http://www.thebigquestions.com The Big Questions | Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:27:37 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Well, "praise" might not be exactly the right word, but I do want to argue that by and large, genocide is the least objectionable form of mass murder---for the simple reason that, when successful, it leaves no mourners. Other things being equal, meaningless deaths are best clustered among people ... http://www.thebigquestions.com/2010/03/18/in-praise-of-genocide/ Banks, by their nature, are susceptible to bank runs. Depositors panic and demand their money back, the bank doesn't have enough cash on hand to meet all the demands, this generates even greater panic and even more demands, and pretty soon the bank is selling off assets at fire ... http://www.thebigquestions.com/2010/03/17/what-really-went-wrong/ Like everyone else I know, I am of course a longtime fan of the webcomic XKCD. But somehow it took me until last week to become aware of the frequently brilliant competitor Luke Surl, of which the above is a delectable example. What else out there am I ... http://www.thebigquestions.com/2010/03/16/free-will-versus-determinism-the-web-comic/ Wall Street quants are always trying to dream up new financial products that nobody's figured out how to regulate. Sooner or later, I suppose, one of them will come up with a bank account that pays imaginary interest. You deposit a dollar and a year later you get ... http://www.thebigquestions.com/2010/03/15/financial-imagineering/ Here at The Big Questions, we try to stand up for clear thinking and shame its enemies. This week, the enemies included Paul Krugman (writing on unemployment), the President of the United States (expounding on rising insurance premiums), a Washington Post columnist who seemed to forget that political reforms ... http://www.thebigquestions.com/2010/03/13/weekend-roundup-16/ Some say the world will end in fire; some say in ice. Paleontologist Peter Ward says the seas could turn to sulfur; physicist Michio Kakutani expects the world (along with the rest of the Universe) to end in a deep freeze---though he holds out hope that we could stay ... http://www.thebigquestions.com/2010/03/12/this-is-the-way-the-world-ends/ Suppose that year after year, you spend more than you earn. You are worried that you've become fiscally irresponsible. Which of the following is not a path back to fiscal sanity for your household? Spend less. Earn more. Stop at the ATM more often so you'll have more cash in your pocket. Do we ... http://www.thebigquestions.com/2010/03/11/how-to-be-fiscally-responsible/ In this week's news, an allegedly "anti-gay" state senator was outed after being arrested on a DUI after leaving a gay bar in California. I hope we can all agree that driving drunk is objectionable and that frequenting gay bars, if that's your thing, is not. One might ... http://www.thebigquestions.com/2010/03/10/out-of-the-closet-and-into-the-news/ In a curiously unmotivated piece at the Washington Post, Anne Lowrey asks: "What if senators represented people by income or race, not by state?". I can't figure out her point. I am all for identifying problems and brainstorming about radical solutions, but I have no idea what ... http://www.thebigquestions.com/2010/03/09/fixing-elections/ The Obama administration has its knickers all in a twist over rising health insurance premiums. As you wade through the rhetoric, here are a few things to keep in mind: Greed does not cause rate hikes. I'm not sure why some premiums have shot up lately, but I'm quite sure ... http://www.thebigquestions.com/2010/03/08/premium-prices/