Psychiatry, Silk Road, Markets, Bodyclocks, Media
The Doctor Isn’t In
Paul McHugh | Commentary | 24th September 2015
Review of a book that "demonstrates, perhaps unwittingly, how psychiatry is in crisis today." The first Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, psychiatry's "Bible," named "disorders by their symptomatic appearances in the same way naturalists name birds by their shapes, colors, cries." It therefore "functioned like a field guide—a way of codifying rather than rightfully classifying the maladies." This was meant to be temporary, but hasn't been (1,960 words)
China’s ‘Silk Road’ Initiative Is At Risk Of Failure
Moritz Rudolf | Diplomat | 24th September 2015
"The Silk Road Initiative is the major project for Chinese President Xi Jinping," but China's ability to "make economically unprofitable investments on the basis of political motives is long gone." China should be working to increase domestic demand, not "speculating on new export markets in unstable regions such as Pakistan. The overcapacity of Chinese state-owned enterprises are not addressed but simply exported abroad" (670 words)
The Free Market: It’s Like Uber, But For Everything
Robert Tracinski | The Federalist | 29th October 2015
A free marketeer's perspective on Uber. Ride-sharing services are not technology companies, they "are really in the business of busting the taxi monopoly." They allow anyone to drive without paying "the large dollar figures for an artificially limited number of taxi medallions," and break the government's price-setting powers – the controversial "surge pricing" prevents "chronic shortages and inefficient use of resources" (730 words)
How The Body’s Trillions Of Clocks Keep Time
Veronique Greenwood | Quanta | 15th September 2015
“Almost every cell in the body has a circadian clock”, say researchers at the Salk Institute. From heart cells to lung cells, “just about every tissue we've looked it” is beating its own time. Examines the implications of a discovery that these timekeeping protein complexes within the body “have deep effects on everything from fetal development to disease”, including its relevance to cancer research (2,320 words)
How Much Do You Bring To The Table, Content Human?
Matt Buchanan | The Awl | 29th September 2015
Essentially just a list of revenue per employee at different digital media firms. In summary, on the "new media" side, Business Insider: $132,300 in revenue per employee; Buzzfeed: $208,333 per employee; Gawker: $211,538 per employee; Vox: $252,000 per employee; Vice: $457,500 per employee. Perhaps surprisingly, on the "old media" side, New York Times: $450,000 per employee; Time Inc.: $417,000 employee (490 words)
Video of the day: Pas De Deux
What to expect: Part 2 of a haunting ballet filmed by Norman McLaren and the National Film Board of Canada (4’17")
Thought for the day
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness
John Muir