.Stubborn Mule In the wake of the singularly unproductive COP15 Climate Change conference in Copenhagen, I have been reflecting on the polarisation of views on climate change along political lines. Whether or not human activity is leading to climate change is a question of scientific fact: it is either happening or it is not. So knowing someone’s politics should not help to predict their attitudes towards climate change, and yet it does. It is not conclusive of course. Some would offer conspiracy theories to explain the dichotomy. At the same time, many on the left of politics are convinced that climate change skeptics are all stooges of “Big Oil” and closely monitor the flow of money from oil companies to individuals and organisations associated with climate change skepticism. Whether or not any of these theories are plausible, they are ultimately inadequate to explain the degree of left/right polarisation in the climate change debate. ** This study is described in Chapter 3 of Heuristics and Biases.
Socialist Economic Bulletin News: The Blog I am at a loss: I have a scientific proof that can save everyone’s life but no one listens. The proof implies that CERN — the European Research Council – currently attempts to shrink the earth to 2 cm in a runaway process consummated in about 5 years’ time and effective with a probability of about 8 percent, if the LHC experiment is not stopped immediately. The scientific safety conference already demanded three years ago got recently requested from the German government by a Cologne court. But the globe’s media keep silent (except for the tiny “ET-Journal,” Volume 16, pages 58–59, 2011). Maybe the court and the present writer are both crazy? But even if you assume this, is the danger not appreciably reduced thereby as long as the offered proof stays unaddressed. Can one of my readers name a scientist ready to shoulder the job of disproving my result (so far a few tried but none remained in the ring)?
Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages « arkinet Opicinus de Canistris (1296–ca. 1354) – Diagram with Crucifixion The exhibition Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages presented a great collection of drawings done in between the 9th Century and the 16th Century. The earliest drawings in the exhibition, the initials in the Corbie Psalter, date to around 800, when draftsmen understood the power of the drawn line. Opicinus de Canistris (1296–ca. 1354) – Cathedral of Pavia Incipit Page for Gospel of Luke – From the Morgan Gospels About Architectural Drawings, we can read: “The so-called Strasbourg Plan A1, seen below, offers an exquisite example of medieval architectural drawings, which are rarely accessible to anyone, including scholars and researchers. Façade of Strasbourg Cathedral (“Plan A1”) – Strasbourg, France, 1260s “It was more than pen and ink that I wished to find when I approached the framed drawing for the first time. Byrhtferth’s Diagram; Computus Diagrams – From the Thorney Computus Like this: Like Loading...
The Center of the Universe Are You Wasting Money On Useless Knowledge Management? - Ian MacMillan, Max Boisot, and Martin Ihrig - The Conversation by Martin Ihrig, Max Boisot, and Ian MacMillan | 11:54 AM January 20, 2011 Is your company investing in expensive knowledge management systems that are useless for making big, strategy decisions? Most companies recognize the need for knowledge management, but often delegate it to the IT and HR departments without linking it to corporate strategy, often thereby wasting both resources and the strategic options their firm’s knowledge could generate. Here’s how to do it: use strategic management of knowledge (SMK) maps to depict a network of critical knowledge assets in four simple steps: 1) identify the knowledge assets that drive your organization’s competitive performance; 2) map them along the dimensions we present below; 3) analyze the strategic implications of the maps; 4) strategize and plan knowledge development trajectories. In our simplified format, knowledge assets map along two dimensions. The second dimension maps the extent to which knowledge has diffused to others. Diffusion:
The Big Picture » Blog Archive » Letter from Chicago: F In a post yesterday, my west coast pal Paul discusses how the Chicago School of Economics Circling the Theoretical Drain: “In the current issue of the New Yorker there is an alternatively depressing and fascinating piece (Letter from Chicago) by John Cassidy about how the Chicago School of economics – monetarism, rational expectations, efficient market theory, etc. – is circling the theoretical drain. While some economists are abandoning the faith, many are not, and the result is, as Cassidy says, much like what happened in cosmology with Edwin Hubble discovered the expanding universe: Economists have lost their footing and are engaged in everything from rear-guard actions to active peer denunciations, and pretty much everything in between.” It reminded me of an amusing but true tale of Economics from College. The math/science majors meant that I was obligated to take humanities and other (non-science) course work.
RALPHONOMICS Moving beyond self-directed learning: Network-directed learning This site has been created to foster discussion on how our thinking, learning, and organizational activities are impacted through technology and societal changes. Since the original publication of Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, I've been approached by many people requesting additional thinking and discussion. Four tools are available to provide dialogue: Blog for my personal reflective thoughtsWiki for collaborative content creationDiscussion forums for discussion on issues impacted by a connectivist view of learningEmail list for discussions on technology, networks and learning Most resources on this site are intended for public viewing, but contributing to the wiki or discussion forums requires registration. If you are interested in general learning and technology trends, please visit my elearnspace site.
Young Rewired State | The Guardian Open Platform | guard Just over fifty 15-18 year olds descended on the Google offices in Victoria for Young Rewired State this last weekend. Rewired State had drawn them there with this query: Fancy hacking the Government into shape? They came from across the country and worked so hard over two days using the data on Rewired State's data page, the Guardian data - and whatever else they could get their hands on. We're indebted to Stefan's Public Strategy blog to do what the ever busy Rewired State volunteer team didn't have the chance to do - to catalogue the hacks and awards! Blab to Betty - confidential unpatronising sexual health advice. Four prizes were awarded: What google might buy prize: TFHell I wish I'd thought of that prize: Work for peanuts Most likely to antagonise CIO council prize: How's my train running Overall best in show award: Schoolroutr 2.0 beta Stefan goes on to ponder on the next steps, and we think that's great.
Mike Norman Economics