How Physicians Were Once Like Today's Economists

The moral game of blame attribution is only one subtype of misattribution arbitrage. For example, epidemiologists estimate that it was not until 1905 that you were better off going to a physician. (Ignaz Semelweiss noticed that doctors doubled the mortality rate of mothers at delivery.) The role of the physician predated its rational function for thousands of years, so why were there physicians? Economists, forecasters, and professional portfolio managers typically do no better than chance, y...

 Physiological Effects from Exposure to a Vaccum

Vacuum doesn’t have a temperature of its own, so space is not really that cold. It’s a great insulator too, meaning that your core body heat doesn’t get sucked away. Without an atmosphere to transfer heat away, the risk of exposure is somewhat mitigated. The saliva on your tongue may boil off, as it’s not pressurized like your blood is, and you may get some frost on your skin. Sunburn from direct contact with the sun’s ultraviolet rays is a more immediate danger than perishing from cold. You’...

 The Doctor's Most Agonizing Decisions are in Human Relations

The dedicated doctor knows that he must be both scientist and humanitarian; his most agonizing decisions lie in the field of human relations.