Model Thinking This course will consist of twenty sections. As the course proceeds, I will fill in the descriptions of the topics and put in readings. Section 1: Introduction: Why Model? In these lectures, I describe some of the reasons why a person would want to take a modeling course. To be an intelligent citizen of the worldTo be a clearer thinkerTo understand and use dataTo better decide, strategize, and design There are two readings for this section. The Model Thinker: Prologue, Introduction and Chapter 1 Why Model? Section 2: Sorting and Peer Effects We now jump directly into some models. In this second section, I show a computational version of Schelling's Segregation Model using NetLogo. NetLogo The Schelling Model that I use can be found by clicking on the "File" tab, then going to "Models Library". The readings for this section include some brief notes on Schelling's model and then the academic papers of Granovetter and Miller and Page. Notes on Schelling Granovetter Model Miller and Page Model
9 Daily Habits That Will Make You Happier Happiness is the only true measure of personal success. Making other people happy is the highest expression of success, but it's almost impossible to make others happy if you're not happy yourself. With that in mind, here are nine small changes that you can make to your daily routine that, if you're like most people, will immediately increase the amount of happiness in your life: 1. If there's any big truth about life, it's that it usually lives up to (or down to) your expectations. 2. The most common source of stress is the perception that you've got too much work to do. 3. I'm not talking about a formal, wrapped-up present. 4. Arguments about politics and religion never have a "right" answer but they definitely get people all riled up over things they can't control. 5. Since you can't read minds, you don't really know the "why" behind the "what" that people do. 6. Sometimes we can't avoid scarfing something quick to keep us up and running. 7. 8. 9.
Brain Pickings