prior probability

On this day (11 April) in 1727, Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion (BWV 244b) was performed for the first time at the Thomaskirche (Church of St. Thomas; see here), a Lutheran church in Leipzig (Electorate of Saxony).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke%27s_three_laws

What a time to be alive! If you would like to watch today’s solar eclipse virtually, NASA has a great option; hat tip: Dr Jamie Rodriguez: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/. Also, as it happens, today (April 8) is the 50th anniversary of Hank Aaron’s historic 715th home run:

Named after famed game theorist Anatol Rapoport (pictured below), here are his four rules:

1. You should attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.”
2. You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
3. You should mention anything you have learned from your target.
4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.

Bravo! PS: I discovered Rapoport’s rules in part six of this fascinating blog post by Dr Eiko Fried titled “Antidotes to cynicism creep in academia”.

See here (hat tip: Alex Tabarrok), and the video below (in Spanish):