“The most famous psychologists today will be forgotten in less than a century”, says this study: “Varieties of Fame in Psychology,” Henry L. Roediger III, Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol. 11, no. 6, November 2016, pp. 882-887. The author, at Washington University, St. Louis, explains: “Fame in psychology, as in all arenas, is a local […]
Category: Improbable Investigators
People who do research that makes people LAUGH, then THINK.
We are informed that Donald J. Trump won an Ig Nobel Prize…
We were informed today that the author of a mathematics paper has been awarded an Ig Nobel Prize. This is a surprise to us, because we award the Ig Nobel Prizes, and we are unaware that we ever awarded anything to this person, Donald J. Trump. The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people laugh, then think. The mathematics […]
University Course Proposal: “Calling Bullshit”
Professors Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin West from University of Washington have developed a new interdisciplinary course with the compelling title of Calling Bullshit. From publication bias to fake news, bullshit is everywhere. And it’s important to be able to navigate it, separate delusion from reality, and call out bullshit when we see it. In a post-truth world, […]
Nominative Determinism: Harry Beaver, gynecologist. Also: Bush and Blinder.
Three more doctors who benefit/suffer from nominative determinism: Harry Beaver [pictured here], gynecologist. Nicol Bush, urologist. Kevin Blinder, ophthalmologist. (Thanks to anonymous person for bringing these to our attention.)