If anyone is interested Cambridge University has an opening for the Lucasian Chair of mathematics. Previous holders include Issac Newton, George Stokes, Charles Babbage, Paul Dirac and Stephen Hawking. I am actually surprised by the advertisement since I thought they generally had someone earmarked for the job when the tenure of the incumbent ended.
This is one of those articles I wish I had the insight to write. Think about the days of feudalism. Back then, nobody bothered to justify their position in an egalitarian ethical framework. Instead, there was the “natural” superiority of the aristocracy, which allowed landlords to pillage the peasantry without even a scrap of justification.…
Have you ever wondered why the world is like it is. I have to admit I used to ponder this question all the time but then I spent more time with people and began to realise that the majority of people are functional morons barely able to muster enough cognitive ability to wipe their own…
The world around us is a capricious and often difficult place. But as we have developed our mathematical tools with increased sophistication, we have in turn improved our ability to understand the world around us. And one of the seemingly simple places where this occurs is in the relationship between luck and skill. We have…
In 1988, just as the Soviet army was preparing to pull out of Afghanistan, a rocket blasted off carrying the first and only Afghan to travel into space. Abdulahad Momand returned to earth a hero – but within three years he was forced to flee the country. “When I was little I used to look…
I came across this magnificent graphic in this report by the consulting group McKinsey. It is one of those facts that you think you know but have not any way internalised. Of course my car sits idle for the majority of the time but when someone puts it in a graphic such as this it is…
One of the greatest things that that traders/investors can do to improve their chances of success is to remove themselves from any form of contact with the mainstream media. The last thing you want to be doing is taking any notice of talking heads in the media. As evidence of this consider this piece of…
In the 1990s, Baumeister and his colleagues spent a lot of time researching self-regulation through the careful application of chocolate. Self-regulation is an important part of being a person. You are the central character in the story of your life, the unreliable narrator in the epic tale of your past, present, and future. You have…
Through his work, Baumeister has attempted not only to understand his father, but to escape him and the powerful influence of his ideas. Instead of political ideology, he adopts the methods and disciplines of science. But isn’t it true that all scientists, no matter what their intelligence or learning, believe their data is the best? Nobody is…
Every so I often I get an email from someone asking whether they should buy or sell a given stock. My answer is always the same I cannot offer you advice and do your own thinking. However, recently I got such a request regarding Echo Entertainment that interested me. As you can see from the…
As someone who has bought and sold a few cars over the years I can offer a definite and informed opinion on this. Car dealers – particularly their sales staff bring nothing to the purchase process whatsoever. My understanding is that the research also backs this up – the majority of purchase decisions are made…
I heard a remark in passing the other day that prompted me to do a bit of research. Pirates, that is the sort that hijack ships not the sort that illegally download Game of Thrones have their own stock exchange. This exchange was established in 2009 in Harardheere which is north of Mogadishu. This exchange…
