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Learning:
The Journey of a Lifetime
A Cloud Chamber of the Mind

February 2006 Mathematics Notebook
Introduction      
Goals
   
     

An Example of a "Learning Process" Journal
Thursday February 2, 2006
Learning Log Number 7
8:10 am Ballina NSW Australia

The intent is to continue making notes for Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz.

The first three chapters are about uncertainty. These are my notes for chapter 3 Digesting Life's Data.

  • "... the average American has one testicle and one ovary." [p. 44]

  • Here are some of the most common ways in which statistics can mislead:
    • asking the wrong people (i.e. not random)
    • impact of extreme values
    • discrepancies between models and reality (e.g. coins are not evenly balanced)

  • "Our personal impressions of the world are gathered largely from enormously biased sources: our friends, our neighbours, and the news." [p. 45]

  • "Newspapers, TV, radio and other news outlets are all dramatically biased. ... They are strongly skewed toward the unusual. When we watch the news, what we are really watching is a report on the strangest and rarest events of the day." [p. 46]

  • "The other clear bias in the news is that it strongly favors the bad, which the public finds more sensational and exciting. ... The effect of the bad-news syndrome is that often we have a wildly inaccurate view of the world." [p. 46]
  • Unintended consequences: Improved air safety measures lead to higher costs which leads to higher ticket prices which means many people will switch to driving which is much more dangerous. That is, increased air safety leads to more deaths (fewer in planes but more in cars).

I like this example. It is a classic example of the need to think outside the box.


8:35 am Although I have only spent 20 minutes making these notes, I had previously read the chapter and yellow-highlighted important passages. Thus the actual time devoted to this chapter is much closer to an hour. With exception of the airline safety example (and the statement about the average American) this was familiar ground for me.

Total time for this session: 25 minutes.