Game Theory

There has been a lot of excitement about a new book called "The Game", about men who live together in what amounts to a cult, and share their skills in picking up women. As someone who has not been hugely successful in the world of dating, I have occasionly picked up similar books in the past, to see whether they offer any useful advice. They have helped me, but in an unexpected way. With their ruthless cyncism and painful desperation, they have allowed me to realise that I actually quite like being a nice guy who doesn't get any. So there.

Birthday Surprise

I had a strange sense of deja vu reading about the tenth birthday of Kirsty Howard this week. Her parents were told that she had just weeks to live six years ago, a story which seems very familiar - doctors are close to giving up hope on a patient who then makes a remarkable recovery and proves them wrong. Less well reported is the converse, a patient who seems to be getting back to full fitness but suddenly relapses and dies. Although the medical profession do not want to admit it, the reality is that such predictions are extremely difficult to make, in either case, and they are doing little more than making a reasonably educated guess.

This has important consequences when thinking about "do not resuscitate" orders. If an accurate prognosis is not possible, then what reason is there to put such a decision in the hands of doctors. There is obvious relevance in the case of the baby Charlotte Wyatt, whose parents have been denied the right to decide to revive her, even though she has defied all medical opinion, and survived almost to the age of two, and she continues to improve. I am happy for doctors to take charge when their expertise in a particular area has been clearly proven, but I am not sure that this is really the case here.

On the other hand, maybe frequent meetings with David Beckham have made all the difference, in Kirsty's case. Given his recent performances for England, perhaps he should give up playing football and begin working full-time for the NHS.

Wind of change?

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I feel nothing but tremendous sympathy for the people who have lost loved ones or have been made homeless by this terrible tragedy. Nevertheless, I cannot help but reflect on the irony that the United States has asked Europe for aid, albeit belatedly. Normally, of course, it is America who provides aid in the case of disasters elsewhere in the world, the main difference being that there are often strings attached, especially in the case of Africa, where democracy is often cited as a pre-condition for aid or debt relief. This is often justified by the claim that famine (say) as the result of a dictatorial regime is, in some way, self-inflicted.

This leads me to wonder, without seriousness of course - purely as a thought experiment - what requirements Europe could demand of the United States, before its request be fulfilled. After all, since the 2000 presidential election, American democracy has seemed to be in pretty short supply. Of more relevance here, though, is the Bush administration's stance on global warming and it surely cannot have escaped their attention that increased hurricane activity may, at least partly, be a direct result of their lack of movement in this area. Perhaps now would be a fitting time to suggest that a signature be added to the Kyoto protocol.