things i learned

The imagined history of Ellis Island

2024-01-26

Via Marginal Revolution:

The explanation for this is pretty obvious when you think about it. Just as today, people bought tickets and their names were written on the tickets.

I never get tired of the "you were taught this in school, but it probably didn't happen" type of thing.

Indirect driving deaths caused by 9/11

2024-01-22

Gaissmaier and Gigerenzer found that Americans flew less and drove more in the year after 9/11, which led to 1,600 more traffic deaths over that period than would otherwise have been expected.

From Range Widely by David Epstein

Disparity in divorce

2024-01-09

I saw this yesterday afternoon and it caught my eye:

It reminded me of #49 in my list of 52 things I learned in 2022: If a married woman is diagnosed with a brain tumor, there is a 21% chance that the couple will divorce; if the husband has a tumor, there is only a 3% chance they will divorce, which I found via Rob Henderson.

Based on some googling, I don't think this is the exact same study, but in the spirit of intellectual honesty, I figured I should post it.

There is some nuance, but the general relationship between illness and husbands divorcing their wives no longer holds.

Congratulations to I-Fen Lin and Susan Brown, who found the error, and Amelia Karraker who handled the correction with dignity.