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Probability 101 (independent events)
We recently stumbled upon this wonderful little quotation on page 107 of the book Chances Are … Adventures in Probability by Ellen Kaplan and her son Michael Kaplan (Viking Penguin, 2006): “Consider the sequence of independent events a1, a2 … an” : as … Continue reading
In defense of intellectual agnosticism …
We are reposting this cool meme in defense of intellectual agnosticism (i.e. the ability to update one’s priors). You can check out the entire series of “epistemic rationality memes” here. (double hat tip: Tyler Cowen & Michael Wiebe) Please don’t forget to … Continue reading
“Information hypocrisy” in law
Futurist Robin Hanson has written up another astute blog post on the subject of information hypocrisy. By way of example, Hanson points out the existence of such hypocrisy in law: We say court proceedings are to get information to decide guilt, but … Continue reading
The limits of law: an update on San Francisco’s tour bus ban
A flat-out legal prohibition (e.g. “thou shalt not …”) represents a coercive, non-market approach to a given social problem. So, why aren’t legal bans always effective? Consider, for example, the tour bus ban approved last November by San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency, which … Continue reading
“The Pervasive Effect of Priors”
That is the title of this informative four-part series of blog posts in which Claire Hill discusses and illustrates various aspects of people’s prior beliefs (aka “priors”). Here is an excerpt from part one of the series: They (people’s priors) help explain why … Continue reading
Is the USA less free than Putin’s Russia or Communist China?
Read the full report by Ernest Drucker here (pp. 61-69).
What are Fractals and why should I care?
Originally posted on George Dallas:
Fractal geometry is a field of maths born in the 1970’s and mainly developed by Benoit Mandelbrot. If you’ve already heard of fractals, you’ve probably seen the picture below. It’s called the Mandelbrot Set and is…
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Is Google (potentially) more evil than the NSA?
Whoever wrote this blog entry seems to think so. But don’t Internet users knowingly and voluntarily consent to Google’s privacy policy when we sign up for Gmail? Or do Google’s terms of service constitute a tortious “invasion of privacy” under the common law? (hat tip: digg) … Continue reading
Torts II checklist
This semester we taught Torts II and studied various theories of legal liability, such as vicarious liability, strict liability, products liability, rescue (the general no-duty rule and exceptions to the rule), the Federal Tort Claims Act (federal government liability), defamation, … Continue reading
