Scott Adams's Blog, page 390

Reality Check

My previous post got one of the lowest rankings ever. It was a perfect storm of crappiness. Some people objected to the validity of the study I mentioned, others bristled at the suggestion of any kind of control on what they eat. Some folks pointed out that if vegans had demonstrably lower health risks, there would already be special low-cost insurance for that group.

This got me wondering if vegetarians actually have fewer chronic diseases. So I put the question to you. Do you personally know an

Solving Healthcare

I now present two pieces of information that are supported by the data, as far as I know. Provide a link if you know otherwise.

First, 80% of healthcare costs go toward chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

Second, a huge study on diet and its correlation to disease, called The China Study, found that chronic diseases, particularly the ones I just mentioned, only get triggered if you eat a plant based diet, for the most part, regardless of your genetic propensity.

http://en

The Extra Legal Age

Our laws recognize a number of legal ages for various activities. You need to be 16-years old to get a driver's license, 18-years old to enlist in the armed forces, and 21-years old to drink. One can argue that the various legal ages should be adjusted up or down, but everyone generally agrees that there needs to be minimum legal ages for some types of activities.

I think we need to extend that concept. Once you reach the age of 80, a new set of legal rights should kick in. Specifically, you shou

Your Next Boss

A Dilbert readers sends this story...

I work at a national chain bookstore and a customer wanted to return agift he got from a different bookstore that went out of business. Forget the fact it wasn't bought from us, or the fact the customer didn't have a receipt, and forget the added insult that the product was used(the pages were written on), but it was a 2006 wall calendar. When asked why he wanted to return a 3-year-old calendar, the customer stated he just got divorced and did not want anythi

Cheapatopia - The Homes

(See prior posts if you don't already know what Cheapatopia is.)

I learned a lot about green building practices recently because we're building our own home right now and trying to make it as energy efficient as possible. Here's the main thing I learned so far: There's no practical way to know if you are making the right decisions.

Every home is different. Every house has a different size, shape, orientation to the sun, shadiness, climate, mix of materials, and so on. Likewise, every family lives

Let's Cure Some Health Problems

If you read the article in Wired about my voice (see yesterday's post) you know I'm interested in helping other people who have spasmodic dysphonia get the same cure that I got. They just need to know that the fix exists, and of course their health insurance needs to pay for it. As demand for the operation increases, additional surgeons will presumably learn how to do the procedure.

All you need to do is vote up the Wired article on Reddit or Digg, thus making it more likely that anyone who has s

Wired Article About My Voice

Here's a great piece of writing in Wired about my voice.

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/17-08/ff_adams#

Wired Article About My Voice

Here's a great piece of writing in Wired about my voice:

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/17-08/ff_adams#

Cheapatopia - Collective Buying

I see in the comments that many of you believe Cheapatopia, as described in several of my blog posts, can't work because communes have been tried and failed. And besides, you wouldn't want to live in such a socialist place.

But keep in mind that Cheapatopia is designed with individual self-interest as the founding principle. The only difference between Cheapatopia and capitalism in general is that capitalism has inefficiencies that don't benefit anyone. As I write this, I'm looking out the windo

Cheapatopia - Internet

Okay, so most of you believe the Karma system of payment that I described in the last post is redundant with cash, or at least contrary to human nature. I disagree, since I wouldn't walk your dog for cash, but I would do it for Karma points, so that I would feel free to ask you for a favor in return someday.

But I'll drop that from the plan because if Cheapatopia works in other ways, you will get to know all of your neighbors well enough to arrange for a free dog-watcher when you need one anyway