Now on ScienceBlogs: Lives of the Saints of Science: Darwin
Jake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC getting a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience. He holds a BS and MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. If a volcano were to erupt Pompei-style in Central Park, his body would be preserved in a scoliotic posture over his lab desk. Archeaologists would later conclude that he spent most of his day training rats to perform tricks, until he went blind building electrical equipment by hand using a dissecting microscope. But, still, he died happy...because science is cool.
Pure Pedantry is a blog about science -- social sciences and otherwise -- as well as academic and scientific culture. No one can live on science alone, so I also like to dwell on pop culture, periodically explore the humanities, and indulge in other types of geeky goodness.
DISCLAIMERS: 1) Jake Young is not a licensed physician (yet). He is merely a medical student. The information published on this site is not intended for use in medical decision-making. Please seek advice from a licensed, medical professional before making any health decisions. 2) The opinions expressed are my own. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments I currently attend or attended in the past.
Category: Obesity and Heart Disease
There is an interesting discussion going on at the Becker-Posner blog about obesity abatement. Richard Posner talks about the NY ordinance requiring that calorie counts of food be prominently labeled fast food restaurants: The significance of the New York City...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 5:21 PM • 7 Comments •
Category: Government Paternalism
I wrote about my skepticism about libertarian paternalism before. Here is some more skepticism. Glen Whitman writes about one type of policy advocated by libertarian paternalists -- the opt-out program. In opt-out programs, you are enrolled in what the government...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 11:03 AM • 0 Comments •
Category: Libertarian politics
Ilya Somin from the Volokh Conspiracy has this post on a resurgent paternalism -- using as its justification new findings from behavioral economics: "Libertarian Paternalism" is all the rage in law and economics circles these days. To slightly oversimplify, libertarian...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 11:51 AM • 6 Comments •
Category: Government Paternalism
I am not really that into online poker; I lack the patience to be truly great at poker. However, I have several friends that swear by it, and we were all quite annoyed when Congress decided to attach a ban...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 10:05 AM • 1 Comments •
Category: Government Paternalism
This will never end. Ever. There will always be some yo-yo who feels it necessary to protect me from reality: First it was cell phones in cars, then trans fats. Now, a new plan is on the table to ban...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 12:54 PM • 10 Comments •
