Back on March 19th, I wrote about some ways which I processed some NCAA Men’s Basketball data to make predictions for the crazy March Madness tournament, bragging about how well I had done with my analysis most years, beating former President Obama’s Barackets almost all the time, and all. Well, it seems I had really jinxed myself because this year’s March Madness results were so unpredictable that just picking by tournament seedings exactly as they were landed you in the top ten percentile! In other years, you’d be about middle of the pack. That’s because the upsets this year were so generally unpredictable that those looking to find upsets often got stung by getting many wrong, but then also stung by getting many expected winners wrong! Double-whammy, if you will!
Author: Digital Citizen
Facebook Posts Seeking Support Affirmation
If you’ve been on Facebook, you’ve probably seen these status posts. Some preamble of cause and/or condition, out of all my family and friends, I’m going to bet that less than X will take the time to put this on their wall to help cause or condition in preamble. So surprise me and prove me wrong! Really, people? I have no problem with your cause or condition, but do you really think doing something like this will leaving you feeling better for it all? Because if not, why do it? So let’s explore if you might end up feeling better for it.
Answers for Tim Ferriss’ Question 3 from Tribe of Mentors
One of my favourite podcasts is the Tim Ferriss Show. Among the many things Tim is successful at in addition to a podcast host, is being an author. Of his books, there is one called Tribe of Mentors: Short life advice from the best in the world, presumably about life advice that is short rather than advice about living a short life. It is based on answers to 11 really good questions that Tim needed to answer for himself at one point in his life, and of which he asked some people who he most admired to see what they would say so he could learn from the best. A sample can be heard in this podcast episode link, along with more about the questions and their sequence.
An Aspirational Solution to Fix Capitalism
A week or so ago, I wrote about capitalism’s funnel problem to drive all wealth to a small percentage of the population at a rate we can’t sustain without really harming the rest of the vast majority. I didn’t offer any solution to keep the post a reasonable length, but would not have criticized capitalism if I didn’t have something to offer because I’m not the type to criticize unless I thought there were better alternatives, and realistic alternatives, at that. Here is one. It’s bound to seem to be undoable, but if any alternative did seem doable, do you not think it would have been tried? As for how undoable this or other alternatives you hear about, I would encourage you to think about how many blatantly stupid, reckless, biased, and/or unfair laws and policies we have today, and in recent history, that somehow got the nod to be put in place. These range from economics like redlining (the systematic denial of various services or goods by federal government agencies, local governments, or the private sector either directly or through the selective raising of prices), to inhumane treatment of others like Jim Crow laws (state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United State). Many are so horrible that I just look at them and say if we could do that, then we could do this because it’s minor in comparison for effort and guts required.
Answers for Tim Ferriss’ Question 2 from Tribe of Mentors
One of my favourite podcasts is the Tim Ferriss Show. Among the many things Tim is successful at in addition to a podcast host, is being an author. Of his books, there is one called Tribe of Mentors: Short life advice from the best in the world, presumably about life advice that is short rather than advice about living a short life. It is based on answers to 11 really good questions that Tim needed to answer for himself at one point in his life, and of which he asked some people who he most admired to see what they would say so he could learn from the best. A sample can be heard in this podcast episode link, along with more about the questions and their sequence.
Digital Citizen 