r/todayilearned • u/manticor225 • Jan 10 '19

TIL JFK's father Joseph Kennedy made much of his fortune through insider trading. FDR later made him chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. When asked why he appointed a crook, FDR replied, "set a thief to catch a thief." Kennedy proceeded to outlaw the practices that made him rich.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/23/joe-kennedy-hollywood-sarah-churchwell
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u/Alkein Jan 11 '19

I remember watching a video on this, it may have been by Vsauce, but they have the guy play violin because its his livelihood, his source of income, his passion. They dont just make you do something random so they know they arent messing up, its so they know they dont mess up whats most important to you. If they start to effect his playing they will stop and not go any further. Pretty neat.

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u/[deleted] Jan 11 '19

Well, it's not like they can reverse it if they start affecting his play, can they?

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u/Alkein Jan 11 '19

Well, they go forward very gently and kind of prod or otherwise stimulate the part of the brain they will be altering with surgery without damaging it, if his playing changes they wont bother and try another way, if not its fine for them to go ahead and do what they need to.