Your team is down by a couple of baskets going into the final minutes of the game. Is it time to panic or is it still anyone’s to win? Plenty have certainly come back from apparently dire situations. Just last month the Lakers beat the Thunder in double overtime after being down by 11... »
I’m very deadline driven. So much so that I go to truly ridiculous lengths to impose deadlines on myself. The truly ridiculous lengths are needed, of course, because self-imposed deadlines are notoriously prone to getting weaseled out of. There’s another kind of deadline that is also notoriously prone to getting weaseled out of: instructor-imposed deadlines. It’s a sad fact... »
The problem of self-control may be a ridiculous first world problem but it's the granddaddy of first world problems and I want to solve it. We live amidst a deluge of opportunities for instant gratification, especially in the form of food and entertainment, and most of us don't handle it well. The general problem, known as akrasia, is this: you understand your own best interests when you consider them dispassionately, but in the moment your decision-making is distorted. The best time for, say, a workout is always "tomorrow".... »
Washington has never been more partisan, right? Or is that common lament simply a trick of nostalgia? A look at the numbers reveals that the problem is not, it turns out, all in our heads: over the last four decades, Congressional polarization has steadily increased. “Not only have the Democratic and Republican parties drifted apart,... »
