There is no topic in elementary physics as odd as quantum mechanics. Once you learn the formalism, it is easy to apply (although the mathematics required can be daunting). The experimenters say, on the other hand, that the results you get from quantum mechanical computations are accurate within the limits of measurement.

Problem is, there is no reason for that. We are all a little surprised by how accurately QM models the world. It's as if God in his or her infinite wisdom had decided to choose QM as the infinitesimal model of the world on a whim.

The problem, you see, is that there is absolutely nothing necessary about QM. It certainly suffices the requirement to make sense in the everyday realm, but in the microscopic it sounds and feels just like one of many possible descriptions of physical reality.

It's been a long while that I've been curious about Bollywood movies. I have enough friends from India that their constant chatter about them has started to make a dent, and I've been quite bored with standard Hollywood fare. I think part of it is that Netflix continues suggesting crappy movies from the 80s (Ladyhawke, Labyrinth and Working Girl amongst the latest).

Regardless: when the Internation section of my recommendations contained a Bollywood title with great rating, I added it to my queue, not hoping much, but assuming it would be better than the other stuff I'd seen these days.

To make it short, I loved Om Shanti Om. I found the cinematography outstanding, the musical numbers catchy, and the plot sufficiently strong to carry it all. I can't speak to the acting, as I don't know much about the conventions in Bollywood, but the outlandish beauty of supermodel Deepika Padukone speaks for itself, especially when she is playing the furious angel of revenge.

I felt like an addition to my review of Landsburg's book was in order after completing the read. I am as enthusiastic as I ever was, but I think I have a more nuanced look now.

First of all, I read the book as an attempt to popularize both economics and its fundamental tenets. In that attempt, Landsburg succeeds spectacularly: the way of thinking of economists, which is probably the most important thing right now about their achievements, is brought forth with great clarity and persuasive power.

Economics is a clear winner in this game. We learn what economy is about, what it's not about, and rational ways to distinguish between the two. To spice things up, Landsburg shuns the obvious and focuses almost entirely on the paradoxical. That certainly makes him more interesting and makes his reasoning more likely to be a feature at parties. Everybody wins.

I love economists. They are a special breed of scientists. They tower high above all the other ones in their all-knowing wisdom and dispense it to the rest of the world in little parcels, mostly at dinner parties and economic summits.

Ok, maybe I don't love economists in general, only some of them. People that tell me something that is unexpected, especially when they combine an obvious piece of information with another one and come up with something totally unexpected. The Peter principle, for instance, is a really good example.

Some books by economists are great. I haven't written a review of it yet, but More Sex is Safer Sex by the same identical author is very interesting and insightful. The Armchair Economist, though, is extremely poorly researched and an embarassement to the author and to the whole science of economics.