All posts
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On the PubPeer lawsuit, scientific fraud, and anonymity.
There are some problems with academic bioscience. That much seems to be well agreed on. There are a lot of contributing factors — the pyramid-scheme-like training & employment setup, the recent propagation of soft money positions (universities hiring without setting aside money for salaries, expecting salary money to come out of research grants instead), a…
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On penis size, Sports Illustrated, and child pornography.
Another scientific study was published recently on penis size. Veale et al. aggregated data from many previous studies to attempt to provide a best current estimate for the full distribution of sizes amongst men worldwide. And, sure, you might ask yourself “why?” The authors work in urology, though. If someone feels that his penis is…
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On how there isn’t enough lyrical writing about insurance … and taxation in The Pale King.
There’s a little bit about insurance in my novel. Not much. Just enough to get people excited. But there used to be more. Honestly, I think it’s a shame there’s so little lyrical writing about insurance out there in popular literature. Insurance is fascinating. A good insurance product is a beautiful thing. Which, right. Let…
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On irrational numbers.
It was Pi Day over the weekend. March fourteenth. Which is something a lot of scientifically- and mathematically-inclined people already celebrate. A friend of mine who’s currently a professor of economics stumbled across a sidewalk where local children had used chalk to write out many decimal points, then filmed himself walking along, recording his footsteps…
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On videogames and moral complicity.
Given that there are critical theory courses discussing Super Mario Brothers, I assume there’s no need to get into the whole “Can videogames be great art?” argument. Presumably almost everyone agrees that the medium can be used to make art. Honestly, I fall into the camp that believes that almost any medium could be used…
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On the potential psychological ramifications of certain insular societies, or: that fraternity video in the news.
After N woke up from her nap, I strapped her into the jogging stroller and took her to the local playground. Holding my hands, she stomped around while I dripped on her: a sudden blast of warm air from the south brought summer-like weather to our town today. Then, after about twenty minutes of stomping,…
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On cheating in school.
Find the first essay I wrote about this topic here. I have a little bit more to write about McBrayer’s “Why Our Children Don’t Think There Are Moral Facts” editorial. But this’ll be the end of it, I swear! It’s just that I didn’t manage to cram anything in as a response to this passage:…
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On value claims and the popular press.
Normally I try to make these essays positive. I read a lot of books — because I’m writing, knowing things is part of my job, which means I have to read a lot of nonfiction, and appreciating beautiful language is part of my job, so I have to read a lot of fiction — but…
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Excerpts from some other book: Volume 3.
Dr. Shaun MacGregor, adjunct professor of experimental archaeology, knows that he is going to die. And he has accepted the fact. Really. He is old, he is sick, but he knows full well that he has lived a good life, that he has experienced his fair share of the ride. And so his encroaching death,…
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On parenting and belated “thank you”s.
After we finished eating dinner, K and I were talking about our parenting strategy. Specifically, that she feels pleased with the way we’re doing it. Personally, I expressed no such pride: one negative consequence of thinking about stuff all the time is that I fail to notice my surroundings. Unless, of course, my surroundings are…
Frank Brown Cloud 