Monthly Archives: November 2011

Nocebo effect

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Chris

The Guardian has this article about the winner of the Wellcome science writing prize, which is about the Nocebo effect. This is a sort of reverse brain hacking, or brain hacking to make yourself worse off. If placebo are harmless … Continue reading →

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How to spot a liar/how to lie, part I

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Chris

There is a lot of fascinating research on how to spot a liar–and such research has amped up in the last ten years with the increase in security consciousness. I’ve done a fair amount of reading of the literature and … Continue reading →

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Stories versus models

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Chris

I’ve been thinking a lot about this old Paul Krugman post, in which he discusses how hard it is for many, even serious economists, to grapple rationally with the current world financial situation. He ascribes it as a need to … Continue reading →

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Revolution images

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Chris

Wow, great photo by Mauricio Lima in the New York times. Great composition. It reminds me of David’s “Liberty” painting from the French revolution. Although unfortunately there is no bare-breasted Marianne.

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