Interesting Links for 21-10-2013

[andrewducker]

• @NoIn2014 is a work of genius
  (tags: scotland independence )
• What is the Doctor running from? (Nice theory about the 50th anniversary)
  (tags: drwho )
• Life is all about killing the magic
  (tags: knowledge life )
• 13 Nutrition Lies That Made The World Sick And Fat
  (tags: food health viafanf )
• Sweden Becomes First Western Nation to Reject Low-fat Diet

Comments

[cairmen]

That Stratfor article is excellent - really made me think about the polarisation that seems to be happening in the West right now.

[andrewducker]

Yup. Letting people have their say, but limiting their choices (either by only having certain parties, or by setting up the voting system so that people are pushed to support the existing parties) is clearly not stable in the long term, and leads to awful behaviour.

[nancylebov]

The "sick and fat" article seems to be fairly straight paleo/bulletproof. I'll add one: the belief that trying to lose weight is a safe and reliable method of improving health.

[artkouros]

Life should be about finding the magic.

[andrewducker]

I seek out things that give me that sense of wonder. But I do find that once I understand them well enough the initial sense of joy and wonder I have with them fades.

So I agree with both of you - I seek out the magic, and then I kill it. I'd like to do that with as much as possible during my life :->

Addendum: Puppies never stop being magic.

[danieldwilliam]

The more I find out about my favourite things the more I find them awe inspiring and wonderous.

The extended phenotype never fails to excite me when I think about it or see an example of it in action.

[andrewducker]

I'm very novelty-oriented :->

[alitheapipkin]

Ironically, the nutritional lies article mentions antioxidants in coffee being a good thing but doesn't include the idea that antioxidants are the cure for all ills in its list of myths (see http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/antioxidants/ for the best summary I've found of the research with a quick google).

[cartesiandaemon]

I'm trying to think of what I think of as magic. The best I can think of, is finding something works, without knowing why it works. When I'm 3, I press the button and chortle as the light comes on.

Looked at from that point of view, "life is about magic" is like "life is about learning stuff": you get the benefit from progress, and you can't have progress without using up areas of ignorance. But I don't think we'll run out, so I'm not sure if "killing" is the right metaphor.