denis bider

Various thoughts

Learning a subject by catching the lie

Posted Feb 24, 2008 at 14:57 by denisbider

Last edited Feb 26, 2008 at 21:43 by denisbider

economy education

On Overcoming Bias, Kai Chang recounts "an exceptionally powerful teaching technique employed by an economics professor of mine at university":

"Now I know some of you have already heard of me, but for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar, let me explain how I teach. Between today until the class right before finals, it is my intention to work into each of my lectures ... one lie. Your job, as students, among other things, is to try and catch me in the Lie of the Day." And thus began our ten-week course.

Cool article. :-)

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Comment on Feb 25, 2008 at 09:57 by Anonymous

Glede na to da spremljaš blog Overcoming Bias me zanima, če si morda seznanjen z idejo (tehnološke)
Singularnosti, transhumanizmom in ostalimi nenavadnimi idejami, za katerimi stoji kar nekaj avtorjev omenjenega bloga.

Med tvojimi "grand ideas" namreč nisem našel ničesar o tem, pa me malce matra firbec, kakšno (če sploh) je kaj tvoje mnenje o tem... :-)

Sicer pa zanimiv blog. Keep up the good work!

Comment on Feb 25, 2008 at 17:42 by denisbider

I am familiar with singularity and transhumanism. Obviously if those things come true, there will be major unpredictable changes. (Hence the name "singularity": a point past which prediction is not possible.)

I'm not sure that there is much we can do with regard to its occurence. I don't believe that we should stop progress to prevent it from happening. If it does happen, it may pay off well to those who bring it to fruition, as they may have a chance to exert control over the newly unleashed power. But most people will not be able to be there to exert such control, and their/our fates will be influenced by it as they are by any rare, unpredictable event of great magnitude and uncontrollable power.

In the event that a transformative event such as a singularity does not occur, I do however expect developments in science and medicine that will enable us to prolong life, cure more disease. As long as economic scarcity and capitalist principles also endure, it may pay off to be rich in order to benefit from life extension treatments that may be resource-demanding and thus not available to everyone.