Even though the human body has come a long way, the journey is far from over. What will the future look like? Will our technologies cure cancer, solve the obesity epidemic, and make people healthier and happier? Or are we headed towards a dystopia as described in WALL-E, where people are chronically ill weaklings who … Read more
The Story of Germs Most people think germs are invisible pests that cause disease. The less of them, the better. We disinfect our homes, food, and bodies with a collection of germ-killing weapons, including soap, bleach, and antibiotics. No one questions the assumption that cleaner is healthier. And for good reason. Sanitation and antibiotics has … Read more
The emerging and important new field of evolutionary medicine proposes that we have created an environment that is not well matched for our bodies. While farming led to more food and modern sanitation and medicine led to less infant mortality and increased longevity, there have been many cultural changes that have changed the interactions between … Read more
Some have called for a return to the Paleolithic lifestyle, since it is healthier than our modern world, where people lounge in chairs all day long and eat domesticated plants and animals, and drink coffee. But the short answer is that there is no ideal environment for the human body. For example, short legs helped … Read more
Running on Empty by Peter G. Peterson was written in 2004. It is a book on public policy by chairman of the Blackstone group. It is a good test to read such books on public policy many years later. The problems that Peterson warns about include the consequences of unfunded commitments in Social Security and … Read more
The comedian Tim Minchin said, in a somber graduation speech, “opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. But unlike assholes, they should be constantly and meticulously examined.” There is a certain amount of conceit necessary in life. If you are too humble, too self-aware, then you will play it too safe. But the opposite is … Read more
Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter Bernstein is a book about man’s constant battle against the forces of fate. This is a fight that has existed for millennia, and in each epoch, influenced by the dominant ideology of the time, we have dealt with risk differently. Bernstein outlines the evolution of … Read more
Risk Aversion Think of your wealth as a pile of bricks with large bricks as the foundation and with smaller bricks the higher you go. A brick that is removed from the top will be larger than the next brick you can add to the pile. The pain from losing a brick is greater than … Read more
Fibonacci Most people have heard of the Fibonacci series, but it is not only a source of amusement. If you divide any of the Fibonacci numbers by the next higher number, you will find that after 3, the answer is always 0.625. After 89, the answer is always 0.618. And if you divide any number … Read more
Gambling Human beings have always been infatuated with gambling because it puts us head-to-head against the fates, with no holds barred. Should you refrain from acting in the hope that time will shift the probabilities in your favor? Hamlet complained that too much hesitation under uncertainty is bad, because overdeliberation will ruin spontaneity, but once … Read more