If the Stars Were Mine...

What if Chomsky were right?

The outcome of scientific research depends on how a phenomenon is viewed and how the questions are phrased. This applies also to the nativist view of language acquisition. As a complement to MacWhinney’s discussion of nativism from the viewpoint of cognitive psychology, I would like to devote this commentary to the question of the title from the viewpoint of computational linguistics. Formally,...

What if entropy were dimensionless?

One of entropy’s puzzling aspects is its dimensions of energy/temperature. A review of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics leads to six conclusions: ~1! Entropy’s dimensions are linked to the definition of the Kelvin temperature scale. ~2! Entropy can be defined to be dimensionless when temperature T is defined as an energy ~dubbed tempergy!. ~3! Dimensionless entropy per particle typicall...

What if electronic medical records were unnecessary?

In this month’s issue of Canadian Family Physician, we present a debate on electronic medical records (EMRs). Manca extols their virtues (page 846),1 while Greiver counters with their drawbacks (page 847).2 It might seem strange to debate the merits of EMRs when most physicians are already using them. Indeed, according to the most recent National Physician Survey (2014), close to 80% of Canadia...

If humans were built to last.

If psychosis were cancer: a speculative comparison

Recently, health policy in the UK has begun to engage with the concept of 'parity of esteem' between physical and mental healthcare. This has led one recent initiative to improve service provision for first episode psychosis, which aims to bring it into line with some of the principles underpinning good practice in cancer care. In this paper, we consider some of the metaphorical consequences of...