Misc Links 2/6/11

Hit Send, Take a Bow (WSJ)
Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together. Precisely because there is so much opportunity for digital communication, we are losing the ability to make simple, genuine connections with actual human beings. “A behavior that has become typical may still express the problems that once caused us to see it as pathological.”

Who’s the Boss, You or Your Gadget? (NYT)
All of this amped-up productivity comes with a growing sense of unease. Too often, people find themselves with little time to concentrate and reflect on their work. Or to be truly present with their friends and family. “Nobody seems to actually pay full attention; everybody is doing a worse job because they are doing more things.”

You are not the boss of you (Wash Post)
Review of Daniel Akst’s “We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess.” The reviewer pans the book, but the example of over-medicalization that he disses strikes me as spot on.

Health information remains high on the list of popular uses for the Internet (Wash Post)
Search for health information is the third most common activity on the Internet for Americans. (1st is email, 2nd is using search engines) “In many ways, the Internet has become the de facto second opinion.”

A Food Manifesto for the Future (NYT)
End government subsidies to processed food. Begin subsidies to those who produce and sell actual food for direct consumption. Outlaw concentrated animal feeding in favor of sustainable animal husbandry. More

Mood disorders in patients with cancer (Lancet Oncology)
Depression in cancer patients appears to be less common than previously thought, but there are lots of caveats about this latest study.

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Image: Fast Company