This article was suggested by reader JH who saw it discussed at Massimo Pigliucci's site. When he was at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, William Newcomb devised the following puzzle, which…

The United States Navy is going to steam into the Yellow Sea and blow up some Korean warships. But friendly, like, and for fun. Points will be scored, and trophies…

Introduction One summary of the Peter Principle, named after psychologist Laurence J. Peters, is that "in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence." Three Italian…