Scientocracy

Why psychological science is relevant to policy debates--and what policies might look like if they were better aligned with human nature.

by Peter Ubel

The Secrets of Creativity?

The best thing about bad art is that it makes fodder for great reviews. Take the opening line of Mina Strohminger’s review of Colin McGee’s “The Meaning of Disgust”: “In disgust research,” she writes in The Journal of Aesthetics and Critical Art, “there is shit, and then there is bullshit.”

Guess which category she thinks McGee’s book falls under? Read More

White Castle Wars?

When New Jersey decided to hike its minimum wage by some 20 percent in 1991, David Card and Alan Krueger recognized a tremendous opportunity to test how the minimum wage affects employment. Read More

Is the Minimum Wage Bad for Teenagers?

Things were flush in New Jersey. The Reagan presidency had ended, with national unemployment dropping from a high of almost 11 percent in the President’s first term to just about 5 percent as he left office. Read More

A 40,000 Foot View of Obamacare

“How can the government make us buy health insurance? What gives them that right?” Read More

Is Health Insurance Too Cheap?

Researchers at USC recently published a study designed to find out how much people are willing to pay for better drug coverage from their health insurance plan. Read More

Daycare Versus Obamacare

According to a new study, daycare will increase your child’s health, intelligence, and social development. Do you think the study is scientifically rigorous enough to justify this conclusion? Okay, I made up the the new study. Nevertheless, your answer to that question may hold the key to your long term reaction to Obamacare. Read More

Avoiding the “R” Word in Health Policy Debates

A couple of years ago I was invited to speak at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association in Chicago, to discuss the morality of whether physicians should ration care from their patients. Read More

Does Anybody Want to Pay for Depression Treatment?

Imagine for a moment you are suffering from an illness that makes you feel like your soul has been run over by an angry defensive lineman, a disease that interferes with your desire to sleep, eat and make love. Oh, and this illness will continue to make you feel this way for the rest of your life. How much would you be willing to pay for a treatment makes you feel normal again? Read More

Discussing Life Expectancy With Older Patients

In a recent post, I laid out a question to readers — about whether and how physicians should discuss the prognosis among patients whose shortened life expectancy is the result of their already long lives. Read More

It's We, the Public, Who Are "Flip Floppers"

The failure of health care reform does not rest solely at the president's feet. Instead, we, the general public, are also to blame. Read More

When Harry and Louise Met Hillary

As part of the Duke undergraduate course I teach on health care policy, I recently prepared a lecture on Bill Clinton's ultimately futile efforts to reform the US health care system early in his first term of office, back in 1993. This preparation gave me an excuse to read Theda Skocpol's wonderful book, Boomerang. Read More

Dying for Facts: Conclusion

In the last few posts, I've told the story of a couple heated debates. One still ongoing: "Does capital punishment deter criminals?" Another ended: "Do antiarrythmia drugs save lives?" The latter debate is over because people on both sides of the debate got together to find out the answer! Read More

Dying for Facts Part 4: Getting Evidence!

When I last posted to this site, I was recounting my experience as a medical resident in the late 80s, presumably saving my patients' lives with wonder drugs. Read More

Dying for Facts Part 3: The heart of the matter?

We live in an era of strident partisanship, with elections often decided by candidates' attitudes towards morally and emotionally charged issues like gun control or abortion. Each presidential election seems to hinge on some set of irresolvable moral and cultural divisions, leaving the winner with at best a tenuous majority, while a firmly ensconced and angry minority plots their retribution. Read More

Dying for Facts Part 2: Same evidence, different conclusion

In my last post, the fate of a cold-blooded killer depended on nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices who could not agree whether his death would deter potential criminals. Read More

Dying For Facts Part 1: Death Penalty Debates

On November 23, 1973, Dennis Weaver read a disturbing article in his Atlanta newspaper. Two men were found dead in a ditch along the very same highway where he had been hitchhiking the day before. Even more disturbingly, Weaver recognized that these were the very same men who had picked him up. Read More

More thoughts on doctors’ offices as campaign offices

In a recent post, I asked for your thoughts on how you would feel if your doctor posted an anti-health reform letter in his waiting room. Link Read More

Doctor’s office or campaign office? Your turn to vote!

I need to know what you think of the following situation.

You walk into your doctor's office, turn your insurance information into the clerk, take a seat in the waiting room and discover the following letter sitting on the couch-side table, authored by your very own doctor: Read More

Does the Obama Administration Want Your Gas-Guzzler To Give You Sticker-Shock?

Suppose you are at the car dealer and have narrowed your choice down to two automobiles. One is a little nicer looking, and the other has a more comfortable interior. One gets twenty miles per gallon and the other gets twenty five. Read More

Sarcopenia: Name the disease and let the pill popping begin!

Sarcopenia: a mysterious disorder that causes people's muscles to shrink away. 25%, 30%, even greater loss of strength... until the victim is struggling to make it up to the second floor bedroom. Would you undergo a treatment for this disorder if it was safe and effective? And do you think your insurance company should pay for such a treatment, if it were to become available? Read More

Abortion, Health Care and the Psychology of Compromise

It is a dangerous time to compromise in the U. S. government. A Republican working with Obama is dead meat in the next primary. A Democrat who works with Republicans? Well, you saw what happened to Joe Lieberman the last time he ran as a Democrat. Read More

On the Art of Choosing What to Read: Essay Inspired by Iyengar's New Book

So many books, so little time.

I am 47 years old. Assuming, in a near best case scenario, that I live 40 more years, and that I read around one book per week the rest of my life, I will finish 2,000 more books before I die. Read More

Mark McGwire: New Poster Child for Cognitive Dissonance

Answer = Himself

Question = Who is Mark McGwire trying to deceive?

It's laughable, isn't it.

• He took steroids for "health reasons"• The drugs "didn't help him" hit home runs• The "steroid era" made him do it Read More

Underwear Bombers and the Politics of Invisibility

Easy to criticize the Obama administration, isn't it? Read More

Obama is to a Colostomy like Hope is to a . . . ?

Would you rather experience a bad situation forever or for just six months? Any sane person would choose the temporary situation. Read More

Fat Lazy Neighborhoods?

If I told you that neighborhoods cause people to develop diabetes, would you believe me? And would that make you more or less willing to see your tax dollars spent researching ways to treat and prevent diabetes? That is essentially the question my colleagues and I posed to a wide swath of Americans, and a question, we discovered, that polarizes people along political party lines. Read More

When Good Medical Care is All or Something

One of the greatest joys of practicing medicine is for me to understand where my patients are coming from, so I can best help them through their medical journey. I was reminded of this fact recently, when talking with a patient who had just come back to my primary care clinic after visiting the liver clinic to discuss his chronic Hepatitis C infection. Read More

Hitler's testicles and Palin's death panels

Did you know that Adolf Hitler had three testicles? You didn't? You're right—I just made that up. By mentioning the myth of his three testicles, I increase the odds you'll mistakenly believe it. Therein lies the brilliance of Sarah Palin's death panels. Read More

Tiger Woods and Healthcare Reform

American presidents have been trying to reform our healthcare system since at least the Nixon era, but with only limited success. Past reform efforts have failed for many reasons. For starters, the U.S. healthcare system is complex, with the medical industry making up almost 1/6 of our economy. Read More

Succulent Sandwiches and Consumable Calories: Who's Counting?

Last summer, New York City made a great stride toward promoting public health, by requiring chain restaurants to prominently publish calorie counts alongside their menus. This type of regulation holds the promise of improving people's eating habits, without restricting their freedom to order whatever they want. Read More

Peter Ubel, M.D., author of Critical Decisions and Free Market Madness, is a physician, behavioral scientist, and Professor of Business and Public Policy at Duke University.

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About Scientocracy

In Scientocracy, I blog about how behavioral science can inform some of our trickiest policy dilemmas. Where I muse about what the world would look like if evidence guided our political decision making.