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Comment Re:Jump through the mirror? (Score 1) 237

Have you ever looked at physics, and how it separates state from function? Where are the side-effects in math? Do you really think an OO based view of particles would have gotten us anywhere? Well, I have this particle, and then this other particle, and they update their own states independently. Now, sometimes, if they are near, one particle sends a message to the elastic collision controller, which will ask then the other particle to update its state a bit differently. With trillions of particles, this becomes a bit awkward, but hey, that's how nature works.

Comment Re:Misleading headline (Score 1) 108

You live in a fairy-tale land where the market will always self-correct. Companies with a price arrangement are typically in a Nash equilibrium, which essentially means that there is no incentive to cheat as both parties know they are worse off if they cheat the other party. If I am in a pricing agreement with another company, and I break it by lowering my prices, I know that we will go into a downward spiral of lowered prices until we settle on a level that has less profit for either of us.

This leaves competition from other companies. A well set up monopoly or oligopoly can readily create such significant barriers to entry (price wars) that it will take a tremendous amount of effort to break through the status quo. However, once through, the competing company will be invited to join the price-fixing strategy. It is the more profitable move for all involved.

Price-fixing is a stable and profitable strategy for companies. There is no natural mechanism that opens up a market that is dominated by a few players that fix price. In short: a laissez-faire market is not necessarily competitive.

Comment Re:Affirmative action breeds racism (Score 1) 410

The status quo is that people will not get selected because of race. Everybody is racist to some extent. No matter what your race, your background, your sex, or your intelligence, you understand people better if they are more like you. Consequently, you will more likely select people that look like you. If you are male, you will understand males better than females and are more likely to give a guy a break. Likewise, if you are female, you will understand females better, and you will give that gal a break. So that's all good: everybody is equally racist, sexist, pedantic, as anybody else.

But now the problem starts. The majority, being equally discriminatory as the minority, has a disproportionate effect on the well-being of the minority. Take sexism at the workplace as an easy example. Suppose everybody, male or female, makes one sexist remark to the opposite sex once a week. Now also suppose that the workplace consists of 10 times the number of males over the number of females. Not out of the ordinary in tech circles. Then, on average, every male will get a sexist remark every 10 weeks. Every female will get 10 sexist remarks per week. The girl is harassed 100 times more often than the boy. The same goes if the ratios are reversed.

Should we do affirmative action, and ask the guys to watch their language 10 times better than the girls? Or is that sexist?

Comment Re:This is the worst decision in decades (Score 1) 410

I'm pretty sure the founding fathers would be very proud of this representative republic they founded. Not entirely sure who it represents though. I guess it's time to call it the People's Republic of America, to emphasize where the power lies in this Republic.

Comment Re:Ban Affirmative Action (Score 1) 410

It's typically a bit more subtle than this. Here's an example of the mathematics of discrimination.

Why is a male-dominated workplace typically sexist? Simple. Suppose that each person, regardless of sex, makes a sexist remark once every week to someone of opposite sex. Now suppose that the male-female ratio in the workplace is ten to one. Then, on average, every female in the workplace is subjected to 10 sexist remarks per week, while the average male is subject to 1 sexist remark every 10 weeks. For the males this doesn't feel sexist, the females experience a very hostile workplace, yet both are equally sexist. In order to balance this, males need to be 10 times less sexist than females. Is asking males to be more sensitive to their behavior than females in itself sexist?

This holds for any prejudice people have. The minority will be disproportionally affected by it. I'm not sure if affirmative action is the answer, but the status quo does mean that people of merit will not get where they could be.

Comment Re:Since when (Score 1) 818

So, explain then please: what form of government does Brittain have, or the Netherlands, or Denmark, or Sweden, or Norway. They cannot be republics, as they have a hereditary head of state. As per your logic they can't be democracies as 'representative democracy' is the same as 'partial democracy' and is a contradiction in terms. Under what type of government do I live? A monarchy? And am I now to argue that a monarchy is preferable to a democracy?

Comment Re:Back to One Man, One Vote (Score 1) 818

How come? If a bunch of people come together, they are a bunch of people. How do they suddenly lose rights? The fact is that corporations are not persons, they are owned by persons. Given a corporation a separate vote gives the owner a second vote. Give the corporation rights to bribe, and you give the owner the right to bribe. Walmart is not a person, it's the Waltons that run the show. Give Walmart a right, and it goes directly to the Waltons. They get that above and beyond the rights they have as US citizens. And that is undemocratic.

Comment Re:Are you kidding (Score 1) 818

Many of the rich have inherited the money. I've worked with second generation rich: they are well-intended, but typically so involved with their lifestyle that work is merely a hobby. Third generation rich are 'old-money', i.e., aristocracy. No positive influence is to be expected from them. I.e., the rich are a diverse bunch. The ones that actually became rich are typically awesome. But the world is ruled by Paris Hilton.

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