I'm a terrible decision maker. Even when it comes to considerations over inconsequential topics, my process is tedious, creeping, dawdling, ponderous, plodding, and sluggishly leaden. (I couldn't even decide which adjective to use in that sentence.) If you want my feedback on which backpack or new set of headphones to purchase, you'll need to give me at least two years notice. I can't imagine how long it would take me to make a decision about the timing of the end of the my life—but I'm pretty sure natural causes would have the final word before I did. Unlike me, Daniel Kahneman was widely viewed as the world's leading thinker on decisions. So it's worth pondering the broader meaning of his decision to send the following email to his friends: "This is a goodbye letter I am sending friends to tell them that I am on my way to Switzerland, where my life will end on March 27." Jason Zweig in the WSJ (Gift Article): The Last Decision by the World’s Leading Thinker on Decisions. "Kahneman was widely mourned nearly a year ago when his death was announced. Only close friends and family knew, though, that it transpired at an assisted-suicide facility in Switzerland. Some are still struggling to come to terms with his decision ... I never got to say goodbye to Danny and don’t fully understand why he felt he had to go. His death raises profound questions: How did the world’s leading authority on decision-making make the ultimate decision? How closely did he follow his own precepts on how to make good choices? How does his decision fit into the growing debate over the downsides of extreme longevity? How much control do we, and should we, have over our own death?" 2Diagnosis Boom BahEven if you suffer from an extremely rare disease, there's a decent chance the cure already exists. Some combination of available drugs, therapies, and treatments could possibly save you. The tricky part is figuring which combination provides the cure. That's where AI comes in. Kate Moran in the NYT (Gift Article): Doctors Told Him He Was Going to Die. Then A.I. Saved His Life. "A little over a year ago, Joseph Coates was told there was only one thing left to decide. Did he want to die at home, or in the hospital? ... Within a week, Coates was responding to treatment. In four months, he was healthy enough for a stem cell transplant. Today, he’s in remission. The lifesaving drug regimen wasn’t thought up by the doctor, or any person. It had been spit out by an artificial intelligence model." It actually wasn't just spit out. Doctors and researchers had a big role in developing the treatment. But the machines really sped things up. 3Appetite for Destruction"Last Friday, in the Great Hall of the Justice Department, the president described his adversaries as 'scum,' 'savages,' and 'Marxists,' as well as 'deranged,' 'thugs,' 'violent vicious lawyers,' and 'a corrupt group of hacks and radicals within the ranks of the American government.' No one has any doubt what this means: The department is under Trump’s personal control. As if to underscore the point, Attorney General Pam Bondi, who called Trump 'the greatest president in the history of our country,' said she works 'at the directive of Donald Trump.' The Justice Department is Trump’s weapon for revenge. And his appetite for vengeance is insatiable." Peter Wehner in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Trump’s Appetite for Revenge Is Insatiable. (And given the pace of his efforts, revenge is a dish that might not have time to get cold.) 4Zyn Fan Deluge"To visitors, Sweden is as remarkable for what is absent as for what is present. Walking around Stockholm, you hear little noise from traffic, because Swedes have so aggressively adopted electric vehicles. (They also seem constitutionally averse to honking.) Streets and sidewalks are exceptionally free from debris, in part because of the country’s robust anti-littering programs. And the air bears virtually no trace of cigarette smoke." That's not to say nicotine isn't popular. In fact, it may be more popular in Sweden than anywhere else. "And yet the Swedes have an immense appetite for nicotine, the addictive chemical found in tobacco. About a third of Swedish people consume nicotine, and they mostly get their fix from snus—small, gossamer pouches that look like dollhouse pillows, which users nestle in their gums. Snus pouches deliver nicotine to the bloodstream through sensitive oral membranes; Swedes refer to the resulting buzz as the nicokick." Snus go by a different name in America. But the pouches are gaining in popularity. Carrie Battan in The New Yorker: Zyn and the New Nicotine Gold Rush. 5Extra, ExtraMake America Great Gatsby Again: The Courts have been pretty good about striking down some of the Trump administration's most egregious policies. The problem is that the administration has been pretty good at stretching things out long enough to still do a lot of damage. In the NYT, Stephen I. Vladeck explains why The Courts Alone Can’t Save Us. "The courts can do only so much when the goal of imposing a policy isn’t to win so much as it is to break things and, as F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in 'The Great Gatsby,' to 'let other people clean up the mess they had made.' For all of the judicial interventions we’ve seen in the first eight weeks of the new Trump administration, alarmingly little has changed on the ground." 6Bottom of the News"For the eighth year in a row, Finland has taken the No. 1 spot on the World Happiness Report’s list of the happiest countries. Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden also made the top 10." The US fell one spot to the 24th position. And that was before 2025 started.
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