Monday Links for 4.20.2015

From the past week...

1. The Right Dose of Exercise - From the NY Times, discussing some recent studies regarding the "right" dose of physical exercise.  Not surprisingly, they suggest that the right amount is more than what we probably get (especially for someone living a fairly sedentary lifestyle like me), but that exercise constantly doesn't necessarily increase health benefits after awhile, things just start to plateau.

2. The Rule of History - A longer read from The New Yorker, discussing the misconception and hold that the Magna Carta has on our discussion of development of personal rights recognized by law.  As a former history major and law student, all sorts of this article were interesting to me - to how survey history is much more favorable to King John than he deserves, and how the influence of the Magna Carta is not as far-reaching as is often stated.  I would wager that it's not possible to read this article without learning something new.  Good stuff.

3. The Case for Confronting Sabermetric Skeptics - Another baseball read, this time from Neil Weinberg (Tiger fan!) at The Hardball Times.  The gist of the article is summed up by the title, but it suggests that it is appropriate to initiate conversations, both to dispel myths and educate, about sabermetrics with those that will dismiss it offhand.  As I wrote a little about in last week's links, advanced stats/metrics in baseball have caused many to believe that they are ruining baseball.  Such seems like the overstated case of ignorance; but as I think the article argues very well, those that enjoy baseball and sabermetrics shouldn't ignore those individuals, but engage in dialogue to inform.  Obviously, the article is limited to baseball and a particularly ongoing debate in the baseball world; but the premise of engaging ignorance to dispel it by educating, rather than ignoring, seems to be a good philosophy for many things in our society, particularly when it comes to those cross-over political - scientific issues, like vaccinations, evolution, and climate change.