In any event, one's choice of doctor does not fall under the general subject of discussion, which is how to incentivize healthy/good/socially desirable behaviors without removing freedom of choice.

The problem with that is that even given much more free time, it's simply impossible for people to become expert in every subject. And some people are simply incapable of being expert. That's not elitism - and it's not to say that enhanced education isn't still critical - but it's just reality.

Either: A. I don't believe you when you say you're not sure whether you'd prefer the JH surgeon over a butcher; or B. You provide an excellent illustration why nudges are critical.

One could see this as progress, of a sort: climate skeptics are no longer able to deny that the climate is changing. They are only - barely - able to argue that it's not anthropogenic. They are losing that argument too, badly, and the next stage will be "Ok, so climate change is real and humans are causing it, but it…

Yes. Bingo.

I beg to differ. Great show (no - outstanding) but lousy, lousy opening credits. And I hate the song too. Those are literally the only bad things I have to say about Firefly.

I have a great deal of respect for engineers, and so find it odd that there seem to be a disproportionately high number of them who seem to adhere to the "climate conspiracy" way of thinking. This is anecdotal of course, but based on a not-small sample size (same for my interactions with scientists). This of course is…

I don't doubt that eating nuts is good for you. But correlation is not causation, people. The reported "20% reduction in early death" claim could easily be due to the fact that people who follow other healthy habits also eat nuts. How much of their risk reduction is due to those other healthy habits and how much to…

If I'm not mistaken, Christian theology does not hold that "Lord Jesus" created the universe. God did. So there's that - and the fact that calling people ugly names in the guise of defending religion does not exactly advance your cause.

If fusion technology can be developed for an interplanetary manned mission, that's the least important problem such technology can solve.

Which is exactly why it's worth investing in the space program.

You inexplicably left out Boston-type ferns, which in the NASA study was far and away the single best plant for absorbing formaldehyde, an irritant and known carcinogen. Other plants such as Dracena, pothos, and snakeplant are better for removing trichloroethylene and benzene, which are also rather nasty.

And Boston…

The facts are this: no one knows the exact total population status of polar bears, because surveys on the Russian side have been inadequate. So anyone or any entity that claims to know for certain what the total population is doing is not being honest.

The go-to authority on species population - the gold standard, if…

I know teachers who have faced very similar conditions, and I share your (implicit) sense of alarm. This does not bode well for our future.

Very diplomatically put.

Pete Conrad ("Son of a gun! Right down the middle of the road!") - what a guy. He is missed.

One thing it's safe to say is that Al Gore tends to bring out the worst in some people - namely, his critics.

Good choice. Yes, it was slightly cheesy and always brought in some scientific wizard to create a deus ex machina at the end of every story, but it was still charming. I wouldn't give up gritty and cynical, but we need optimistic stuff too, and I miss this show a lot.

Thanks. I'm not familiar with that writer or that era (I had to look him up and assume you mean Gordon Dickson, not Dickerson). But assuming that's the writer, that'll still take awhile to figure out which story you're referring to since I gather Dickson was quite prolific.

Does this story ring any bells with anyone…

You're confusing money with currency, which are related but distinct. Perhaps you should investigate Doctorow's "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" or some works by Iain M. Banks.

Economics is the study of the problem of scarcity: since everything exists in limited quantities, there must be a system to allocate…

Pretty sure there are vastly more sophisticated possibilities.