Letters archive

You recently raised the issue of ageism. Approaching octogenarian status, I don't think of myself as old and nor do my fellow surfing mates. However, try applying for a new credit card or travel insurance (in Australia at least) and it is a totally different story. The hurdles to jump over for a credit card …

A few years ago, I took issue with a survey that allowed people discretion when it came to questions of nationality, ethnicity, gender and so on, but not age. I find the apparent belief, commonly espoused in the media, that people over a certain age need to be treated differently to others highly condescending and …

Dyson spheres and Dyson swarms are a means of collecting massive amounts of energy from a star to power an alien civilisation. Surely any advanced society would have arranged to minimise the use of energy, as we are trying to do on Earth, so why would it need the whole or a large fraction of …

You discuss the idea that food addiction might be akin to drug addiction. This idea overlooks the fact that ultra-processed foods are designed to be over-consumed. They are visually appealing, intensely flavoured, energy dense goodies that beg sensory seeking while providing little satisfaction. These factors strongly encourage people to eat more of them than is …

I agree that the term "addiction" isn't sufficiently precise to be used in a scientific context. It would be better to have something that gets to the heart of why addiction may be a problem in some cases to some people and not in others ( Leader, 25 May ). Something along the lines of …

Addicted? Who? Me? Yes! I am addicted to New Scientist ! I crave its stimulating food for thought! I can't live without it! I can hardly wait for the next edition.

Although I see the potential for orchids to transfer food to seedlings via a fungal network, the study you describe reminds me of a limitation in experimental design – namely, that reducing complexity can give only a narrow window into a real-world ecosystem. I imagine a real mycorrhizal network doesn't link up with a single …

Grace Wade highlights an important point in her article on neurodiversity. The human race is diverse; every brain develops differently. So how do we make sure terms like "neurodiverse" are only applied to those who would benefit from such labels? How do we ensure that the neurotypical population gets the meaning and implications of such …

I have an extra point to raise on how to think about thought. It is that thought can't exist without language. Pre-language actions depended on internal and visual associations in the brain. Imagine a hominid waking with hunger pangs in her tree long ago. She looks around and sees fruit in another tree. Eating fruit …

You reported on a game theory simulation that showed people failed to reach a state of rational action, even after multiple failures and repeated feedback. This was said to be in variance with economic theories. However, the result is in line with over 50 years of research by psychologists on micro-economic decision making ( 18 …