How fascinating. His skepticism notwithstanding, this is a great source for sermon illustrations on David v Goliath.

The Straight Dope: Has an important battle ever been decided by single combat?

Dear Cecil: I’m currently reading Polybius’s Rise of the Roman Empire and stumbled on a quote that begs for elaboration. In book VI, Polybius offhandedly remarks, “Many Romans have volunteered to enga…

That there is a strong correlation makes intuitive sense to me, although I would not have pegged it as the strongest predictor.

Sentences to ponder

Stunningly, the postponement of marriage and parenting — the factors that shrink the birth rate — is the very best predictor of a person’s politics in the United States, over even income and educat.…..

Interesting. This is a complicated question to investigate — I look forward to seeing more research.

Freakonomics » What Happens When You Get Rid of Affirmative Action?

Proposition 209 banned using racial preferences in admissions at California’s public colleges. We analyze unique data for all applicants and enrollees within the University of California (UC) system b…

My question is the first one. That’s right — I’m an internet big shot now. Feel free to tell people you knew me when.

Freakonomics » How to Get the Best out of College? Your Questions Answered

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