Periodic Table of Awesome
Update on 2010-09-11 17:13 by Ben Espen
Fixed the link so you can see a larger image.
Science
Rational Economic Man is a Bastard
Also known as Homo Economicus, rational economic man is the staple of economics, game theory, and libertarian fantasies. And you should be glad you don't know him. Or maybe you do.
Rational economic man, that construct beloved of many economics textbook authors, is hardly a superhero. Indeed, a
Sometimes simpler is better
Francis Galton's simple method of predicting the height of children is more effective than modern genetic technique.
Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
A free ebook from MIT Press
Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
The Creativity Crisis
Newsweek's article on Creativity has been making the rounds recently. I had never heard of the Torrance creativity test, but it does seem like it would be interesting to take. The reason this article has been cited widely is this:
Like intelligence tests, Torrance’s test—a 90-minute
The Grass is Greener
Courtesy of the PhysicsForums, here is a list of widely cited particle physicists who have gone to work in industry or government. Probably a good list of places for physics PhDs to work.
Where are they now?
Modern Moral Reasoning: Jonathan Haidt
Jonathan Haidt gave a talk sponsored by Edge.org on moral psychology.
I have mixed feelings about Edge. The organization seems like it collects all of my natural enemies in one place, because it is the altar of scientism. But, they do sometimes produce really interesting ideas.
Haidt thinks the