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Stickk.com allows people to undertake commitment bonds: promises that they will do something (lose weight, quit smoking, etc.) or else forfeit a pre-determined amount of money to a charity. Either the honor system or a referee can be used to decide if the goal is met. The idea is related to Nobel prize-winner Thomas Schelling's concept of
strategic precommitment. More
here,
here, and
here.
posted to MetaFilter by shivohum
at 7:05 AM on January 18, 2008
(17 comments)
Sex and the College Girl, by Norah Johnson
A view from an educated woman in the 1950s: "Two criticisms rise above the rest: people in college are promiscuous, for one thing, and, for another, they are getting married and having children too early. These are interesting observations because they contradict each other."
posted to MetaFilter by shivohum
at 12:21 PM on November 20, 2007
(24 comments)
A
new U.S. Treasury Report (
press release) reports that tax returns from 1996 to 2005 show that income mobility in the U.S. is "considerable," with rising earnings, and top earners who often stumble. The WSJ
crows. Pew releases its own research (
reports,
press release) on income inequality today with a multi-decade outlook, but summarizes the findings as that American families' income mobility is still highly dependent on their parents' position.
Forbes and a
The New Republic blog try to reconcile the reports. Meanwhile, blacks appear to be
downwardly mobile.
posted to MetaFilter by shivohum
at 8:22 PM on November 13, 2007
(45 comments)
Boy's Hug Lands Him in Trouble At School With "No Touching" Policy.
7th grader Hal Beaulieu "hopped up from his lunch table one day a few months ago, sat next to his girlfriend and slipped his arm around her shoulder. That landed him a trip to the school office." Handshakes could be gang signs, and officials note, "in a culturally diverse school...families might have different views of what is appropriate." The PTA President remarks: ""Even high-fives can get out of hand ... someone can get bonked in the head." (
CNN News Video)
posted to MetaFilter by shivohum
at 12:02 PM on June 24, 2007
(109 comments)
The Happy Planet Index
presents an alternative to GDP for measuring standard of living. It ranks countries by measuring life expectancy and self-reported life satisfaction against an "ecological footprint" needed to support that country's lifestyle. The
press release claims that well-being is not based on high levels of consumption, but
many don't agree.
Full report in PDF here. Vanuatu tops the charts, while Zimbabwe and Swaziland lie at bottom. Critiques
here,
here,
here, and
here. A critique of happiness indices generally
here.
posted to MetaFilter by shivohum
at 9:00 AM on June 3, 2007
(19 comments)
Boss Science: The Psychopathology of the modern American corporate leader.
The personality which wins the promotion game has dubious overlap with characteristics of effective leadership. Many organizational psychologists argue that the "emergent" boss is often a
narcissist who, because he "manages to act like he already is the boss," is "socially skilled at adjusting his personality," and is charismatic, rises and entrenches himself to the detriment of the organization.
Some, though, "extol[] the virtues of the narcissist’s selfishness, ethical blindness, and lack of empathy as indispensable to being an agent of change in a large corporation—or the world."
posted to MetaFilter by shivohum
at 10:17 PM on April 8, 2007
(37 comments)
Ahh, the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe.
The
classic stands as the benchmark: but are there better? Many think so:
Sherry Yard,
David Lebovitz,
the folks at Cooking Illustrated,
Martha Stewart,
Hillary Clinton,
beloved New York bakeries,
intrepid webloggers.
Alton Brown in an
episode of
Good Eats shows how to get them
thin,
puffy, or
chewy.
Cookbook after
cookbook and
competition after
competition try to ferret out the
best of this american icon. Web recipe sites
have their own favorites.
Some people swear by secret ingredients:
cornstarch,
pudding (which has cornstarch in it),
oats,
great chocolate.
Two thirds of Americans prefer their chocolate chip cookies "nutless."
Others find technique of greatest importance. Is there any end to this
quest for one of baking's
holy grails?
posted to MetaFilter by shivohum
at 9:46 AM on February 20, 2007
(53 comments)
Anti-depressants increase suicide risk in young adults, FDA warns.
"When results are analyzed by age, it becomes clear that there is an elevated risk for suicidality and suicidal behavior among adults younger than 25 years of age that approaches that seen in the pediatric population."
More here and
here. This follows the FDA finding that anti-depressants increased the risk of suicide in young children. The FDA now requires manufacturers of anti-depressants to include warnings, and plans to meet on Dec 13 to discuss the findings further.
posted to MetaFilter by shivohum
at 3:08 PM on December 12, 2006
(42 comments)
Cheney Clarifies Iraq, Afghanistan on Meet the Press.
For the first time in three years, Cheney appears on Meet the Press.
Transcript here. "We’ve never been able to confirm any connection between Iraq and 9/11[,]" but Iraq "...was a state sponsor of terror" and "while they found no stockpiles...[the Duelfer report claimed that] Saddam did in fact have the capability and that as soon as the sanctions were ended—and they were badly eroded—he would be back in business again." "[T]his was the place where, probably, there was a greater prospect of a connection between terrorists on the one hand and a terrorist-sponsoring state and weapons of mass destruction than any place else."
"...if we had to do it again, we would do exactly the same thing..."
posted to MetaFilter by shivohum
at 2:23 PM on September 10, 2006
(71 comments)
Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush
In this excerpt from
his book, Eric Boehlert writes about how "[c]owardly and clueless, the U.S. media abandoned its post as Bush led the country into a disastrous war. A look inside one of the great journalistic collapses of our time."
posted to MetaFilter by shivohum
at 11:03 AM on May 7, 2006
(67 comments)
It's the demography, stupid:
"The design flaw of the secular social-democratic state is that it requires a religious-society birth rate to sustain it. ... Which the smarter Islamists have figured out. They know they can never win on the battlefield, but they figure there’s an excellent chance they can drag things out until western civilization collapses in on itself and Islam inherits by default."
posted to MetaFilter by shivohum
at 9:49 AM on January 10, 2006
(72 comments)
The Cute Factor:
"Cute cues are those that indicate extreme youth, vulnerability, harmlessness and need, scientists say..." (NY Times registration req'd)
posted to MetaFilter by shivohum
at 9:03 PM on January 7, 2006
(28 comments)
