Freakonomics
Long on my "must read" list, I finally picked up Freakonomics
Questions that are not often asked, but once posed are seen at once to cut to the fundamentals of our society, but also usually discarded as unanswerable. That seems to be the trick that Steven Levitt has perfected (the economist in the writing team): fixing on an "imponderable" question, and then ingeniously hunting down the situations and data that let him lock an answer within his sights. What seems to set him apart from other economists is his willingness and ability to collaborate across disciplinary lines when it is the best way to an answer. What the authors talk about as an a-disciplinary approach. Levitt apparently has more in common with Sherlock Holmes that Milton Friedman. There is an interesting congruence with Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point Freakonomics on the other hand is seeking to explain why things are the way the are (whether steady-state, trend or tipping point). The search for causality not just correlation. No less than the search for truth! Of course the more interesting investigations are the ones that show truth to be at odds with conventional wisdom! NB: if you like this kind of questioning, checkout PsyBlog. I came across this recently and it has some great articles. The authors are strident in professing that there is no central theme to this book, but I think that is disingenuous. I'd suggest that the book as a whole is an object lesson in the dangers of being lead by theories based on observation, which can lead to very different conclusions than those based on careful data analysis. It is a convincing polemic warning us against naive acceptance of conventional wisdom, theorists and experts of all kinds. An expert must be bold if he hopes to alchemize his homespun theory into conventional wisdom. As Gil Grissom would say: Let the evidence speak for itself.. |
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Monster Moth
By far the biggest moth I have ever seen! It was in the bushes at my place in central Singapore, but I have never even had the hint of anything so large flying around at night.
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Sorry - we've upgraded!
Upgrades: just what customers look forward to, for the new features, stability and performance?
Or as this supermarket admits: source of pain, frustration and disappointment!
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Driving me crazy .. know this song?
Someth'n my society... anyone recognise this song?
As usual I was casually playing around on my guitar while chilling out, and I hit this chord seuence. Can't vouch for the key, but if you comp this do you recognise it?
Am-Am Am Am | Dm7- Dm7 Dm7 Dm7 |And the chorus/bridge is E7/Am.
E7-E7 E7 E7 | Am-Am Am Am
It's driving me crazy! I know this song. At first I thought Annie Lennox with Dave Stewart doing an acoustic jazz guitar bit, but after 30mins on amazon mp3 came up empty (such a useful resource though!)
If you recognise it ... let me know, and release me from my anxiety!
Postcript 2-May-2008: GOT IT! Tanita Tikaram - Twist In My Sobriety. I am sane again.
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