Men or Institutions: Comment and Criticism

Comment on Manchikanti et al's ACOEM guideline criticism.

As practicing interventional pain physicians, we were pleased to see the point-by-point evaluation of the recent ACOEM guidelines (1,2). Although the 400page ACOEM chapters at first glance appear impressive, through this analysis it becomes clear that the ACOEM chapters are fatally flawed. Unfortunately, insurance companies have been quick to accept any information that allows them to deny paym...

Institutions: Rules or Equilibria?

In recent years, the interest in rational choice analysis of institutions has received substantial impetus from an accumulating body of evidence demonstrating the importance of a society’s institutions in determining its economic outcomes. Econometric studies have uncovered correlations between institutional variables such as the security of property rights, the rule of law, and trust, and econ...

About price and value of scientific publications: criticism or indignation?

One of the peculiarities of the time we live in is the sheer speed with which changes take place. They are of different orders, directly affecting the living conditions and opportunities of people, all basically caused by the very rapid scientific and technological progress. Obviously, then, in this dizzying speed that concepts, cus­ toms and behaviors are often changed, even radically, should ...

Criticism of Benacerraf’s Criticism of Modern Eleatics

I analyze here Benacerraf’s criticism of Thomson arguments on the impossibility of ω-supertasks. Although Benacerraf’s criticism is well founded, his analysis of Thomson’s lamp is incomplete. In fact, it is possible to consider a new line of argument, which Benacerraf only incidentally considered, based on the functioning laws of the lamp. This argument leads to a contradictory result that comp...

The Art of Criticism? Criticism as Art!