Mirror Universe Basketball

In the wake of the Cavs' back-to-back victories over the Hawks, I'm compelled to point out the most interesting thing about the matchup between these two teams. Namely, that it reminds me of one of the classic episodes of the original Star Trek, Mirror, Mirror. One of the more striking aspects of that episode was the visual distinction between Spock and the mirror universe ("evil") Spock: the goatee:




What does this have to do with the Cavs-Hawks? Only that this is a mirror universe matchup. Mike Brown is forced to coach against evil mirror universe Mike Brown (Mike Woodson):





Chilling. Get out of my universe, Hawks.

Mo

From the game I couldn't watch tonight:



And a bonus image from the game:



Gotta love Mo.

There Will Be No Lasting Peace

Obama makes a somewhat obvious point about human nature:

But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism - it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.

A bit strange to point it out during a Nobel peace prize lecture but okay.

Thanks, ARRA

There's a lot of partisan sniping back and forth these days about how many jobs the stimulus bill has created.

It occurs to me that most of the grants funding my position are most likely derived from money allocated through the stimulus bill earlier this year. So that's one. Thanks, stimulus package!

WAR!

One bit from the Afghanistan speech tonight made me do a bit of a double take:

In Afghanistan, we and our allies prevented the Taliban from stopping a presidential election, and – although it was marred by fraud – that election produced a government that is consistent with Afghanistan’s laws and Constitution.

Okay then.

In case you were worried...

World not ending in 2012, says NASA

I think people are really, really worried about the world coming to an end. Kids are contemplating suicide. Adults tell me they can't sleep and can't stop crying. There are people who are really, really scared. People are very gullible. It a sad testimonial that you need NASA to tell you the world's not going to end.

As a Bonus!!:


http://xkcd.com/663/

Health Care on 4th and 2

Here's a wonderful little post about what Bill Belichick's controversial decision in the Patriots-Colts game the other night shows us about rationality and human emotions, particularly as they relate to the health care issue:

The reason I bring up this analysis is to demonstrate that even defensible decisions can have wrenching emotional consequences. Belichick's call might have been statistically correct, but it felt horribly wrong.

And this kind of contradiction isn't just relevant for football coaches. Just consider health care: the only way we're ever going to reduce medical costs is to restrict procedures that haven't passed evidence-based efficacy tests. Maybe that means 40 year old women don't get mammograms, or that we treat prostrate cancer less aggressively, or that we stop performing spinal fusion surgeries. Although there's solid evidence to question all of these medical options, such changes provoke intense debate. Why? Because our emotions don't understand statistics. Because when we have back pain we want an MRI. Because when it's our father with prostate cancer we want the most aggressive possible treatments. And so on.

The point is that there's often an indefatigable gap between the rigors of cost-benefit analyses and the emotional hunches that drive our decisions. We say we want to follow the evidence, but then the evidence rubs against a bias like loss aversion, and so we make an exception. We'll follow the evidence next time.