"Which came first - the chicken or the egg?" - a new result

I have a new result on the question of which came first - the chicken or the egg.

My Facebook post on the same is below. Please access the article from SSRN.

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Which came first - the chicken or the egg? In a new paper on SSRN, I (and Devi) argue that Wikipedia is wrong and the correct answer to the question is : it is unknowable.

Details here:

http://ssrn.com/abstract=2562098

Thoughts and comments welcome. Vasudha Paramasivan Lakshmi MurthyKalyan Vajapeyajula Adam Kleinbaum Jolie Martin Saheli Datta Partha BasuArun Viswanath Vinay Yadappanavar

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INNOVATION: Development of software that “predicts” sudden cardiac death

Via AlphaGalileo.org:

At Galway Hospital, in Ireland, a device is currently used to "predict" cardiac events in people at risk of sudden cardiac death. This technology was developed by a Mexican, and the city's University patented it looking to sell it to specialized companies. 

In 2013, the hospital cardiologists used this technology to diagnose and test its accuracy. The software is in the process of prototype and marketing.

Photo of the month

From somewhere in the Great American West.

INNOVATION: Researchers target new form of RAM from rare materials

From ZDNet.com:

Researchers from Victoria University, in New Zealand, are studying the application of a class of materials called rare earth nitrides (RENs) to create a new type of non-volatile RAM memory.

Dr Ben Ruck, Professor Joe Trodahl and Dr Franck Natali from the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, are studying potential commercial applications of RENs, thin films grown under ultra-high vacuum which are both magnetic and semiconducting.

Two concepts already patented include developing the first magnetic memory storage devices based on RENs, called "magnetic tunnel junctions".

The issue with current forms of RAM is that it does not retain information when the host computer is turned off, says Ruck.

TECHNOLOGY: Shortage of cybersecurity professionals poses risk to national security

Via Phys.org:

The nationwide shortage of cybersecurity professionals – particularly for positions within the federal government – creates risks for national and homeland security, according to a new study from the RAND Corporation.

Demand for trained cybersecurity professionals who work to protect organizations from cybercrime is high nationwide, but the shortage is particularly severe in the federal government, which does not offer salaries as high as the private sector.

On language

Language shapes the world we think about the world. But not in the way that you might think.

Take the word "Aidos'. As Sriram Padmanabhan points out, it is a word in Greek that has connotations of shame.

"The ancient Greeks apparently had a few words that are difficult to translate into English. One of them was "AIDOS". It means a kind of reverence or shame, the feeling that a prosperous man should have in the presence of the unfortunate - not compassion, but a sense that the difference between him and them is not fully deserved. " [@Sriram Padmanabhan]

Aidos is not shame per se. Precisely speaking, the word is difficult to translate into a "single word" in the English language.#NoSingleWordExistsButYesMultipleWordsCanCaptureTheIdea

If you ask me, I feel that that even though one may feel this emotion from time to time, it is not healthy, psychologically speaking, to harbor it. If you think about it, this emotion seems quite irrational. I would even say that is not how Man was intended to live his life- feeling shame for one's good fortune seems unnecessary. There is something to be said for American evangelical Christianity's attitude towards good fortune - if you have good fortune, just thank God and help other people. Why feel shame at all?

In a very powerful way, language shapes the way we view the world. If the word "Aidos" does not occur as a single word in one's language, say, English,one is much less likely to feel this emotion. After all, what better example of this is there than the sociological fact that there is very little class envy in America despite high levels of inequality. And this is partly because this is a sociological phenomenon in a country that speaks English. Which does not have a "single short word" for the word "Aidos". People only use words that are available to them. This is a form of judgement bias (the basis introduced by the "availability heuristic") similar to other judgement biases such as the loss aversion bias. Indeed, we tend to fall into certain set behavioral and thought patterns because of the availability heuristic introduced by language.

I think this "availability heuristic" is very powerful in the way it shapes we way we think about the world. There has been some recent research to suggest that language does influence the way we think about the world (https://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=29489). But more important than the question of whether we have different words for the color blue is the question of whether we use language to fall into certain set behavioral and thought patterns.

TECHNOLOGY: Campaigns emerge to attract more women to careers in IT

Via Techtarget.com:

The gender divide within the technology industry has been obvious for years, but new programs and campaigns have emerged to encourage young girls and women to consider careers in IT.

While 95% of young girls say they like -- or even love -- technology, only 9% say they're definitely interested in pursuing an IT career.