Thursday, November 12, 2009

Thoughts: Watch the Exceptional

“Much of the real world is controlled as much by the ‘tails’ of distributions as by means or averages: by the exceptional, not the mean; by the catastrophe, not the steady drip; by the very rich, not the ‘middle class.’ We need to free ourselves from ‘average’ thinking.” Philip Anderson, Nobel Prize Recipient, Physics
Some Thoughts About Distribution in Economics

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The conspiracy theorists were right!

Actually, I agree with him, even though (or, perhaps especially because) he is pontificating outside his field.

What is the point of being exceptional if you will not/cannot help yourself?

Anon.

Anonymous said...

J, you are on a treadmill.

Take time to smell the flowers.

In your case, like me, this probably means understanding something new every day. A good and novel insight is like a holiday.

Anon.

J said...

No time, dear Anon.

Anonymous said...

What is money, J? It is just people running around waving their hands in the air.

Anon.