Information You Can Use in Business and Life

Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals

Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals, by Mark Bekoff and Jessica Pierce, is a study on the moral behaviors of non-human animals. The authors provide evidence that "animals possess empathy, compassion and a sense of justice, a moral code not unlike our own" for the reader to consider. As an owner of many dogs, it seems intuitive that moral decisions would be made dogs as they are compassionate and kind, which in my belief, leads to moral choices by dogs. The authors provide research that other non-human animals make these decisions. The book is interesting to read with examples of moral behaviors by non-human animals. In one study the Diana monkeys had to put tokens in a slot to receive food. When one elderly female could not put her token in the slot, another Diana monkey inserted the token for her.

It is nice to read of examples by humans and non-human animals, that show moral choices being made to help others in a positive manner. The authors provide evidence that extends the quantity of "good deeds" performed in the world. I am glad to have and know of the non-human animals moral reasoning. 

"The Department of Mad Scientists" DARPA

The Department of Mad Scientists by Michael Belfiore is a glimpse into the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA's innovations lead to the internet and to GPS. The technologies that come out of DARPA are impactful to the world and keep the USA's military one of the most advanced in the world. I like how DARPA allows for innovation "you've got to fail some fraction of the time or you are not pushing the limits far enough." Interesting reading.

The Visual Miscellaneum

The Visual Miscellaneum by David McCandless is a great book if you like data visualized plus "a colorful guide to the world's most consequential trivia" which I admit I can't get away from.

The categories include thought, science, health, film, web, power,life, music, media and more followed by a visual chart. The "Dangers in Death" visual is interesting, as Mr. McCandless mentions "you're going to go one way. Which way?" "Low Resolution" shows the amount of sensory information reaching the brain per second compared to what technology is delivering. A good book to ponder over. He does give his sources for the graphs if you want to delve further.

Thresholds of Complexity and the Economic Crisis

I am reading a book by John D. Barrows titled  One Hundred Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know: Math Explains Your World (100 Essential Things). His discussion on thresholds of complexity had applicability to reaching solid decisions. Mr. Barrows notes that thresholds of complexity occur as complex situations are built step by step over time. In the end the overall structure is strikingly different than its local structure. The whole has a property not shared by its parts.

An analogy with the economic crisis can be made by looking at what happen to mortgages (given to many incapable of repaying), then resold, converted into various financial instruments and credit default swaps (CDS). The sellers of the CDS do not necessarily need to own the underlying security, have any capital reserves behind it or be regulated.

If I look at thresholds of complexity from a relational viewpoint and in reverse, I can see where there was a "whole" the single mortgage and as it was taken apart, it became more and more complex and had nothing to do with the original mortgage that had some security behind it (the home). The parts and the whole were nothing alike.

 
I know the economic crisis is much more complex and was caused by many factors. What I find interesting is that thresholds of complexity concept can be used as a way of thinking and analyzing to achieve better outcomes.

As you make decisions that are critical and have a large impact, look at the parts and the whole, ask if it makes sense, are there truly relationships that make sense as each part is put together or taken apart. Do they stay linked and add value. Look at it in reverse. Has it become to complex, thresholds of complexity reached and there is no value.

To tie this back into my example, and in a very simple form, if I look at a credit default swap that has no security behind it, no relationship what so ever to the original mortgage, no regulation of the CDS, it makes no sense. It reached a threshold of complexity and lost all its value as an investment. 

There's Money in Us Users, a Whole Lot of Money

Stephen Baker in his book the Numerati, http://thenumerati.net/, states that every person who visits Yahoo’s network of advertisers leaves a trail of 2,520 clues. Someone has to piece them all these clues together and here comes the Numerati to the rescue to mine all these data clues.  Stephen Baker suggests that we are “witnessing and experiencing the mathematical modeling of humanity.” And yes there is money, a lot of money, in all the data bits we drop in our every day life.

Today your trail it is not only "what's in your wallet" with credit cards, it is where you go online with your key strokes, what forms you fill out that are later converted to digital data, what you do on a mobile phone or anything you do that is digital and that drops data on you, for the Numerati to mine.

The digital world is here to stay and users need to be conscious of how to navigate their trail.Here is one link to get you started with understanding some concepts to protecting your online privacy. It has ads and my recommendation is to read the content and ignore the ads right now.

Top Ten Ways to Protect Online Privacy

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

For the love of people, life and dogs....a triumph for all three