Assorted Links

Self-experiment on short-term memory announcement
Why the Chinese government censors the Internet. James Fallows was able to figure out why they blocked the NY Times website for a few days (an article about suppression of rebellion).
Nassim Taleb on iatrogenesis. “They never consider that “nothing” may be better than the best model.”
The Lost Art of Walking by Geoff Nicholson.
Best journalism of the year. More lists like this! One reason Spy was so good, I think, was that they covered stuff, especially New York publishing, that they knew about from personal experience. Like scientists writing about science.
Six ballsiest scientific frauds.

Thanks to Dave Lull and Tyler Cowen.

Assorted Links (mental health edition)

many psychology-related blogs
a blog about how “we simply are not getting the kind of results that patients, myself included, were promised 20 years ago at the dawn of the psychopharmacological revolution”
confirmation of a correlation between autism and rainfall
the selling of Dr. Joseph Biederman, a Harvard child psychiatrist
trouble at “The Infinite Mind” (a radio show). “Dr. Fred Goodwin [the show’s host] accepted at least $1.3 million in pharmaceutical company speakers’ fees while he was hosting . . . Goodwin defended his actions by claiming this is what all doctors do, plus he took funding from all kinds of pharma companies so that canceled out his conflicts.” As if non-pharma therapies didn’t matter.

amusing Gladwell critique
Gary Taubes on Think Tank. “The grant system tends to reward consensus behavior, following the pack.”
Nassim Taleb on The Charlie Rose Show. The most sensible 20 minutes of TV I’ve seen. Jane Jacobs never did Booknotes, alas.
Wine increases blood levels of omega-3?

Thanks to Dave Lull and Peter Spero.