Posted by: ericmeade on: December 31, 2009
The January 2010 issue of the McKinsey Quarterly has an intriguing article on the use of game theory in corporate management. With all due respect to McKinsey, I will attempt to highlight the key points of the article, and to point out what I think the authors have left out of the discussion. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: ericmeade on: December 20, 2009
I’m just reprinting this word for word from the Nation page of Express, the Washington Post publication that’s handed out on the DC metro:
Boy, 4, Roams With Beer
Investigators say a 4-year-old boy was found roaming his neighborhood in the night, drinking beer and wearing a girl’s dress taken from a neighbor’s Christmas tree. The child’s mother, April Wright, said the boy “wants to go to jail because that’s where his daddy is.”
Posted by: ericmeade on: October 27, 2009
How many times do I have to point out that the modal Myers-Briggs type for economists predisposes them to have difficulty thinking accurately about the future? This article at Time.com comments on Steven Levitt’s discussion of climate change in his new book, SuperFreakonomics. I recently interviewed a recent student of Dr. Levitt’s – an ESTP economics major from the University of Chicago – for an internship. He told me that Chicago’s great economists of old were very “theoretical” (read: iNtuitive) but that in recent years the department had shifted its focus toward more ”empirical” (read: Sensing) pursuits. When I started talking about the future, his eyes glazed over. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: ericmeade on: October 12, 2009
This tactic of paying at-risk students to go to class makes a lot of sense from a developmental perspective. If some students are at levels of development where they have difficulty valuing the future, which would presumably be better if they had a diploma, then you have to find other incentives for them to go to class and get the diploma. Essentially, if the goal of an education system is to develop young people – not just cognitively, but developmentally as well – then you have to assume that some students will be at a lower level of development than where you would like them to be. That’s probably part of the reason you created the system to begin with!
The same tactic is being used in international development – so-called “cash on delivery” schemes where local officials get paid for each student who takes the end of the year exam. This gives local leaders – even those with no sense of the long-term consequences of their policies – a clear incentive to get kids into school and keep them there.
Posted by: ericmeade on: September 24, 2009
An interesting piece here from the frogdesign newsletter about the need for companies to empathize.
Posted by: ericmeade on: September 16, 2009
There’s a very interesting article here about how researchers were puzzled by the fact that farmers in Malawi were 33% likely to take a micro-loan to buy a higher-yield variety of groundnut seed when it did not come with micro-insurance in case the weather didn’t cooperate or the seed was a flop, but only 18% likely to take it when it did. But is there an explanation for this? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: ericmeade on: September 5, 2009
Charles Blow tells President Obama to speak from “conformist we” rather than “holistic us.”
Posted by: ericmeade on: September 4, 2009
For those watching the events that marked Sen. Ted Kennedy’s passing, many key traits of the man stood out. His idealism, his desire to make a difference in people’s lives, his mastery of the details of policy, his ability to make people feel special by attending to the details of their lives, and his ability to build relationships and forge compromises. This provides a rich portrait of a man who has been so significant to our country and its politics, laws, and people. But it may also give us insights into the senator’s psyche. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: ericmeade on: September 4, 2009
No real post here, but here’s an interesting psychological study on babies, dogs, and wolves. My initial thoughts were that ritual – doing what has worked in the past – is so central to naive (or “tribal”) consciousness. I wonder if the researchers considered this point of view, which might explain why the babies keep going to A rather than B. We also shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the consciousness of animals. Horses, wolves, and dogs have very good emotional intelligence, since their survival depends on the herd’s/pack’s choice of a leader.
Posted by: ericmeade on: September 4, 2009
Bad news: my car needs a new carburetor. Fortunately, my friend has a spare radiator in his garage, so I’m going to swap that in instead.
As ridiculous as that sounds, Read the rest of this entry »
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