The Independent Whig
Cancer Talk
The Social Cancer of the West? (by way of Cancer Talk #4: The Next Phase Begins)
If natural selection is survival of the most adaptable then the clear winner is cancer. This is a key takeaway from The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, which I’ve been listening to in my car this week during my commute. Cancer adapts to its environment. Treatment may at first push it back … Continue reading
Cancer Talk #3: Why Cancer Talks? To Embrace the Idea of the Happy Warrior.
These Cancer Talk posts are selfish. There’s no altruism behind them; no sappy sense of “If I help just one other person then maybe my experience will have been worthwhile.” See Cancer Talk #1: Framing and Perspective. I’m writing these posts for me. I find writing to be cathartic, therapeutic, and educational. It helps me … Continue reading
Cancer Talk #2: PSA Rising, 9/6/19
Fourteen years ago I battled cancer. It’s back. This time it cannot be stopped. In the autumn of 2005 I scheduled a routine physical exam. It had been a few years since my previous exam. I was 48. At that time screening for prostate cancer started at age 50. My doctor said, “48, 50, close … Continue reading
Cancer Talk, #1: Framing and Perspective – 7/23/19
I dislike some of the ways we talk about cancer. I reserve the right to change my mind about everything that follows, but for the moment this is how I feel. The word “cancer” is too broad. There are so many types of the disease, and so many variations within each type, that the … Continue reading
I Support Viewpoint Diversity
A politically diverse group of social scientists, natural scientists, humanists, and other scholars who want to improve our academic disciplines and universities. We share a concern about a growing problem: the loss or lack of “viewpoint diversity.” When nearly everyone in a field shares the same political orientation, certain ideas become orthodoxy, dissent is discouraged, and errors can go unchallenged.
Venn Diagram of Liberal and Conservative Traits and Moral Foundations and
