Nassim Nicholas Taleb on GMOs and the Precautionary Principle

...presents what I think are some of the best arguments against GMOs. In this podcast Taleb tackles: The statistical errors found in scientific papers The need to apply the precautionary principle The unacknowledged risks of catastrophe The technological salvation fallacy In short, it’s not about the health risks of eating a GMO corn chip. It’s more about the way we discount and misunderstand risk. Consider Taleb’s argument the biological equivalent...

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The Week in Pictures

...outhern California. Our neighbor Jennie Cook (a guest on episode 50 of our podcast) put up a Little Free Library in her parkway a few years ago. It’s been a huge success. I’ve gotten rid of and acquired quite a few books and sometimes I just stroll down to look at what oddball things have shown up. One street over a neighbor has a huge stand of this common cactus that I, sadly, don’t know the name of (if you do, please leave a comment). A relative...

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Three California Natives that Double as Culinary Herbs

...rbs. And a reminder that if you’re in a hurry you can dry herbs in a microwave by putting the leaves in one layer between two paper towels. Microwave for one minute and let the leaves cool. If they aren’t brittle, microwave for another minute. Pascal Baudar (a guest on episode 89 of the Root Simple Podcast) has a phenomenal herb blend that uses all three of these herbs combined with some garlic salt. I made a batch last week and have already used...

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A Season of Light in Darkness

...I can write that much. However, I can talk, so Erik and I will be doing a podcast about our adventure very soon. But I wanted to share one thing here and now, partly because I know many people don’t like to listen to podcasts, and partly because it is perhaps the most important lesson I learned in all this, and it seems particularly relevant during the holiday season, when we gather with our friends and relatives. On Black Friday, in the emergenc...

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Saturday Tweets: Mid-Century Cookies, Harbor Freight Chainsaws and Epistemology!

.../AIdIUweE8I #Caturday — St. Margarets Sounds (@SM_Sounds) December 7, 2016 Podcast interview with memory champion and Memrise founder Ed Cooke https://t.co/Ov55rpweTG — Root Simple (@rootsimple) December 16, 2016 Podcasting’s positivism problem https://t.co/vYyGhxZQcY — Root Simple (@rootsimple) December 16, 2016 CA Governor Brown vows to launch “our own damn satellite” if Trump shuts down climate research https://t.co/sUKPPLfhAz — Root Simple (@r...

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