Reading

XKCD comic #838, titled "Incident," humorously suggests that Santa Claus monitors who is using the "sudo" command without permission. via xkcd.com

A 1972 book argues that the hippie counterculture was rooted in mental illness and could be treated with medication.

Elizabeth Gumport's essay "In Which We're Up All Night" explores the experience of insomnia.

via Longform

FlowingData shares a video comparing the sizes of stars, starting from our sun and going all the way to VY Canis Majoris.

via FlowingData

A new study showed that patients taking sugar pills knowingly still experienced positive effects compared to a control group.

David Friedman shares a conjecture that behavioral economics could be key to understanding macroeconomics, such as business cycles, even if it doesn't impact microeconomics much.

via Ideas

WIRED offers the latest news and insights on technology, science, culture, and business. via WIRED

Steve Landsburg poses a mathematical puzzle about population sex ratios, asking readers to determine the expected percentage of females in a population with a specific family planning approach. via The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics

Jonah Lehrer's article, "The Truth Wears Off," explores the concerning trend of scientists struggling to replicate experimental results, particularly in medicine. via ThinkMarkets.

16 Ways to Avoid Getting Caught Reading at Work offers lists of creative and funny methods to sneak in some reading time.

Robin Hanson's blog post "How Hopeless A PhD?" analyzes whether an article titled "The disposable academic" would influence one's estimation of becoming a professor. Read the full post here.

via Overcoming Bias.

This article challenges the universality of social science findings, arguing that oversampling from "WEIRD" (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) societies skews results. via Freakonomics