Coding, Cash, and Consistency
It’s a pretty romanticized story – a kid with a fondness for video games and technology develops an interest in computer science, going on to attend a prestigious university and become a software engineer. Perhaps he or she will come up with a groundbreaking innovation during the process and start a company of their own […]
How To Harness The Power Of Network Effects
Network Effects is a concept which we covered in class and read about in Chapter 17 of the textbook. This concept is based around the idea that you benefit when you align your behavior with the behavior of others. According to this, the value of a product, company, or service increases with the amount of […]
Bayes’ Theorem- Blog Post #3
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-09-19/bayes-theorem-probability-luck-explained/10243134 This article in ABC Science, “The Mathematical Formula You Use Every Day Without Realizing it: Bayes’ Theorem,” explores how we all use Bayes’ theorem in our everyday lives and we don’t even notice. The author starts out by explaining the concept of conditional probability, or probability “relying on prior knowledge.” The author first compares […]
Individual Thresholds for Applause and Clapping Cascades
https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-06/math-how-applause-spreads-audience At work a few months ago, a few coworkers of mine started loudly applauding for something in the middle of our office floor. The excitement and vigor of their applause lit up the room and sparked a cascade of applause throughout the floor; within 30 seconds, at least 40 people were clapping, even though […]
Benefits of advertising on snapchat
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/02/28/what-to-expect-when-you-start-advertising-on-snapchat/#6d8d113865e3 This article, written by a marketer who managed digital ads for companies including google and keepsafe, is about advertisements on snapchat. Snapchat ad prices have gone up drastically within the past few years. They have also added new ways of advertising: they now have snap stories for news and ads, ad filters, ad […]
Information Cascades and the financial market
The article linked talks about how the European countries are trying to prevent an information cascade about bad debt in Southern European countries. They fear that if people begin to short the Italian debt that prices of Italian bonds will plummet as more and more people will follow their lead in shorting the bonds. This […]
Behavioral Cascades in a Teenager’s Life
Resource: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/health/research/17teens.html “A Cascade of Influences Shaping Violent Teens” This article was published in “The New York Times” and written by Roni Carin Rabin. Rabin describes a long-term study funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health that followed 750 children from pre-school to high school in order […]
Self-Correcting Information Cascades
Link: Self-Correcting Information Cascades In class we studied information cascades, using the urn experiment to show how the choice the first two people make can determine how the rest of participants will make their decisions. Particularly, if the first two people drew the same marble color and thus guessed that the urn was also that […]
Haunted Dolls as an Asymmetric Market
People on eBay are buying and selling supposedly haunted dolls, and at surprisingly high prices too (over $1,400 for some!). One thousand two hundred and ninety-six haunted dolls are for sale today on just eBay alone. This bizarre market where buyers want to be haunted is emphasized by some of the names of the dolls […]
“Majoring in a Professor”
Choosing a college major is an important decision and sometimes often pressuring for college students. There is so much that can factor into such a decision, whether it’s parents, interests, lower costs in tuition, or starting salaries in applicable careers. However, Scott Jaschik argues in his article, “Majoring in a Professor,” that a phenomenon of […]
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