The Banana Peel Project

I was just taking a gander at Wiley Publishing’s 2005 version of Bipolar Disorder for Dummies, and I stumbled upon this amazing disclaimer on the copyright page. Putting aside any grandiose claims about mental illness and psychopharmaceuticals being sensitive issues these days, it’s downright hilarious.  I don’t think that reproducing the the copyright page of […]

Yesterday, I briefly commented on Jennifer Egan’s piece for The New York Times Magazine (now out in today’s print edition), “The Bipolar Puzzle,” in which Egan attempts to lay bare the current controversy surrounding pediatric bipolar disorder (it can be found here, although you may need a subscription; otherwise, it may be worth it to […]

On using “information processing” as a model for biological processes
Information and communication have long been used as models for talking about the way biology works.  Neurons as signal processors, hormones as messengers, DNA as code: are there no other ways to understand biology?  The Daily Transcript suggests that cybernetic or informational metaphors are just one […]