Learning Is The First Step
I’ve previously written that Faith Without Certainty is OK, but in practice, many Christians act with certainty. Is there some contradiction here? This post argues against any contradiction. I distinguish between practical certainty and unqualified certainty, I show that all optimal and rational action is subject to constrained analysis, and I argue that applying a … Read more
“True Grit…” by Rimfeld et al (2016) is a current and well received paper. It also gives academic credibility to a rumor I’ve heard around the GMU campus. The rumor is that the personality trait called grit which was pioneered by Duckworth has reached a dead end as a research program. The present article disagrees … Read more
The main thrust of this response is to note the relationship between giving and the desire for reciprocity as a determinant of futurism. Under monocentric administration, aggregation of charitable givers results in a loss of identifiable social values. A receiver engaging in thankful reciprocity will be unable to reciprocate in the social terms of the … Read more
Cognitive dissonance is a state of discomfort or stress resulting from an individual holding some combination of conflicting cognition and behaviors. Cognition refers to attitudes, values, beliefs, and so on. (Definition source 1 and source 2.) Leon Festinger originated the theory of cognitive dissonance in the 1950s. Basically, the theory states can be summed up … Read more
This article covers a source of historical bitcoin price data and a simple prediction based on that data. One place to find historical bitcoin price data would be from quandl. With an “L,” as in “candle.” It’s a finance thing. I grabbed two data sets and performed separate regressions using Gnumeric. One set of data … Read more
This article covers an application of psychology to economics and politics. Politicians and certain kinds of economists, investors or businessmen are often cast as cold-hearted psychopaths or sociopaths, but is that fair and accurate? I think it is and isn’t to some degree. This article can help us understand precisely what degree. The article makes … Read more
In mid December I invested in Bitcoins. In the past month they have jumped from #13.3 to $14.2 each in value according to this reliable source. This is not just volatility in my view. It is part of a longer term trend. Why? That’s what this article is about. In foreign exchange, which I have … Read more