We introduce a new protocol for prediction with expert advice in which each expert evaluates the learner’s and his own performance using a loss function that may change over time and may be different from the loss functions used by the other experts. The learner’s goal is to perform better or not much worse than each expert, as evaluated by that expert, for all experts simultaneously. If the lo...

How people maintain and repair their self-esteem has been a topic of widespread interest. In this article, the authors ask, What determines whether people will use direct, remedial actions, or defensive actions? In three studies, they tested the hypothesis that a belief in fixed intelligence (entity theory) would produce defensiveness, whereas a belief in improvable intelligence (incremental th...

Abstract Defence cases with an escalatory structure, in which the levels of violence between aggressor and defender start out as minor then become major, even lethal, raise sharp problems for defence theory, our understanding conditions defence: proportionality, necessity, imminence. It is argued here that defenders are not morally required to withdraw from participation these cases, defensive ...

BACKGROUND Tort law has legitimate social purposes of deterrence, punishment and compensation, but medical tort law does none of these well. Tort law could be counterproductive in medicine, encouraging costly defensive practices that harm some patients, restricting access to care in some settings and discouraging innovation. DISCUSSION Patients might be better served by purchasing combined he...