On unintended consequences

the most powerful “perverse consequences” tend to come not from some single, unified umbrella political drive, but through the small initiatives of powerful official actors who are given tremendous autonomy to act independently, to enact some body of social theory or some aesthetic principle held by a visionary.

This sounds plausible to me, but any opinions about how solid it is?

On unintended consequences

the most powerful “perverse consequences” tend to come not from some single, unified umbrella political drive, but through the small initiatives of powerful official actors who are given tremendous autonomy to act independently, to enact some body of social theory or some aesthetic principle held by a visionary.

This sounds plausible to me, but any opinions about how solid it is?

Grading

Professors describing some sensible and humane approaches to grading. Oddly, none of them are complaining about students who expect As for minimal effort.

Most interesting bit-- from Rana's comment:

At another place I worked, there was this very odd curve that kept showing up in my classes (so I know it wasn’t just one anomalous class). Basically, instead of there being something bell-like, there was this odd bulge at the B+ side and no A-s, and then a sharp spike of As.

For me, A-range work tends to combine originality with a firm grasp of technical skills. B-range tends to lack originality while being technically sound, or vice versa. C-range reveals a lack of understanding of the assignment, or an inability to meet much more than the basic requirements. D-range means something went noticeably wrong; Fs are just flat out failures. I don’t give many Fs, and I don’t give very many As, either. But, as I tell the students, this is because of the way student skills, interest, etc. average out; if everyone one day did A (or F) work, then that’s what everyone gets.

Anyway, what I finally figured out was happening with that peculiar curve was this: the students in that B+ lump had the technical skills to do A level work, and many of them were capable of the sort of originality and insight that characterizes A level work - but they were holding that back. They had such an ingrained respect for authority that they did not believe it was appropriate, or their place, to insert any of their own ideas into the work. Rather, they believed that they were to do a good job re-presenting the things they had learned in lectures and in the readings.

Once I realized this, and started aggressively encouraging them to offer their own insights on the material, there was a sudden spike in A-level papers and the bulge went away.

Grading

Professors describing some sensible and humane approaches to grading. Oddly, none of them are complaining about students who expect As for minimal effort.

Most interesting bit-- from Rana's comment:

At another place I worked, there was this very odd curve that kept showing up in my classes (so I know it wasn’t just one anomalous class). Basically, instead of there being something bell-like, there was this odd bulge at the B+ side and no A-s, and then a sharp spike of As.

For me, A-range work tends to combine originality with a firm grasp of technical skills. B-range tends to lack originality while being technically sound, or vice versa. C-range reveals a lack of understanding of the assignment, or an inability to meet much more than the basic requirements. D-range means something went noticeably wrong; Fs are just flat out failures. I don’t give many Fs, and I don’t give very many As, either. But, as I tell the students, this is because of the way student skills, interest, etc. average out; if everyone one day did A (or F) work, then that’s what everyone gets.

Anyway, what I finally figured out was happening with that peculiar curve was this: the students in that B+ lump had the technical skills to do A level work, and many of them were capable of the sort of originality and insight that characterizes A level work - but they were holding that back. They had such an ingrained respect for authority that they did not believe it was appropriate, or their place, to insert any of their own ideas into the work. Rather, they believed that they were to do a good job re-presenting the things they had learned in lectures and in the readings.

Once I realized this, and started aggressively encouraging them to offer their own insights on the material, there was a sudden spike in A-level papers and the bulge went away.

Self-education online

http://selfmadescholar.com/b/self-education-resource-list/

Books, Audio Books, Research and Articles, Government Sources, References, Self-Ed Blogs and Sites, University OpenCourseWare, More Free Courses, Tools, Open Textbook Movement, Writing, Learning Communities, Organizing Your Library, Great Books, Educational Podcasts, Educational Videos, Language Learning

This is much more than I had any idea existed.

Link thanks to interactiveleaf.

Self-education online

http://selfmadescholar.com/b/self-education-resource-list/

Books, Audio Books, Research and Articles, Government Sources, References, Self-Ed Blogs and Sites, University OpenCourseWare, More Free Courses, Tools, Open Textbook Movement, Writing, Learning Communities, Organizing Your Library, Great Books, Educational Podcasts, Educational Videos, Language Learning

This is much more than I had any idea existed.

Link thanks to interactiveleaf.

Maybe this man should quit writing novels and become a cartoonist

http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/blog/2009/02/concerning-release-of-book-two.html

Or maybe not....the cartoons at the link about what it's like to be an author with demanding fans are hysterically funny, but the book sounds interesting, too.

Anyway, this is also an excuse to write, a little late, about GRRMartin's upcoming book and me.

Recently, Martin wrote about being harassed about the long-promised fifth book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series.

The short version is that he's been saying the book was coming out (the earliest version was that it was almost done), and some fans have been nasty about him working on other things or having fun.

I loved A Game of Thrones. It was a long but amazingly clear complex fantasy novel set in a grim world, with prose reminiscent of Poul Anderson. While clearly part of a series, it ended at such a natural stopping place that I felt happy to have read it even if no more books came out.

It was planned as the beginning of a four book series.

I spent enough time thinking about the first book to find what I consider to be a major implausibility in the plot, but it wasn't a deal-breaker. (I'll put the implausibility in a comment-- it isn't what seems to annoy most people about the book.)

More books came out, with vivid characters and the occasional stunningly violent big set-piece scene.

Poignancy was added to the wars and politicking because winter (plus evil ice-elf zombie-masters) was coming. I wanted to reach into the books and shake the characters. They knew about winter (the world has a super-seasonal cycle, and you really want sound building and a big store of food), but being as this is Murphy's planet, people haven't quite gotten word about the ice elves. (That's my term for them-- in the book, they're called Others.)

You may notice that the series hasn't wrapped up in four books. Long about book three, Martin seemed to have lost control of his material. Too many characters, too many plot threads. In book four, there's an extra religion.

By book four, I wasn't having as much fun. Partly, it was the darkness of the world. A little couldn't even build a without having it stomped flat. Partly, it seemed as though his precisely gauged reminders of who was who had deteriorated into excessive repetition.

The nearest thing to a benevolent character had his good will knocked out of him.

I may well read book five when it comes out, but I'm not in a hurry and I'll wait for reviews.

I've seen a fair amount online about how childish and obnoxious the fans who really want that fifth novel are. Some of them are obnoxious, and I'm sorry that GRRMartin has had to deal with them. However, it's been a long time since I've looked forward to a book that much. There are any number of books I'll be pleased to see, but that's not the same. I don't know how much is that I'm drowning in interesting books, how much is just getting older, and how much is depression, but I rather envy the people who really want A Dance with Dragons.

Maybe this man should quit writing novels and become a cartoonist

http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/blog/2009/02/concerning-release-of-book-two.html

Or maybe not....the cartoons at the link about what it's like to be an author with demanding fans are hysterically funny, but the book sounds interesting, too.

Anyway, this is also an excuse to write, a little late, about GRRMartin's upcoming book and me.

Recently, Martin wrote about being harassed about the long-promised fifth book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series.

The short version is that he's been saying the book was coming out (the earliest version was that it was almost done), and some fans have been nasty about him working on other things or having fun.

I loved A Game of Thrones. It was a long but amazingly clear complex fantasy novel set in a grim world, with prose reminiscent of Poul Anderson. While clearly part of a series, it ended at such a natural stopping place that I felt happy to have read it even if no more books came out.

It was planned as the beginning of a four book series.

I spent enough time thinking about the first book to find what I consider to be a major implausibility in the plot, but it wasn't a deal-breaker. (I'll put the implausibility in a comment-- it isn't what seems to annoy most people about the book.)

More books came out, with vivid characters and the occasional stunningly violent big set-piece scene.

Poignancy was added to the wars and politicking because winter (plus evil ice-elf zombie-masters) was coming. I wanted to reach into the books and shake the characters. They knew about winter (the world has a super-seasonal cycle, and you really want sound building and a big store of food), but being as this is Murphy's planet, people haven't quite gotten word about the ice elves. (That's my term for them-- in the book, they're called Others.)

You may notice that the series hasn't wrapped up in four books. Long about book three, Martin seemed to have lost control of his material. Too many characters, too many plot threads. In book four, there's an extra religion.

By book four, I wasn't having as much fun. Partly, it was the darkness of the world. A little couldn't even build a without having it stomped flat. Partly, it seemed as though his precisely gauged reminders of who was who had deteriorated into excessive repetition.

The nearest thing to a benevolent character had his good will knocked out of him.

I may well read book five when it comes out, but I'm not in a hurry and I'll wait for reviews.

I've seen a fair amount online about how childish and obnoxious the fans who really want that fifth novel are. Some of them are obnoxious, and I'm sorry that GRRMartin has had to deal with them. However, it's been a long time since I've looked forward to a book that much. There are any number of books I'll be pleased to see, but that's not the same. I don't know how much is that I'm drowning in interesting books, how much is just getting older, and how much is depression, but I rather envy the people who really want A Dance with Dragons.

This is your economy on drugs

Here's a hypothesis that part of the financial crisis is that the financial industry was running on amphetamines, a drug which increases energy and decreases judgement.

For a while, I've been pushing the idea that the 70 to 90 hour work weeks made it harder for people to ask whether what they were doing made sense. Speed would only make the problem worse.

When I originally proposed this, I was told that, no, everyone in the financial industry was under pressures which made their behavior inevitable. On the other hand, the pressures were the result of policies and choices which were a matter of individual judgment.

"The wisdom of crowds" only applies if the crowd is composed of independent people who aren't nuts.

Link from a comment by John Emerson here. Most of the comments are interesting. I used to read Megan McArdle back when she was Jane Galt, but I got bored when she started writing for the Atlantic.

This is your economy on drugs

Here's a hypothesis that part of the financial crisis is that the financial industry was running on amphetamines, a drug which increases energy and decreases judgement.

For a while, I've been pushing the idea that the 70 to 90 hour work weeks made it harder for people to ask whether what they were doing made sense. Speed would only make the problem worse.

When I originally proposed this, I was told that, no, everyone in the financial industry was under pressures which made their behavior inevitable. On the other hand, the pressures were the result of policies and choices which were a matter of individual judgment.

"The wisdom of crowds" only applies if the crowd is composed of independent people who aren't nuts.

Link from a comment by John Emerson here. Most of the comments are interesting. I used to read Megan McArdle back when she was Jane Galt, but I got bored when she started writing for the Atlantic.

Kitchen Beat Box

A little something silly

Kitchen Beat Box

A little something silly