Why is Watson a 'he'?

So there was an article recently about how Watson was moving beyond jeopardy and going into medicine.

Throughout the article, Watson is referred to with male pronouns. Personally, I always refer to computers as, 'it'. To do otherwise is just feels strange to me. It would be like giving my lettuce gender. "My, he's very crispy tonight."

What I found even more strange about the article was how Watson was going to beat "his competitor", another diagnosis engine called Isabel. This machine is referred to with female pronouns, "...but Watson's trainers don't seem to see her as a threat; they say he's already faster and understands more medical terms."

Uh huh.

I've decided from this day forward all my future computers will be named "Pat". That'll learn 'em.

Healthy Skeptic Podcast

Chris Kresser has just posted our recent interview/discussion on his blog The Healthy Skeptic.  You can listen to it on Chris's blog here.  The discussion mostly centered around body fat and food reward.  I also answered a few reader questions.  Here are some highlights:

• How does the food reward system work? Why did it evolve?
• Why do certain flavors we don’t initially like become appealing over time?
• How does industrially processed food affect the food reward system?
• What’s the most effective diet used to make rats obese in a research setting? What does this tell us about human diet and weight regulation?
• Do we know why highly rewarding food increases the set point in some people but not in others?
• How does the food reward theory explain the effectiveness of popular fat loss diets?
• Does the food reward theory tell us anything about why traditional cultures are generally lean?
• What does cooking temperature have to do with health?
• Reader question: How does one lose fat?
• Reader question: What do I (Stephan) eat?
• Reader question: Why do many people gain fat with age, especially postmenopausal women?

The podcast is a sneak preview of some of the things I'll be discussing in the near future.  Enjoy!