Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Started reading it, then stopped (Score 1) 64

If it's a chaotic system, an analytical solution won't help you there! You would have to know the starting conditions equally well. In any case, if you can observe the system you can predict it a good ways in advance regardless of the chaoticity - just keep updating the solution based on the known current state. If you want to be fancy you can solve for the divergence in the solution to fix your state estimation as well.

Comment Re:Started reading it, then stopped (Score 2) 64

No, it doesn't get better. There is a plot, but it's nonsensical. Here's my summary from 2.5 years ago:

I found it to be low-quality SF that explored derivative, old ideas in a poor manner with no good rationale (really, aliens can build folded-dimension spacecraft but can't numerically integrate orbital motions for a few thousand years?).

Comment Re:Is it actually a problem? (Score 1) 646

If too much power gets concentrated in too few hands this minority starts to shape the world to their needs, and then the majority with no power becomes expendable and they simply get parked somewhere out of sight.

That is a very good point, but then should not the complaint be that power is too concentrated? Power comes in many forms besides wealth, as well.

I think it's worth exploring the wealth-power relation and concerns about concentration, but misidentifying (or misstating) one of several contributing factors as the fundamental problem does not help to gain support for the cause - especially when there are other reasons that people complain about wealth inequality. When a topic has multiple reasons for complaint, many people will assume the least valid reason is what is being argued.

Comment Re:20 Years (Score 1) 646

That's absurd. If I'm at the bottom, increasing the average by making rich people richer isn't helping me one bit.

Making rich people richer won't help increase average quality of life, because the marginal utility of money has a significant diminishing return.

Regardless, it would probably be better to look at the minimum or perhaps bottom quartile quality of life than the average.

Slashdot Top Deals

Anything free is worth what you pay for it.

Working...