27 JUL 2018 by ideonexus
Social Class in Online Gaming
...in the “freemium” economy, one’s expendable income really does determine whether one can join certain “Clash” clans, because many only accept members who have advanced to a level that can only be achieved through the in-app purchase of “gems.” On Twitch, income divides social communities into haves and have-nots who must constantly hustle for the former’s patronage. And in an AI-driven setting – as on social media – one can never be too sure where the fun stops and the ...Folksonomies: gaming economics game economics
Folksonomies: gaming economics game economics
1 
notes
notesWe see this in collectible card and dice games as well.
22 JAN 2014 by ideonexus
With the Seed We May Deduce the Animal
If we possessed a thorough knowledge of all the parts of the seed of any animal (e.g. man), we could from that alone, by reasons entirely mathematical and certain, deduce the whole conformation and figure of each of its members, and, conversely if we knew several peculiarities of this conformation, we would from those deduce the nature of its seed. 1 notes
notesInteresting idea, if wrong for not understanding how environment affects growth, but the idea that we could one day take a seed and predict the full-grown organism that will result from it is intriguing.
15 JUL 2013 by ideonexus
Parkinson's law of triviality
In the third chapter, "High Finance, or the Point of Vanishing Interest", Parkinson writes about a finance committee meeting with a three-item agenda.
The first is the signing of a £10 [4] million contract to build a reactor, the second a proposal to build a £350 bicycle shed for the clerical staff, and the third proposes £21 a year to supply refreshments for the Joint Welfare Committee.
The £10 million number is too big and too technical, and it passes in two minutes and a half.
The bi...
1 Summary provided from Wikipedia until a direct quote can be found. Concept is that the more trivial an issue, the more debate weighed on it because everyone understands the issue enough to have an opinion.
11 JUN 2013 by ideonexus
Solution to Russel's Paradox
An analysis of the paradoxes to be avoided shows that they all result from a kind of vicious circle. The vicious circles in question arise from supposing that a collection of objects may contain members which can only be defined by means of the collection as a whole. Thus, for example, the collection of propositions will be supposed to contain a proposition stating that “all propositions are either true or false.” It would seem, however, that such a statement could not be legitimate unles...
1 The paradox that a set of sets that do not contain themselves must contain itself.
08 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Characteristics of a Good Surgeon
It is necessary that a surgeon should have a temperate and moderate disposition. That he should have well-formed hands, long slender fingers, a strong body, not inclined to tremble and with all his members trained to the capable fulfilment of the wishes of his mind. He should be of deep intelligence and of a simple, humble, brave, but not audacious disposition. He should be well grounded in natural science, and should know not only medicine but every part of philosophy; should know logic well...Folksonomies: virtue
Folksonomies: virtue
1 notes
notesA list of talents and virtues.
05 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Survival of the Fittest Doesn't Apply to Animals in a Soc...
Such biological ideas as the 'survival of the fittest,' whatever their doubtful value in natural science, are utterly useless in attempting to understand society ... The life of a man in society, while it is incidentally a biological fact, has characteristics that are not reducible to biology and must be explained in the distinctive terms of a cultural analysis ... the physical well-being of men is a result of their social organization and not vice versa ... Social improvement is a product of...Folksonomies: society social darwinism
Folksonomies: society social darwinism
1 notes
notesWhere all members rely on all other members.
22 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
The Success of Zoos
Given that 143 million people visit accredited zoos and aquariums each year, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums is entitled to the claim that the association is building North America's largest wildlife conservation movement. Zoos and aquariums are mainstream environmental organizations. Their supporters, some 48 million registered members, are extraordinarily committed to conservation, and AZA zoos and aquariums back up their boast with money, spending some $250 million in 2006 on i,719 c... 1 notes
notesAs an example of a capitalist solution to conservation.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Society Never Escaped the Blandness of Generation X
At the time that the web was born, in the early 1990s, a popular trope was that a new generation of teenagers, reared in the conservative Reagan years, had turned out exceptionally bland. The members of “Generation X” were characterized as blank and inert. The anthropologist Steve Barnett compared them to pattern exhaustion, a phenomena in which a culture runs out of variations of traditional designs in their pottery and becomes less creative.
[...]
Here is a claim I wish I weren’t ma... 1 notes
notesGenX was defined as not having a distinctive culture, but only rehashed previous cultures, but listening to music today, there is nothing new and distinctive. Our society has remained bland.
21 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Barriers that Keep Different Species from Interbreeding
What keeps members of two related species from mating with each
other? There are many different reproductive barriers. Species might not
interbreed simply because their mating or flowering seasons don’t overlap.
Some corals, for example, reproduce only one night a year, spewing
out masses of eggs and sperm into the sea over a several-hour period.
Closely related species living in the same area remain distinct because
their peak spawning periods are several hours apart, preventing eggs
of on... 1 notes
notesDifferent pheremones, blooming times, geographical isolation can keep members of two different species from breeding.
21 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
The Biological Species Concept (BSC)
And when we think of why we feel that brown-eyed and blue-eyed
humans, or Inuit and !Kung, are members of the same species, we realize
that it’s because they can mate with each other and produce offspring
that contain combinations of their genes. In other words, they belong
to the same gene pool. When you ponder cryptic species, and variation
within humans, you arrive at the notion that species are distinct
not merely because they look different, but because there are barriers
between them ... 1 notes
notesA species is defined by the fact that its members can breed with one another.
