UK solves social policy problems with human nature insights
Above: The Skinner Box, an artistic rendition of a behavioral modification experiment conducted by B.F. Skinner in the 1920s or 30s. Skinner believed that the root of most behavior was … Continue reading
My Doubt is My Innocence
Moral Laziness and Milan Kundera’s Farewell Waltz Eyes transfixed, your fingernails dance a repetitive beat on the tabletop. Reclining, but not relaxed, your mind goes through a repetitive pattern of decision … Continue reading
Guanxi and a Typhoon
The art of the interview in Taiwan In the last week of August, in the middle of typhoon season, I found myself trudging through gale force winds in an industrial … Continue reading
A social science approach to learning
Beating a Path through Your Intellectual Ambition: A Social Science Approach to Learning X –> Y In social science research, this is the most basic expression of relationship. It can loosely … Continue reading
Pessimism and Redemption? Thoughts on Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad
Good news for the jaded out there- the sighing mourners for correct comma usage, modern music naysayers, and peak oil enthusiasts: pessimism is still in style. Jennifer Egan’s 2010 Pulitzer … Continue reading
Imagine Educational Utopias: The calm before the storm in Arthur C. Clark’s Childhood’s End
[Spoiler Alert: Arthur C. Clark conceals the meaning behind his story till the end of his short book (214 pages in paperback). In my synopsis below, I chose to reveal part … Continue reading
Revenue and environmentalism: Can a carbon tax help the environment and fund social programs?
[This post was inspired by a recent New York Times article, “Carbon Taxes Make Ireland Even Greener”; published December 28, 2012] Climate change is the biggest issue in environmentalism today. … Continue reading
Some problems with pension
For most people, there are at least two significant phases in life in which you are economically dependent on others: during your childhood and during old age. Most national societies … Continue reading
Co-opting stakeholders in democratic social policy making
One way to look at a functioning democracy is to describe how different stakeholder groups, or people with a keen personal interest in an issue, get their needs addressed by … Continue reading
Gestalt (Post 1)
Efficiency Concerns and the Pursuit of Expansive Knowledge It’s difficult and time consuming to become an intellectual jack of all trades. It’s even more difficult for a non-specialist to make … Continue reading
Think Out Loud 