Atul Gawande: How do we heal medicine?

An interesting TED talk by Atul Gawande discussing some of the problems with the modern medical profession. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3QkaS249Bc I came across this video when reading a recent piece by Dr. Gawande on the medical field's struggles to clearly explain a terminal patient's real situation to them, often relying on a blizzard of facts instead of … Continue reading Atul Gawande: How do we heal medicine?

Are social psychologists biased against conservatives? A simple check for ideological bias.

Maria Konnikova has an article in the New Yorker on whether there is bias in social psychology against conservatives.  One of the people calling attention to the issue is Jonathan Haidt, whose work my long time readers will know I'm generally a fan of. The core issue that Haidt is calling attention to is the … Continue reading Are social psychologists biased against conservatives? A simple check for ideological bias.

The tale of the neuroscientists and the computer

Joshua Brown has a sobering editorial on the state of our understanding of the brain.  Warning: it requires some familiarity with how a computer works to understand his point: Frontiers | The tale of the neuroscientists and the computer: why mechanistic theory matters | Brain Imaging Methods. Once upon a time, a group of neuroscientists happened … Continue reading The tale of the neuroscientists and the computer