Protecting Sight #180: The moral bias behind your search results. Femtosecond laser white cataract. The NEJM publishes landmark COVID-19 studies. Bargain Hard and The Water Wives.

Welcome to my daily learning journal. My daily goal is to watch one Ted Talk and one cataract surgery. I also plan to read one journal article and read/listen to a book chapter, podcast, or significant work.

Here’s today’s list:

1. Ted Talk – Andreas Ekström: The moral bias behind your search results. “Search engines have become our most trusted sources of information and arbiters of truth. But can we ever get an unbiased search result? Swedish author and journalist Andreas Ekström argues that such a thing is a philosophical impossibility. In this thoughtful talk, he calls on us to strengthen the bonds between technology and the humanities, and he reminds us that behind every algorithm is a set of personal beliefs that no code can ever completely eradicate.” (ted.com)

Algorithms will continue to play an increasing role in our lives. And especially with big data and AI!

2. Cataract Surgery – Uday Devgan MD – Femtosecond Laser White Cataract. “Our guest surgeon today is Xiongfei Liu MD from Sacramento, California. He was previously a resident with us at our UCLA ophthalmology residency. His case is using a femtosecond laser to assist with cataract surgery on a dense white cataract. The laser is unable to complete the capsular opening and he must adjust his technique to account for this.” Excellent technique.

3A. Polack FP, Thomas SJ, Kitchin N, et al. Safety and efficacy of the BNT162b2 Covid-19 vaccine. N Engl J Med. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2034577.

3B. Eric J. Rubin, Dan L. Longo. (2020) SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination — An Ounce (Actually, Much Less) of PreventionN Engl J Med.

These are among the most historical journal articles of our generation. I am bullish on these vaccines!

4. Chris Voss and Tahl Raz, Never Split the Difference. Chapter 9, “Bargain Hard.”

Voss and Raz are great storytellers. The skills presented can be applied to everyday negotiations.

5. The Water Wives of Mumbai in India (YouTube). I first learned about the water wives through a 5-minute highly acclaimed short movie I stumbled upon a few years ago (YouTube: The Wives). As I understand Hindi, the second clip below is especially poignant. Both are worth a watch.

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