In these times, one of the best ways to ensure a post isn’t read is to write about the COVID-19 coronavirus. The story is dominating all channels of communication and marginalizing almost any other story. And that relentless, ubiquitous communication is part of the broader societal story. The intensive coverage and discussion of COVID-19 creates … More The novel coronavirus, COVID-19: A case study of the social amplification of risk

It’s interesting how humans are the only animal that indulges in counterfactual thinking. At times, our memories of events can haunt us because we believe we could have, should have, made a different and better decision about something. The problem arises when we judge our past actions through the lens of our present knowledge. It’s … More The fog of life

I was returning from a grocery shopping trip when I saw two people standing on an interstate overpass waving a large trump flag. My thought was that this is a free country and after all, I am in Indiana, so why be concerned. Then I saw their leather jackets with the crude letters across the … More When hate comes home: Racism, Twitter, Trump and his enablers

As the country grapples with what constitutes an impeachable offense for a president, many opinions have been offered. What strikes me most profoundly are the words of James Madison at the Federal Constitution Convention in 1787 where the underlying intention of “High crimes and misdemeanors” was debated before those words became part of the Constitution. … More In 1787 James Madison knew one day there would be a Donald Trump

There is a credible case to be made that most published research is false. This notion was popularized in a 2005 essay by Stanford epidemiologist John Ioannidis titled “Why Most Published Research Findings Are False.” [1] As of this writing, the article has been viewed 2,833,883 times and cited 3,271 times. Several reasons have been … More Most published research is false – what does that mean for you?

Yes, again… Admittedly, I was behind the curve realizing that we may be in the throes of the sixth mass extinction in Earth’s history. It wasn’t until 2014, after reading Elizabeth Kolbert’s book, “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History,” [1] that I posted my first article referencing it, “Humans are a minor perturbation in the … More Oh no! Not that mass extinction thing again!

Strength comes in many different forms. What I’ve come to realize is that the person with the greatest strength is the one that remains positive when facing the greatest of adversities. I don’t know what the difference is between two people who face similar, overwhelming challenges and one responds with doom and withdrawal and the … More The strong among us.

A medical reversal is when an existing treatment is shown to be ineffective due to better quality research. Some estimates are than half of all medical treatments are ineffective or useless. And yet, despite the evidence that a treatment doesn’t work, many health-care providers continue to use them. This is a call to action for … More How medical reversals impact your health care.

Kelly Clarkson notwithstanding [1], it’s widely recognized that German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” I would suggest a slight modification to reflect current times, and maybe the human psyche, by saying “that which does not kill us, gets more attention than that which does.” One of the … More That which does not kill us, dominates the news.