Opportunity cost refers to the gains one forfeits by choosing one option over another one. John A. List illustrates opportunity cost through the story of his failed golf career. After realising he would never be a pro golfer, he decided to shift gears and take up economics; it was a field he was skilled in and enjoyed. If he had chosen to be a golfer, he would have missed out on his teaching and consulting careers and a lot of publications, which are more important than being a lousy golfer. Read full article here
Oddities
The Curious Case of the Ancient Brain
In 2008, archaeologists examining the University of York discovered something strange: the decapitated head of an Iron Age man and his very shrivelled but very much intact brain. How a centuries-old brain was preserved is still unknown, but research suggests that it could have been because of brain diseases like dementia. The Yorkshire man’s brain’s proteins were bunched up together, much like how dementia causes brain proteins to bunch up into plaques. This bunching up, or aggregation, could continue even after death, turning regions of the brain into hard masses. Read full article here
Merv
September 30, 2022
