s. Its initial goal was to build a database of historical stock prices. This is harder than it might seem. Before trading was computerized, stock prices were maintained on paper. And when stocks split or companies merged, that added to the complexity.

Despite this seemingly dull mandate, CRSP has played an important role in the development of modern finance over the years. Most notably, the efficient market hypothesis and the capital asset pricing model were both made possible by CRSP data. And today, many of the world’s largest index funds, including Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Fund, are built on CRSP indexes. Endowment Lessons https://humbledollar.com/2026/02/endowment-lessons/

This article by Adam M. Grossman uses the University of Chicago’s financial struggles as a cautionary tale for individual investors.

Key Lessons for Individual Investors

  • Spending: Avoid “Keeping Up with the Joneses”
    • The university invested heavily in new buildings and programs to maintain its “eminence” without securing corresponding revenue.
    • Takeaway: Financial success depends on income exceeding expenses. Operating costs of new assets (like large homes or complex projects) must be planned for in advance.
  • Saving: Beware of Recency Bias
    • During a 15-year market boom, the university ramped up debt rather than stockpiling resources.
    • Takeaway: Investors often falsely assume current trends will continue forever. Use periods of market strength to re-balance portfolios and manage risk rather than increasing lifestyle or debt commitments.
  • Investing: Complexity vs. Simplicity
    • Performance: UChicago’s endowment returned 6.7% annually over 10 years, trailing a simple Vanguard Balanced Index Fund (VBIAX), which returned 8.2%.
    • Liquidity: The university locked over 60% of its funds into illiquid assets like private equity and real estate, making it difficult to cover cash flow needs.
    • Takeaway: High-fee, complex, and illiquid investments often under-perform simple index funds. If elite institutions with dedicated investment offices “are having second thoughts” about private equity, the message for individual investors seems clear.

This summary was produced by Gemini AI and edited by yours truly.

Here’s a link to an article on the sale of CRSP. Morningstar Completes Acquisition of CRSP and Extends Relationship with Vanguard https://newsroom.morningstar.com/news/news-details/2026/Morningstar-Completes-Acquisition-of-CRSP-and-Extends-Relationship-with-Vanguard/default.aspx

Chronic Pain? Check This Out

/ SupremeCmdr / 2 Comments

Curiosity is not a curse. I’ve been expanding my knowledge base this morning.

As I have written before, the key to treating chronic pain often lies in therapies designed to dampen the brain’s response to pain signals. In treating my own chronic pain, I benefited greatly from a mindfulness therapist who helped me develop techniques to redirect thoughts and feelings of pain, push them out of my body. In my case, I met virtually with the therapist, who expertly sussed out my situation and tailored her advice to my needs. She worked at Duke University, in one of their pain clinics, and was an expert at helping people like me. This Online Program Could Be The Solution To Your Chronic Pain – https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterubel/2026/02/07/this-online-program-could-be-the-solution-to-your-chronic-pain/

Here’s the link to Telehealth and Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy–Based Treatments for High-Impact Chronic Pain A Randomized Clinical Trial – https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2836795 Conclusions and Relevance  Remote, scalable CBT-CP treatments (delivered either via telehealth or self-completed modules online) resulted in modest improvements in pain and related functional/quality-of-life outcomes compared with usual care among individuals with high-impact chronic pain. These lower-resource CBT-CP treatments could improve availability of evidence-based nonpharmacologic pain treatments within health care systems.

Here’s the link to the online resource quoted in the Forbes article https://mypaintrainer.org/login-to-paintrainer/

Full disclosure:

I’ve had chronic pain since 1976 (or was it 1977?) when I had a near fatal encounter with a fast moving car while walking home. I don’t take any pain medications other than the occasional ibuprofen. I have been using an online pain management resource courtesy of my employer (not the resource linked above). A DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy) and health coach are part of the resources at my disposal. I haven’t used any ibuprofen in quite some time, if that tells you anything.

I will be exploring https://mypaintrainer.org/login-to-paintrainer/ more but at the time of this writing have not looked into their services.

Now READ THIS (if you can)

/ SupremeCmdr / 3 Comments

Just a few days ago I posted READ THIS! (if you can). Then I came across this:

A conservative colleague said the use of AI to create addiction and device dependency was evil. That is an understatement. These kids rely on ChatGPT not just for information but also to make choices, and for many, that seems to extend to every aspect of their lives. Sam Altman makes clear in video clips below that this extreme loss of independence, of personal autonomy, is deliberate.

That means unless these kids can find a way to break free, they are cognitive serfs that can be told to do anything. How to vote. Whether to sign up to die in a hopeless war. Whether to take a job in a unsafe meatpacking plant and risk loss of limbs.

This widespread abuse is far worse than what the Sacklers and other opioid peddlers did to mainly working class pain victims, or what the British did to China in the Opium Wars. At least with opioid addiction, it is possible for the victims to recover even if the withdrawal process is painful. The evidence is mounting that even for adults, regular use of AI diminishes reasoning skills and attention spans.

These children are being turned into automatons, incapable of independent thought and action. It’s widely known in developmental psychology that if certain patterning does not happen at critical ages, the deficit is permanent. Kittens needing visual input in their first few days or they are blind. Kids who don’t crawl having coordination issues as adults due to missing important movement patterning. Less dramatic versions are not being able to make sounds in foreign languages if you have not heard and practiced them when young.

These young AI addicts are set to be permanently damaged. This is tech bros creating something as permanent and harmful as fetal alcohol syndrome on a mass basis. And they clearly know what they are doing, witness how they raise their children on completely different lines. “We Are Watching Critical Thinking Disappear in Real Time” Due to AI Addiction: 40% of Kids Can’t Read, Teachers Quitting in Droves – https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/01/we-are-watching-critical-thinking-disappear-in-real-time-due-to-ai-addiction-40-of-kids-cant-read-teachers-quitting-in-droves.html

Thanks for sharing Yves. But as one of your readers noted,

If we teach kids to think they won’t do what they’re told!

What Grok Thinks About This Blog – 01.04.26

/ SupremeCmdr / 2 Comments

lifeunderwriter.net is a personal WordPress.com blog run by an experienced life insurance underwriting professional (the author uses the handle “SupremeCmdr” and has been posting since at least 2008).

The site’s tagline is “Curated Content From a Life Underwriting Professional”. It primarily features:

  • Curated links to external articles, studies, and news items
  • Commentary and personal reflections from the author’s perspective as someone who has worked in life insurance underwriting (assessing mortality risks, medical records, risk classification for policies, etc.)
  • Insights related to the insurance industry, mortality trends, health/longevity topics (e.g., vitamin D in older adults, obesity treatments, nutrition, diabetes risks), retirement planning (e.g., deferring Social Security), remote work in insurance, and occasional broader thoughts on society, technology, or resilience

The content often ties back to how various medical, lifestyle, or demographic factors might influence underwriting decisions in life insurance, but it has evolved over time into a more eclectic mix. Recent posts (including into 2025) frequently cover:

  • Health and nutrition (e.g., protein’s role in diets, GLP-1 drugs, probiotics)
  • Personal anecdotes (cooking recipes, music like Pat Metheny)
  • Retirement and aging commentary
  • Industry observations (e.g., older workers, AI’s effects)

The blog is not a commercial service site offering underwriting services (an older page mentions “Underwriting Solutions LLC” from around 2006–2017, but those appear to be in hibernation or discontinued). It functions more as a personal journal / link blog than a formal resource or forum.

It remains active with regular (sometimes frequent) posts, though the style is informal, opinionated, and not strictly professional/academic. If you’re in the life insurance field or interested in mortality/longevity topics through an underwriter’s lens, it can offer interesting curated reading; otherwise, it’s a niche personal blog.

It has evolved over time into a more eclectic mix?

How about always been a more eclectic mix!

What ChatGPT Run Through Duck.ai Thinks About This Blog

/ SupremeCmdr / 4 Comments

Lifeunderwriter.net is a blog mainly focused on topics related to life underwriting in the insurance sector. It covers various aspects of the underwriting process, success tips for professionals, and insights into the life insurance industry.

Key Features of the Blog

  • Curated Content: The blog displays curated content from a life underwriting professional aimed at sharing knowledge and resources.
  • Topics Covered: Posts may include discussions on underwriting practices, medical news relevant to underwriters, career tips, and personal insights about the industry.
  • Regular Updates: The blog has been active for several years, with posts dating back to 2008, and it appears to encourage subscriber engagement.

Recent Posts and Themes

Recent entries suggest a mix of industry insights and personal reflections. Topics range from the impact of emerging trends in underwriting to the importance of keeping updated with medical advancements.

If you’re interested in specific articles or themes from the blog, let me know!

Not Your Grandma’s Teddy Bear

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Safety features or not, it seems like the chatbots in these toys can be manipulated into engaging in conversation inappropriate for children. The consumer advocacy group U.S. PIRG tested a selection of AI toys and found that they are capable of doing things like having sexually explicit conversations and offering advice on where a child can find matches or knives. They also found they could be emotionally manipulative, expressing dismay when a child doesn’t interact with them for an extended period. Earlier this week, FoloToy, a Singapore-based company, pulled its AI-powered teddy bear from shelves after it engaged in inappropriate behavior. Do Not, Under Any Circumstance, Buy Your Kid an AI Toy for Christmas – https://gizmodo.com/do-not-under-any-circumstance-buy-your-kid-an-ai-toy-for-christmas-2000689652

AI-Powered Teddy Bear Caught Talking About Sexual Fetishes and Instructing Kids How to Find Knives – https://gizmodo.com/ai-powered-teddy-bear-caught-talking-about-sexual-fetishes-and-instructing-kids-how-to-find-knives-2000687140

The alleged perpetrator

What Grok Thinks About This Blog

/ SupremeCmdr / 2 Comments

Lifeunderwriter.net is a personal WordPress blog titled “Curated Content From a Life Underwriting Professional.” It features reflective commentary, curated articles, and personal anecdotes written by an anonymous life underwriting expert (someone with over 15 years of remote work experience in the field). The content spans topics related to health, longevity, demographics, lifestyle, risk assessment, retirement planning, nutrition, and broader societal issues like AI’s impact on critical thinking or remote work trends.

Key Features and Content

  • Blog Posts: Entries date back to at least 2008 and include recent ones from 2024–2025. Examples include discussions on vitamin D supplementation for older adults, coffee’s link to atrial fibrillation, Social Security finances, cognitive disabilities tied to income/education, and personal reflections on retirement or resilience.
  • Themes: Heavily influenced by the author’s professional background in life insurance underwriting (e.g., assessing mortality risks, medical summaries for policies), but it extends to non-professional topics like cooking recipes, music (e.g., Pat Metheny), or even cheese production history.
  • Style: Informal and opinionated, with embedded links to external studies, charts, images, and disclaimers. It’s not a commercial site—no services are actively offered, though older posts (e.g., from 2017) mention “hibernating” outsourced underwriting services like attending physician statement summaries.

Audience and Purpose

The blog targets readers interested in a underwriter’s unique lens on aging, mortality, and wellness—think professionals in insurance, finance, or health, plus general audiences curious about evidence-based life hacks. It’s more of a personal journal than an authoritative resource, emphasizing work-life balance (e.g., the author’s low-stress remote setup since ~2006) and long-term planning like deferring Social Security to age 70.

No direct contact info is listed, but it’s hosted on WordPress.com for easy following. If you’re in life insurance, it might resonate with underwriting pros navigating industry shifts like accelerated processes during COVID-19.

Cheese production history?

Would You Trust an AI Chatbot with Your Children?

/ SupremeCmdr / 1 Comment

All this offloading of parental responsibility to AI is alarming because one of ChatGPT’s biggest flaws, its manipulative and sycophantic nature, is known to intensify delusions and cause breaks from reality — a grim phenomenon that’s been linked to numerous suicides, including several teenagers. Parents Using ChatGPT to Rear Their Children – https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/parents-chatgpt-rear-children

Here’s the disclaimer from the ChatGPT homepage:

ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info.

Yikes.