A week of links
This week we have paleo for dogs, irrational consumers and the question of what is the right size:
John Hawks posts on a new Nature paper that provides a reason for “why we feed dogs kibble instead of raw beef” - well, at least those who don’t have their dogs on the paleo diet. Like humans with a long agricultural history, dogs have extensive duplication of the amylase gene, which assists in the digestion of starch. Razib asks “Is Paleolithic man to Holocene man what the wolf is to the dog?”
The Atlantic covers a new paper by Daniel McFadden that summarises the case against the neoclassical economic view of the consumer. From a quick skim, there’s not too many surprises but it’s a nice summary.
Nick Gruen tweeted a link to this 1928 classic by J.B.S. Haldane, On Being the Right Size. Andy Haldane of the Bank of England borrowed it for a speech on bank size. I suggest going back to the original.