Tag Archives: long post is long

HeartMath Considered Incoherent

[Note: all opinions expressed here are my own. Nothing to be taken as medical advice.] A group called the Institute of HeartMath has been remarkably persistent at making their way into my hospital. A couple of months ago I had … Continue reading

SSRIs: Much More Than You Wanted To Know

The claim that “SSRIs don’t work” or “SSRIs are mostly just placebo” is most commonly associated with Irving Kirsch, a man with the awesome job title of “Associate Director Of The Program For Placebo Studies at Harvard”. (fun fact: there’s … Continue reading

Social Justice And Words, Words, Words

[Content note: hostility toward social justice, discussion of various prejudices] “Words! Words! Words! I’m so sick of words! I get words all day through. First from him, now from you. Is that all you blighters can do?” – Eliza Doolittle … Continue reading

Things That Sometimes Help If You Have Depression

Some of my friends have depression and have asked me for some suggestions. These will be inferior to reading official suggestions, but you will probably not read official suggestions, and you may read this. Just so we’re clear, all opinions … Continue reading

Living By The Sword

[Trigger warnings: sexual abuse, scary Internet mobbing.] [Try not to link to this everywhere because I feel bad about discussing it and don’t want to spread it to more of the Internet than it has to be or make this … Continue reading

Archipelago and Atomic Communitarianism

I. In the old days, you had your Culture, and that was that. Your Culture told you lots of stuff about what you were and weren’t allowed to do, and by golly you listened. Your Culture told you to work … Continue reading

SSC Gives A Graduation Speech

[Trigger warning for deliberately provoking horror about graduates’ real-world post-college prospects] [Epistemic status: intended as persuasive speech, may somewhat overstate case] Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to have been invited to speak here at the great University of [mumble]. … Continue reading

The Control Group Is Out Of Control

I. Allan Crossman calls parapsychology the control group for science. That is, in let’s say a drug testing experiment, you give some people the drug and they recover. That doesn’t tell you much until you give some other people a … Continue reading

In Favor of Niceness, Community, and Civilization

[Content warning: Discussion of social justice, discussion of violence, spoilers for Jacqueline Carey books.] [Edit 10/25: This post was inspired by a debate with a friend of a friend on Facebook who has since become somewhat famous. I’ve renamed him … Continue reading

Nootropics Survey Results And Analysis

In case you are just joining us: nootropics are substances which purportedly improve mental functioning with relatively few side effects when used responsibility. Caffeine is a good example. It improves wakefulness and energy, and when used responsibly is so safe … Continue reading