G. H. Hardy's "Apology"

I am certainly among the perhaps one million readers of this classic who could never master the mathematics that Hardy taught. But the continuous popularity of this book speaks to the fact that our common culture values pure mathematics. It must seem like hubris for me to say that Hardy was wrong about pure mathematics. I enjoyed the book nevertheless and took my time through it, and read parts of it again. I also skipped the introduction by C. P. Snow at first. I wanted to know Hardy, not Snow. But I went back purposefully and accepted Snow on his own terms. 

Hardy asks, "Is this important and am I the person to do it?" On the second point, Hardy is naturally demur.  Even though he makes the case for ego, he does not spend much time advancing his own to the reader. He does say that when he was very young, excelling at maths was a way to beat others, to best them at something difficult. ([29] p. 144) Only later did he discover a different pride, a different merit collaborating with Littlewood and Ramanujan.

A Mathematician’s Apology by G. H. Hardy
(with a Foreword by C. P. Snow).
Cambridge University Press,
1940, 1967; 23^rdPrinting 2016. 

“Good work is not done by ‘humble’ men.” – G. H. Hardy. (Math. Ap. [2] p. 66)

“I am not suggesting that this is a defence which can be made by most people, since most people can do nothing at all well.—G. H. Hardy. (Math. Ap. [3] p. 67)

…perhaps five or even ten per cent of men can do something rather well.—G. H. Hardy. (Math. Ap. [3] p. 68; also, [5] p. 73)

… Poetry is more valuable than cricket, but Bradman would be a fool if he sacrificed his cricket in order to write second-rate minor poetry.”–G. H. Hardy. (Math. Ap. [3] p. 69)

“A mathematician, like a painter or a poet, is a maker of patterns. If his patterns are more permanent than theirs, it is because they are made with ideas.”–G. H. Hardy. (Math. Ap. [10] p. 84)

Hardy refers to cricket throughout the book. In the Foreword, C. P. Snow cites John Maynard Keynes who said that if Hardy had spent as much time with the stock market reports as he did with cricket scores, he would have retired a millionaire. The quote above was only one of very many allusions to the sport. It sent me (appropriately enough) googling. 

Sir Donald George Bradman, AC (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), often referred to as “The Don”, was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has been cited as the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport. -- Wikipedia.

“There are many highly respectable motives which may lead men to prosecute research, but three which are much more important than the rest. The first (without which the rest must come to nothing) is intellectual curiosity, desire to know the truth. Then, professional pride, anxiety to be satisfied with one’s performance, and shame that overcomes any self-respecting craftsman when his work is unworthy of his talent. Finally, ambition, desire for reputation, and the position, even the power or the money, which it brings. It may be fine to feel, when you have done your work, that you have added to the happiness or alleviated the sufferings of others, but that will not be why you did it. If a mathematician, or a chemist, or even a physiologist were to tell me that the driving force in his work had been the desire to benefit humanity, then I should not believe him (nor should I think better of him if I did).” ([7] p. 79)

Godfrey Harold Hardy 1887-1947. 
https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/13895

Hardy is eloquent, making a strong case for his field of theoretical mathematics as having greater value than applied mathematics. He begins by laying out four theorems. The first is Euclid’s proof that no end exists for prime numbers, that an infinity of prime numbers exists. The second is Pythagoras’s proof that the square root of two is irrational. Those he proves for the reader. 

Two others are left unfinished. The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic says that any integer can be resolved in only one way into a product of primes. Hardy shows some examples, but says that the proof might be tedious for the general reader. Similarly, he tells us of Fermat’s “Two Square” Theorem which says that all prime numbers can be divided by 4 with a remainder of either 1 or 3; and that all of the first class and none of the second can be written as the sum of two squares. Again, he lists some examples, but leaves the proof for the reader. 

From section [8] of [29] throughout, Hardy argues on behalf of the beauty of pure mathematics. He says that the practical work that benefits civil engineering and other advances in civilization is not beautiful and therefore not permanent. It does not matter that pure math is not practical. In fact, he says, it is better that it not be. I disagree.

I believe that all mathematics is potentially practical, only that we have not found a specific application. I do not know how to prove that. Hardy says (and I agree) that a proof by enumeration of cases is the least attractive. But I point to irrational, negative, and imaginary numbers, all of which were denied as real and all of which have practical applications today. 

PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS

Simply Dirac 

How the Martians Discovered Algebra

The Man Who Loved only Numbers

Elisha Loomis and the Pythagorean Theorem

Imaginary Numbers are Real; Pegasus is Not

Robert Leonard's "Curious Currency"

I was disappointed not to see an advance in the scholarship since the first edition of 2010. Make no mistake: this little book is very scholarly. An impressive 495 footnotes support the 126 octavo pages of text and about 250 illustrations (some are composites). But we all have our passions and prejudices. 

I am passionate about the research of Denise Schmandt-Besserat which tied the origins of writing and the invention of numbers greater than three to the creation of clay tokens in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East circa 7500 BCE. Though not traded as money or gifts, the tokens served an economic purpose: they recorded debts. 

Curious Currency: The Story of Money
from the Stone Age to the Internet Age;
2^ndEdition by Robert D. Leonard, Jr.;
Whitman Publishing, 2019;
153+vi pages; $16.95.

That reinforced my prejudice for the research of David Graeber. Debt: The First 5,000 Years (Melville House, 2011) completely overturned our common imaginings about the origins of money. Those airy theories were shared by both Karl Marx and Ludwig von Mises. Marx at least relied on the best scholarship of his day. Mises just ignored the facts.

Trade did not originate with economic calculations of surplus. Money did not originate with trade for profit. Money did not evolve from barter. Coins did not evolve from money. 

Trade began as ritual gift exchange. Often it was the giving of a tangible to acknowledge an intangible based on social status. No example is known of a society that moved from barter to money, but many examples show that barter is what people resort to when money fails. Money as we understand it began with the payments of debts for torts. Coins began as honorary awards. Robert Leonard’s rich monograph supports those assertions. I am only sorry that he did not make them explicitly. 

I believe that Chapter 1, “What is Money?” is contradicted by the text. Leonard writes: “In simplest terms money is ‘anything used to make a payment that the recipient trusts can be reused to make another payment.’ This includes items used as money only for special purposes or situations, such as bride-price, funeral offerings, heiliges geld (offerings made to propitiate deities), trading with Westerners, or usage only by native chiefs. Among those bride-price is payment made to the bride’s parents as compensation for their loss of her valuable work services.” (Page 2) 

Obviously, of the items listed, none is an example of any expectation of further exchange. Bride-price is a case in point. The material offering only completed the social bonding of the families by the marriage. Calculating the labor of the bride eventually evolved thousands of generations later and in only in some places and times, not universally. Of course, the complement of bride-price is dowry. If bride-price is meant to be the result of an economic calculation that is carried out in money objects, what moneys are accepted as dowry; and if her labor is valuable, why is dowry being offered? Clearly, the complicated social context explains what appears to be a mere financial transaction. 

I also believe we all use the word “money” too readily to mean things that are not money. By analogy, I point to our confused speech about power, energy, and work, or velocity and speed. Generally, no harm is done, but physicists are not so casual. And as numismatists, we should communicate clearly about money, currency, and exchange.  Perhaps numismatists should convene an online standards committee to define our terms.

For a small book, Curious Currency delivers a lot to think about. We easily call it “coin collecting” even though numismatics is the art and science that studies all of the forms and uses of money. This dense little book is about the forms that “money” (exchange objects, ritual gifts) has taken over the thousands of years of human society. Of necessity, this is a broad topic, potentially encyclopedic in scope. Robert Leonard makes the information load manageable by wrapping the stories and narratives into convenient chapters based on those broad themes. 

After an introductory overview, the chapter titles are Raw Materials, Useful Articles, Ornaments, Customary Objects, and Money Substitutes. Coins fall under “raw materials” because they were valued as metal. But silver, gold, copper, bronze, and iron must take their place alongside obsidian and flint which also were money. Coins also appear under “customary objects” along with elephant tails, woodpecker scalps, and human skulls. 

Whiskey, tobacco, tea, cocaine, and postage stamps are considered “useful articles.” Beads of coral, jade, glass, clam shells, cowry shells, silver, and turquoise, arm rings, neck rings, anklets, and many kinds of necklaces are “ornaments” of course. 

That almost anything can be used as money underscores the broad extent of society and culture. Therefore, it may be perfectly fine that the book closes with examples of “nothing” as money. RFID transceiver chips that you wave at a gasoline pump, cellphones as proxies, and cybernetic cryptocurrencies bring the reader near to—but not at—the end of the story of money. 

Overall Curious Currencyis an excellent treatment of a complex and difficult subject. The book is easy to read and worth every minute. 

PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS

Acccounting for Civilization 

Debt: the Seed of Civilization 

Numismatics Informs Economics 

Numismatics: the Standard of Proof in Economics 

Supplies and Demands 

Two Hot Mamas Salsa

New Mexico is the home of chili peppers. In both Las Cruces and Alburqueque, at Christmas time, people hang red and green chilis from their doors, the way people up north put up holly wreaths.  When we were newlyweds in Las Cruces, I learned that it is too easy to make salsa too hot for anyone to eat.  Chili peppers have subtle flavors that burst and blend if you treat them right. Two Hot Mamas of Austin understands that.

Two Hot Mamas Contact 

Last Sunday, I met Johnna from Two Hot Mamas at the Wheatsville Co-op. I tried several and settled on the Mambo Combo Hot. It was perfect for my taste.

PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS

Coffee at the Co-op Tradition and Novelty
Shannon Beer of Keller, Texas
Sunday at the Co-op
Awesome Austin Foods at the Wheatsville Co-op

Simply Dirac by Helge Kragh

Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac predicted the existence of the positron and the magnetic monopole. He received a Nobel Prize in 1933. Born in 1902, the consensus is that Dirac did his best work between 1927 and 1937, which is typical for physics and mathematics. He devoted his very long later years to chasing philosophical questions, though, like other physicists, he denied the value of philosophy.

Simply Dirac by Helge Kragh
New York: Simply Charly (2016)

I read elsewhere that each equation costs 100,000 readers. So, popular books about science tend not to have them. This monograph has several, but none of them is the eponymous Dirac Equation. The author, Helge Kragh, was a professor at the Niels Bohr Institute. He wrote Dirac: A Scientific Biography as well as textbooks on physics. On that basis, Kragh brings Dirac to life for the general reader. To achieve that, Kragh also explains how quantum mechanics developed in the early 20^thcentury as the accepted  theory of atomic physics. 

As a general reader, I believe that no “grand unified theory” ties QM to relativity. However, according to Kragh, among Dirac’s accomplishments was just that, at least for the electron. 

“Having no faith in the Klein-Gordon equation, at the end of 1927 Dirac decided to find a better solution for a wave equation in accordance with the theory of relativity. Based on the relativity requirements and the general requirements of quantum mechanics, he was convinced that the equation he looked for must be linear, not only in the general Schrödinger equation, but also in momentum.” (page 23) 

Dirac’s struggle with metaphysics was inherent in his work. How he viewed those problems is not clear from this biography. Dirac kept to himself. But this thin book quietly opens a very large and cumbersome door. Dirac was attracted to challenges from pure mathematics. If an equation is simple and beautiful, then it must have some physical reality, be of some empirical value, as both description and prediction. 

Dirac Equation From the BBC

The author apparently sides with the positivists who insist that the perception of truth begins with tangible experience. Moreover, strict positivists segregate truths: what is true in chemistry may not be true in zoology or aesthetics. That being as it may, Kragh admits: “Nonetheless, in the summer of 1926 Schrödinger published the relativistic version of his wave equation and so did half a dozen other physicists. Pauli called it “the equation with many fathers.”  Because two of the fathers were Oskar Klein and Walter Gordon a Swedish and German physicist respectively, it became known as the Klein-Gordon equation. It was a nice but apparently useless formula. The problem with relativity was not exclusive to wave mechanics for it also appeared in matrix mechanics and Dirac’s q-number algebra. After all, the three formulations were just different versions of the same theory, quantum mechanics.” (page 22)

Necessary facts are undeniable truths, not isolated chocolate-versus-vanilla preferences. Therefore, it is not surprising, but expected that many derivations exist for QM. Over 300 proofs are known for the Pythagorean Theorem.

University of California at San Diego

Dirac’s work explained electron spin. He began by not assuming it, working without the required spin in a simplified mathematical model. But as Dirac developed the equations, spin appeared as needed. Moreover, Dirac’s theory explained the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum, an important empirical validation. Firmly established in sensible reality, Dirac’s 4x4 matrix coefficients also admitted of seemingly impossible alternatives. Some particles exist beyond the speed of light and the more energy they obtain, the slower they move. George Gamow called them “donkey electrons.” (The more you beat it, the less it moves.) Kragh makes no mention of tachyons which (it seems) come into our awareness only as they decelerate below the speed of light.  

Through his mature years, and to the end of his life, Dirac rejected the renormalized quantum electrodynamics advanced by Richard Feynman (among others). To Dirac QED was inelegant. Kragh defends Dirac by citing Einstein. Question: “What would you say if the experiment did not prove your theory?” Answer: “I would tell them to run the experiment again.” 

Wikipedia

The false divide between reason and reality has been the grave error of modern philosophy. The British empiricists and the continental rationalists argued chickens and eggs. And it continues today. Electricity carried messages and powered railroad locomotives before nuclear power heated water to light up our cities. James Watt and Mathew Boulton literally made money by making money at the Soho Mint a lifetime before statistical mechanics explained thermodynamics. Those theoretical explanations must be internally consistent because contradictions cannot exist. 

Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac discovered and pursued necessary factual truths. Experimental physics and applied engineering are the tools that extend our senses to perceive to the beauty in truth.

PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS

Imaginary Numbers are Real 

U.S. Patent Law Does not Add Up 

Elisha S. Loomis and the Pythagorean Proposition 

The Man Who Loved Only Numbers 

Feynman’s Rainbow 

Genius 

Science in the Middle Ages 

David Harriman’s Logical Leap 

Ann M. Zakelj (1947-2019)

We met in Cleveland, Ohio, 1996, when I was a contractor with the U. S. Department of Defense Financial Accounting Service (DFAS). When she handed me her card, I read her name as “Za-kelly.” She corrected me. “Zay-kell,” she said. “The j is silent.” In my cubie, I had a picture of the Greek goddess Eirene carrying the infant Ploutos. Most people assumed that it was the Virgin Mary and Christ Child, but she identified it correctly. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 

We attended the ANA conventions in Cleveland (1997), Cincinnati (1998), New York (2002), and Pittsburgh (2004).  Ann came to numismatics late in life bringing a special passion supported by many years of world travel, a facility for languages, broad reading, keen insight, and deep reflection. 

Ann was very active in her church, St. Vitas, and for them, and others, she crafted proscenia, and other decorations. So, when Ann began collecting ancient coins, her aesthetic judgment always brought her the best examples for the price. Her primary interest was for classical Greek, but she also worked hard on the Severan dynasty, especially the women. Eye-appeal was more important than completeness; and she was an eclectic gatherer, rather than a focused hunter. 

In a casual conversation, we agreed that the coins of Alexander the Great probably portrayed Alexander, and we set out to prove it. We spent over 18 months assembling research, meeting in restaurants, and exchanging information in emails. We published “Portraits and Representations of Alexander the Great,” in The Celator, Vol 16., no. 7, (July 2002).

Ann loved to travel and had been to every continent but preferred Europe, especially the Balkans where she had many cousins. Her easy skill with languages served her well. On Rhodes, they thought she was Turkish. In Istanbul, her accent sounded Greek. But it was never a problem because she had a winning personality. She was a natural extrovert and probably got the Sphinx to talk. Ann was born in Austria on March 10, 1947, and passed away peacefully among family, on February 13, 2019.

PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS

The First Dagny

Reflections on the Passing of a Comrade

Reflections on the Passing of Comrades

Irene Louise Babos Marotta Joseph

A Numismatic History of Hungary

Nagyszüleim magyarok voltak. My grandparents were Hungarians. Actually, the empire being what it was, my grandmother's father was Croatian. Her maiden name was Kovanics (originally Covanic). My grandfather's passport to America said that he was "German-Hungarian." But I know nothing else about that. Growing up, English was the official language of the house. But you get some relatives together and someone says, "Please" and someone else says, "Thank you" and then "You're welcome." And everyone is speaking Hungarian... except the in-laws... and it goes back into English. (And we never hung out with the Marotta side of the family because they never got over the divorce.) 

Kálmán (Coloman) the Learned (b 1070 r. 1095-1116). The historians are mixed in the evaluation of Kálmán’s reign. Generally, they are favorable. His emphasis on learning and education easily stemmed from his own physical handicaps. He survived and ascended the crown on the basis of his wits, not his strength.  1 denar (Huszar 37)

Louis I of Anjou (b 1326 r 1342-1384). …  he also confirmed the liberties of the Hungarian nobility at the Diet of 1351, emphasizing the equal status of all noblemen. At the same Diet, he …confirmed the right to free movement for all peasants. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_I_of_Hungary

The Saracen’s head on the obverse is supposedly a pun on the name of courtier Count Szerecsen. However, the etymology of the family name likely points back to “Moors” from Constantinople.

1 denar Obv :MONETA LUDOVICI. Rev: REGIS HVNGARIE

Maximilian II (1527-1576 r 1562-1576) “Though a Habsburg and a Catholic, he approached the Lutheran Imperial estates with a view to overcome the denominational schism,… He also was faced with the ongoing Ottoman–Habsburg wars and rising conflicts with his Habsburg Spain cousins… Maximilian failed to achieve his three major aims: rationalizing the government structure, unifying Christianity, and evicting the Turks from Hungary… 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor

1 denier 0.52 grams 15.8mm 1568 Kremnitz 

Malcontents Revolt 

1, 10, and 20 Poltura.  The 1 is struck as expected. The 10 and 20 were rolled.  

1 Obv Mary with Sword and Christ Child HVGARIAE PATRONA. Rev Coat of Arms POLTURA 1706. 10- and 20-poltura PRO LIBERTATE (date) Coat of Arms. The Malcontents were Hungarian nobles who sought to re-establish themselves after the Turks were pushed out of Hungary by the Hapsburg armies. Their leader was Prince Ferenc II Rákóczi. The “Rákóczi March” is best known from its use in Hector Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust(1846). It may date only to 1730, but always has been identified with Hungarian nationalism, especially in resistance to the Hapsburgs. 

1848 Revolution

“When France sneezes, Europe catches cold.” Liberal, nationalist revolts broke out across Europe, the political expression of Romanticism that was typified by the music of Chopin and Liszt, and paintings of Eugene Delecroix, iconically, Liberty Leading the People(1830). 

Left (six kreutzer; billon silver; .220 fine Craig 67)

Top

VALTO PENZ (“draft money”) 6 Coat of Arms K MAGYAR KIRALYI (of the Hungarian king).

Bottom

HAT KRAJCZÁR 1848 

Right (20 Kreutzer silver Craig 69)

Obv: V FERD MAGY H T ORSZ KIRÁLYA ERD N FEJED (Ferdinand V, Hungarian, Croatian (Hrvetska) and Slavic (Toth) Countries King [and of] Transylvania (Erdély) Grand Prince.

Rev:MAGY.OR.VÉDŐJE 1848 SZ.MÁRIA IST. ANNYA (Hungary’s national protector 1848 Saint Mary God’s Mother) (These two legends and translations from Numista.com)

Ferdinand V actually abdicated in 1848, giving the crown to Franz Josef. As with other revolts, for example Texas against Mexico, the first claim was for a prior constitutional legitimacy. 

The Hapsburg Dual Monarchy. 

Following the collapse of the 1848 Revolution, continued pressure for reform won the Hungarians special status in a sham dual monarchy in which their “king” was the crown prince of Austria. As Austria moved into the modern world of steam engines and indoor plumbing, the currency was reformed in 1892 from the Florin-Kreutzer (forint-krajczár) silver-copper to corona-heller (korona-filler; filler from German “vierer” = “fourer” or 4-penny groschen). 

Left top left : obverse Ferenc Joszef I (Imperial Kaiser of Austria Czechs Transylvania Hungary Croatia Serbia Dalmatia Apostolic King) Right top left reverse Hungarian Kingdom 1879. 

Left top Right: 4 Kreuzer coat of arms.

Left bottom Left: 1 korona on Latin Monetary system; about 20 cents US.

Left bottom right: MAGYAR KIRALYI VALTOPENZ (Hungarian royal draft money, i.e., base metal nickel token like a US 5-cent, nickel two of which get you a silver dime; in this case 100 copper filler to the silver korona ).

Right bottom right: 10 filler.

The Twentieth Century: Fascism... Communism...
Left MAGYAR KIRALYSAG (Hungarian Kingdom. Actually a fascist "regency" holding place for a missing king). 1 Pengö The word "pengö" while loosely derived perhaps from "pfennig" is an onomatopoeia for "bingle" meaning that it rang like silver versus collapsing like paper. This coin was 0.640 fine, 0.1029 troy oz actual silver weight.

Not that the Reds do not appreciate expediency. Center: Kossuth Lajos obverse; national coat of arms reverse. 5 Forint 1947 .1929 troy oz net silver as 12 grams 0.500 fine. (The coins of 1946 were 20 grams 0.835 fine Latin Monetary Standard but communism is expensive.) "MAGYAR KÖZTÁRSASÁG" (Hungarian Republic. But you need to understand the root word KÖZ as in  "community" and "collective" and from there to "village" and thence "public" things.

Far right. Commorative for Sándor Csoma de Kőrös who taught himself philology and then walked to Tibet in search of the ancestral home of the Hungarians. It was not there... but he did write the first western dictionary and grammar of the Tibetan language while in the employ of the British consulate. Reverse legend is MAGYAR NEPKÖZTÁRSASÁG (Hungarian People's Republic.)

When first issued in 1914, it was worth 50 korona, about $10 US.

They lost the war, but could have won the peace. 

It was just that fascism got in the way.

 10 Pengö 1936

 Inflation after World War II. Tied to Germany by ideology, Hungary killed her Jews and Gypsies and sent her soldiers to the Eastern Front. When she signed a separate peace with the USSR in 1945 to forestall a Russian occupation, Germany invaded Hungary and finished the job. Assuming that you can always make soup from the bones that were picked clean, the Russians moved in. One Billion... One Billion Millions... and 100, 000 New Billions. Gotta give the engraver credit for working through hard times.

10 Forint 1969. Face: Sándor Petőfi, national poet, revolutionary from 1848. Ironic on many levels as he likely died in Russia, captured after the Battle of Segesvar, when the Russians came to the aid of the Austrian monarchy.

PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS

Linguistics Debate: What Colors are Your Rainbow?

The Living Fish Swims Under Water

Forbidden Planet

My Grandmother and Science

Sándor Kőrösi Csoma

The Akkadian Roots of Modern Semitic Languages

Book Review: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Intuition is underappreciated. We like reams of repeatable data and validated statistics. As important as those are, they are perhaps less than half of the cognitive processing that we bring to problem solving. Of course, intuition is developed over time by experience that is informed by reason and tested by measurement. However, for the expert, whether a museum curator attributing an archaic statue or Marine Corps general repelling an invasion, intuition brings success. 

We all use it every day, especially when reading each other’s faces. Gladwell calls that “mind reading” because your face reveals your feelings—even if you try to hide them. It is “mind reading” also because making the face of an emotion triggers the same processes in the mind that external events would cause.

Blink: the Power of Thinking without Thinking
by Malcolm Gladwell,
Little, Brown and Co., 2005

Intuition also fails when it is under-informed. The classic “Pepsi Challenge” of the 1970s and 80s supposedly demonstrated that in a blind taste test, most people prefer the taste of Pepsi over Coke. And they did. But we do not drink beverages in single sips with blindfolds on. More to the point, the very average consumers had no training in tasting. Gladwell introduces us to the world of professional tasters. Through long training, they develop vocabularies and sets of measures that are integrated into their percepts. They become deeply knowledgeable about food. For them, Oreos have ninety attributes of appearance, flavor, and texture. On a scale of 1 to 15, how slippery is your mayonnaise?

But experts can be wrong if their expertise is derived from the wrong measures. Professional audiences were unenthused with The Mary Tyler Moore Show and All in the Family.  Gladwell advocates for a musician named Kenna.  (You can find him on YouTube, of course.) Kenna can’t get air time. But people who know music want his. He burst into the nightclub scene, shot his own videos, and was pursued by producers. But his music does not fit the radio genres. I listened to half a dozen on YouTube, all very good and all over the map musically.

Intuition is not omnipotent. It will not overcome physical barriers of time and space. That is what leads to the continuing string of tragedies where the police over-react and kill an unarmed person who is not threatening them. Their intuition is destroyed by the high-speed chase, the words and actions of other officers. Alone, forcing themselves to stop, they perceive the small slices that say “this man is not dangerous.” In those cases of wrongful harm, the police more closely resemble the functional autistic who is more interested in a light switch than a face. They have shut down parts of their brain thus denying intuition the opportunity to inform.

Malcolm Gladwell is a very popular writer. I only found out about his works recently while re-watching episodes of NUMB3RS. His name and his book, Tipping Point, are dropped in the Season 1 story, “Sniper Zero.” He is clear, concise, conversational, and insightful. He is a synthesizer, drawing together different stories to create a new narrative.

That brings a caveat. The presentation is not rigorous. Cook County Hospital in Chicago treats hundreds to thousands of people each day, most of them indigent and therefore without good medical support. A common problem is the man complaining of a heart attack. It must be taken seriously, but often is not an infarction. Sorting them out takes resources and erring on the side of caution requires even more bed space (and expense). Dr. Brendan Reilly began creating a database of case histories to serve a guideline in diagnosis. Reilly based his work on a previous effort by Dr. Lee Goldman who developed a mathematical model for cardiac symptoms. But Reilly met resistance, of course, from the ER staff cardiologists who did not want to surrender their expertise to an algorithm. Says Gladwell, "The algorithm doesn't feel right." But is that not the point of the book? Why would their intuition be less authoritative? This is likely just a simple misstatement. But I take it as a signal that Gladwell is offering us an array of interesting facts united by a thematic hypothesis. 

On the upside, Gladwell takes a mechanistic approach to solving the problems of social discrimination. He tells of how women finally made it into the major symphony orchestras when blind auditions became standard practice. From another source entirely I learned that India uses this to preclude geographic, ethnic, and religious bigotry from interfering with university placement. Examinations are anonymized. This week, I will again be a judge in the Austin Energy Regional Science Festival. I think that the suggestion has merit but I am not sure how to implement it in our case.

PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS

Slow Down and Think

The Remarkable Story of Risk  

Science versus Common Sense  

George Boole’s Laws of Thought 

World War II Sweetheart Dance (2019)

We had a great time at the Texas Military Forces Museum Valentine’s dance. This year, we prepared by taking dancing lessons. I signed us up for membership and four Thursday nights of foxtrot with Austin Ballroom Dancing, a social club organized as a not-for-profit. In addition, we attended their open dances on alternate Saturday nights and also accepted an invitation to dance to a live band at a City of Austin senior center on Friday nights. It all helped. 

The evening was in 1940s style, with the Sentimental Journey Orchestra playing the music of Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, and others. They were fronted by The Memphis Belles trio. About a third of the 150 attendees were dressed in era style. The event included a silent auction and a “Heads or Tails” contest to win a ride in a tank and fire a howitzer at the next reenactment.  

America’s entry into World War II shifted our culture. By the end of the war, nearly a tenth (8.7%) of the total population was in the military. And that does not count those in the Red Cross, USO, and other support groups. 

World War II was brewing long before the UK and France declared war on Germany in response to the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. The Fortified Forties followed the Thrifty Thirties. The worldwide economic downturn created an easy podium for demagogues of the left and right. Both sides declared that capitalism was dead. 

Leaders were everywhere. We all know the easy names: Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Franco. Other dictatorships ruled in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Greece, Portugal, Romania, and Yugoslavia. Turkey was a one-party state especially tied to modernization and liberalization away from traditional Islamic culture. France proved that for them democracy was a failed experiment. In practice the French were embarrassingly cooperative with the Nazis until the success of D-Day made everyone a lifetime member of the underground. Adolph Hitler does not appear Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, but Benito Hoover does, along with Mustafa Mond, Polly Trotsky, Lenina Crowne, and Bernard Marx. (For background on Huxley’s choices of character names based on Alfred Mond, Mustafa Atatürk, and others, see, for example, Shmoop here.) The future was collective. And the fact is that collectivism brings war. 

America gave the President a third term and the New Deal attempted broad government initiatives. However, American cultural traditions of individualism, self-assertion, private enterprise, and rule of law within a constitutional framework that promised both majority rule and individual rights were the stable foundation that withstood the shocks of war. (The American Political Tradition by Richard Hofstadter is reviewed here.)

That political tradition was necessarily accompanied by culture of innovation. The inventions of the 19^thcentury easily led to utopian predictions of material progress and prosperity. However, ultimately, the American Century was defined by innovations in entertainment. Life has meaning when we have the liberty to pursue happiness. Winning World War II on the basis of our industrial capacity was necessary but not sufficient. Our cinema and music conquered the world. There was a war on, but the music was swing. Gershwin defeated Wagner.

PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS

2LT Frances Y. Slanger: American Nightingale 

The Second World Wars by Victor Davis Hanson 

The Wise Men 

World War II Sweetheart Dinner and Dance (2017)