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
The Independent Whig 