Monthly Archives: November 2020

Coding Error

Posted on November 13, 2020 by gcochran9

James Coleman published an influential study in 1966, “Equality of Educational Opportunity”. It found that variation in school quality (per pupil expenditure, size of school library, and so on)  had little influence on  educational achievement, while students’ family backgrounds did.  … Continue reading →

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Everyone makes mistakes

Posted on November 8, 2020 by gcochran9

Razib Khan dredged up an article that talked about the role of Japanese intelligence and/or the Black Dragon Society in furthering the developing of  black nationalist groups before WWII – one such group eventually developed into the Nation of Islam. … Continue reading →

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Learning to Decode

Posted on November 7, 2020 by gcochran9

(Stolen from David Kahn’s _The CodeBreakers_.   In the presidential election of 1876, Samuel J. Tilden had a quarter-million majority of the popular vote,. but the outcome of the electoral college vote depended on which of the rival returns from … Continue reading →

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Free Parameter

Posted on November 1, 2020 by gcochran9

What if this coronavirus were 10 times more deadly? 20 times?  What if it hit all ages equally, or was especially lethal to young adults ( like the 1918 flu)? What if it crippled, like polio? Would people in those … Continue reading →

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