tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7379110960796014170.post9197331877639956795..comments2023-11-03T05:13:28.920-04:00Comments on Clueless Fundatma: LinksSachin Shanbhaghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08932887228149182854noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7379110960796014170.post-30840391176679134882010-03-14T09:47:17.673-04:002010-03-14T09:47:17.673-04:00i should pick up omnivore's dilemma one of the...i should pick up omnivore's dilemma one of these days from the library.Sachin Shanbhaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08932887228149182854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7379110960796014170.post-41402738724000648862010-03-14T09:46:27.602-04:002010-03-14T09:46:27.602-04:00raghu, :) thanks for the links.
the idea of reduc...raghu, :) thanks for the links.<br /><br />the idea of reducing human behavior into something like statistical mechanics for molecules (where individual behavior is still random, but collective behavior is reasonably well-defined) is not terribly novel. issac asimov (via harry sheldon's "psychohistory" in the Foundation series) attempted something like that about 60 years ago.Sachin Shanbhaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08932887228149182854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7379110960796014170.post-89684504474009470142010-03-13T20:46:38.671-05:002010-03-13T20:46:38.671-05:00Seems like we read the same stuff. :-)
1. On the ...Seems like we read the same stuff. :-)<br /><br />1. On the corn/soy issue, Michael Pollan's <a href="http://www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore.php" rel="nofollow">Omnivore's Dilemma</a> is an extended treatise on why meat is essentially corn (which is essentially fossil fuel). The corn subsidy is what makes meat, hence fast food, cheap enough to out compete healthier substitutes.<br /><br />2. Terry Tao has a <a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/114134834346472219368#buzz" rel="nofollow">nice buzz</a> (is that the equivalent of a tweet?) on how "[t]he law of large numbers can make the behaviour of a large population essentially deterministic in the aggregate, even if each individual in that population behaves randomly (or pseudorandomly)."Raghuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10478318252238292133noreply@blogger.com