Hello, all. It’s time for another Sunday list. I’m also restarting the special issues sent every Wednesday. This coming week I’m putting out a literature special. For now, the usual Sunday drill - 10 good things to read.
- Why Wisdom Teeth Are So Much Trouble - Nice read about the evolution of humankind’s teeth. Why are our teeth the way they are, and what do they say about us?
On why wisdom teeth are a modern problem, scientist Peter Ungar says, “It’s a uniquely modern problem because we don’t grow our jaws long enough to accommodate our teeth. It turns out that nature has selected our jaw length on the basis of what it expects us to be doing during the period of time the jaw is growing. The more frequently you put force on the jaw, the longer the jaw grows. Nature has to guesstimate how long your jaw should be for teeth of a given size. Today we don’t achieve that because we’re eating mush as kids.” TIL. - Why Poverty Is Like a Disease - When Nautilus takes something up, they do it great justice. This is a great and thorough article on why poverty is a disease that has real crippling symptoms. It all starts from the belief in a meritocracy.
Now imagine that, on top of that, your brain is wired to multiply the subjective experience of stress by 10. The result is a profound focus on short-term thinking. To those outsiders who, by fortune of birth, have never known the calculus of poverty, the poor seem to make sub-optimal decisions time and time again. But the choices made by the poor are supremely rational choices under the circumstances. Pondering optimal, long-term decisions is a liability when you have 48 hours of food left. Stress takes on a whole new meaning—and try as you might, it’s hard to shake. - Handwriting: An Elegy - A tribute to the art of cursive handwriting and a call to arms to stop keyboarding and start writing. Also, handwritten notes are better for recollection and cognition - science says so.
- Who Wants to Shoot an Elephant? - Talks about one of the last elephants in Botswana to be legally shote to a license granted by the government. It’s rather sad but countries that do not have a blanket ban on killing of game have seen better population trends. Kenya banned elephant hunting in 1973 and its elephant population has plummeted. Tanzania and Zimbabwe have grossly seen rises in elephant populations over the last few decades with there being no ban on hunting.
- The Hunted - In some parts of Africa, albinos are sold or traded by serial traffickers because of their purported health benefits. As if snake oil and rhino horns weren’t enough.
- The Moral Cost of Cats - A bird-loving scientist calls for an end to outdoor cats “once and for all”. Cats kill a lot of birds. The solution, according to scientist Pete Marra? Euthanise the ones you can’t keep indoors. It sounds like an extreme reaction but few of us realise how serious a problem this is.
- Where Did All the Men Go? - “While there are a dozen plausible reasons for the shocking result of the 2016 presidential election, the discontent of white men lacking college degrees ranks high on most lists. And no small part of that discontent is linked to their diminishing role in the workplace.” Very nice analysis.
- Is Every Speed Limit Too Low? - Interesting analysis from Priceonomics that says that speed limits should be unequivocally raised to be more reasonable to drivers and their psyches.
So if drivers disregard speed limits, why bother trying to set the “right” speed limit at all?
One reason is that a minority of drivers do follow the speed limit. “I’ve found that about 10% of drivers truly identify the speed limit sign and drive at or near that limit,” says Megge. […]
This is important because, as noted in a U.S. Department of Transportation report, “the potential for being involved in an accident is highest when traveling at speed much lower or much higher than the majority of motorists.” - An Underground College for Undocumented Immigrants - There exists in the USA something called Freedom University, which offers free college-level education every week. Undocumented immigrants have it tough; they have out-of-state status, which makes it harder for them to gain admission and also secure some sort of financial aid. Freedom University has been helping these people over a few years.
- The Heroism of Incremental Care - Atul Gawande, who is a great writer, writes about why and how incremental care is great and heroic. Incremental care is the care you get from your family doctor and associated nurses over many many years. Of course, the magical surgeries and spleen removals are glamorous and great feats, but incremental care is what keeps you going to have a nice and healthy life.
Have a great week ahead. As usual, any feedback/ideas - just reply to this email.
Kat