Monthly Archives: February 2015

Early Intervention: You *Might* Get What You Pay For

I find myself caught between the genetics community – which takes it as a given that childhood experiences and education have a very limited role in shaping life outcomes – and the psychiatric community, which takes it as a given … Continue reading

California Meetups

The following Slate Star Codex meetups are planned for the next week or so: Berkeley, 3/1 at 2:00 PM at Indian Flavor Express, 2548 Bancroft Way, Berkeley Stanford, 3/3 at 4:00 PM in Old Union, Room 200, 450 Serra Mall, … Continue reading

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OT15: Open Relationship

This is the semimonthly open thread. Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. Also: 1. I’m off to California, so no blogging for a while. I’ll see some of you at Ruby and Miranda’s wedding on Saturday. Everyone … Continue reading

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Links 2/15: Land of Linkin’

Sometimes called “the most astounding medical lecture ever”, the notorious Brindley lecture is a good example of why your announcements of ground-breaking urology discoveries should not include live demonstrations. FAA: If you can get to the moon, nobody’s stopping you … Continue reading

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Pharma Virumque

Going around the psychiatry blogosphere recently: this segment by John Oliver about doctors who take pharmaceutical company money: I will resist the urge to geek out about its minor medical errors1 in favor of clarifying something more important. The impression … Continue reading

Did Falling Testosterone Affect Falling Crime?

There are already too many proposed causes for the secular decline in crime, but I can’t resist suggesting one more. A couple of months ago Nydwracu asked me whether it could be related to the secular decline in testosterone. The … Continue reading

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How Likely Are Multifactorial Trends?

Vox recently wrote about 16 Theories For Why Crime Plummeted In The US. Their story is based on a report by the Brennan Center For Justice, which I haven’t read, so I’m hesitant to critique it too much. The little … Continue reading

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Drug Testing Welfare Users Is A Sham, But Not For The Reasons You Think

Some people say the War on Drugs is ‘unwinnable’. But there’s actually a foolproof solution that cures drug addiction approximately 100% of the time. That solution is – put people on welfare in Tennessee. Or at least that is what … Continue reading

Money, Money, Everywhere, But Not A Cent To Spend

The DSM is written mostly by academics, which is why it gets so excited about distinctions like schizoid personality versus schizotypal personality. If it were written by clinicians, it might better reflect the sort of cases that make it into … Continue reading

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Black People Less Likely

[Content warning: Polyamory, race] I. The best reporting on social science statistics, like the best reporting in most areas, comes from The Onion: CAMBRIDGE, MA—A Harvard University study of more than 2,500 middle-income African-American families found that, when compared to … Continue reading