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Quote by Abraham Varghese

“Simple problems are the hardest to solve because they require common sense—something not so common. Beneath every simple problem lies a complex one trying to wiggle out.”

Quote by Abraham Varghese

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Abraham Varghese

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“Severe punishment unquestionably has an immediate effect in reducing a tendency to act in a given way. This result is no doubt responsible for its widespread use. We 'instinctively' attack anyone whose behavior displeases us - perhaps not in physical assault, but with criticism, disapproval, blame, or ridicule. Whether or not there is an inherited tendency to do this, the immediate effect of the practice is reinforcing enough to explain its currency. In the long run, however, punishment does not actually eliminate behavior from a repertoire, and its temporary achievement is obtained at tremendous cost in reducing the over-all efficiency and happiness of the group. (p. 190)”

BehaviorPunishmentIneffectiveReward Vs Punishment
Book:Science And Human Behavior
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“Our analyses of the FDA data showed relatively little difference between the effects of antidepressants and the effects of placebos. Indeed, the effects were so small that they did not qualify as clinically significant. The drug companies knew how small the effect of their medications were compared to placebos, and so did the FDA and other regulatory agencies. The companies found various ways to make the data seem more favorable to their products, and the FDA helped them keep their negative data secret. In fact, in some instances, the FDA urged the companies to keep negative data hidden, even when the companies wanted to reveal them. My colleagues and I hadn't really discovered anything new. We had merely revealed their 'dirty little secret'.”

SecretBadFdaAntidepressantsDrug CompaniesIneffective
Book:The Emperor's New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth
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“Quite ironically, the answer to ineffective philanthropy is more of it: the failure of philanthropy is its own success. The perceived necessity — even the indispensability — of a donor like the Gates Foundation grows in proportion to its own inability to achieve the unachievable: mitigating the very inequalities that its own presence might be inadvertently compounding.”

PhilanthropyIneffective
Book:No Such Thing as a Free Gift: The Gates Foundation and the Price of Philanthropy
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