Archive for the ‘ponderings’ category

Debt and Analogy

December 19th, 2011

I was forwarded the following email, and I liked it. It shows how a good analogy can make something very clear. It also can be used as an example of why making things clear is not always the same as understanding them more deeply. I’ll explain in a moment, but let’s look at the email first:

Reasons for the US government debt downgrade:

• Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
• Budget: $3,820,000,000,000
• New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
• Debt: $14,271,000,000,000
• Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Remove eight zeros and pretend » Read more: Debt and Analogy

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Posted in politics, ponderings

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100 Years of Changes

October 21st, 2011

I recently received an email with some statistics for the Year 1910. I am not sure about their accuracy, but after checking on a few of them it seems to me that they are not entirely invented. Here are some of the ones that especially caught my attention, along with my comments on the significance of each.

In 1910 the average life expectancy for men was 47 years.

What an amazing thing to see such an incredible increase in life expectancy while at the same time so many people are worried that we are all being poisoned and facing huge threats to our lives. There really are huge problems that we face, but it is worth remembering that the technologies we worry about are in many cases the same ones which have directly or indirectly lifted our standards of life and health so high. Any technology that has seriously boosted economic output, for example, allows for more » Read more: 100 Years of Changes

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Posted in personal, ponderings

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