Sunday Reading

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, July 22nd, 2012 - 6 comments
Categories: equality, International, interweb, sport - Tags: , , ,

My regular Sunday piece of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring).  This week: The Olympics, some interesting science on inequality and performance pay, and what does history look like when it’s not the propaganda of the victor?

When governments pitch for the Olympics they tell the country how great it will be for them economically (if not for the government’s finances).  But with the incredibly tight sponsorship deals and laws stopping anyone associating themselves with the Olympics, 2012, London, Gold, Silver, Bronze etc local businesses will find it very difficult to make any gains from it.  Local workers meanwhile, can’t get chips from anywhere other than McDonalds anywhere close to the main venues.  In a concession from McDs, now at some restaurants an exception has been made for the traditional fish and chips, but you can’t have chips by themselves, or with anything other than fish.  Brand police have swarmed in to protect McDs, Coca-Cola, Cadbury’s and all the other healthy living sponsors…

Meanwhile, on BBC Future, there is some interesting science examined.  A couple of biologists have research suggesting inequality is natural, and an advantage to society.  With a ‘Big Man’ to follow, society is much more efficient at avoiding threats and finding goals (eg good food sources).  This only works if the ‘Big Man’ is correct of course, and we have faith in them (and how much faith do you have that our leaders are correct..?).  There’s an interesting point for the future and the need to ensure good digital education.  With the internet:

It’s often suggested that by lowering the cost of communication, electronic networking will make it easier for everyone to access information and so will flatten the social hierarchy. The researchers find that, if there is an initial inequality in how information is distributed, lowering communication costs counter-intuitively sustains this steep hierarchy and promotes inequality. There’s less incentive to spread information around: you can just keep on looking until you find it.

There is also a piece on the effect of money on motivation.  Bonuses turn out to reduce performance.  When extrinsic motivation is added, intrinsic motivation reduces.  And with high stakes on success, we choke – too much of our brain is focussed on motivation and not enough on the task.  Dan Airely of Duke University:

If I ask you to help me change a tire on my car you might be willing to help, but if I offer you a dollar for this you don’t say to yourself ‘gee I get to help Dan and I get a dollar’. In contrast you say: ‘It’s a dollar, I don’t work for a dollar’ and you’re less interested in doing this.

and

If I gave you a bigger bonus to jump you would jump more times. You have very good control over your legs and if I give you more money you will transmit more power to them and therefore you will be more successful. We don’t have the same control over memory, creativity and concentration. You can’t will yourself into a higher state of concentration and creativity. It’s actually counterproductive and hinders performance strongly.

Finally, a piece looking at how the Turks don’t see Alexander as Great.  Locally, Reading the Maps, looks at Samoan history that Te Radar is missing on his televised holidays.  Some pretty ugly reading as a New Zealander if we wish to scratch beneath the surface.  Other posts of his over other islands.

Quick Links

– How big will Libor get?  (22 banks are being sued over it)

– Inactivity pandemic kills as many as smoking.

– was the euro created to ensure the triumph of the ‘free’ market over democracy?

6 comments on “Sunday Reading ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. satty 1
    22 July 2012 at 10:27 am

    The Guardian has a section just on Tax Avoidance articles:
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/taxavoidance

    Interesting read as it shows what tax avoidance of a few can do to entire countries.

    • Draco T Bastard 1.1
      22 July 2012 at 8:35 pm

      http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/21/global-elite-tax-offshore-economy

      The detailed analysis in the report, compiled using data from a range of sources, including the Bank of International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund, suggests that for many developing countries the cumulative value of the capital that has flowed out of their economies since the 1970s would be more than enough to pay off their debts to the rest of the world.

      As I’ve said, the rich are rich simply because they’re stealing from everyone else.

  2. Colonial Viper 2
    22 July 2012 at 10:33 am

    Thanks Bunji, very informative.

  4. Shaz 4
    22 July 2012 at 8:55 pm

    Forget a shower of bad headlines, this is political climate change – about David Cameron but strange reflections for our own government.

    http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/comment/2012/07/forget-shower-bad-headlines-political-climate-change

  5. seeker 5
    22 July 2012 at 9:39 pm

    Whilst looking up definitions for commodity and utility to aid me in forming an argument for Maori water rights I came across this discussion for cloud computing being a commodity and not a utility. Whereas my argument was based on public utilities such as electricity, water and sewage being basic essentials for (civilised) existence becoming commodified and readied for trading privately to all and sundry and how they should be protected from cynical, treacherous governments doing just this; the cloud computing argument, interestingly, seemed to go in the opposite direction.

    “Right now, bandwidth and cloud computing is free ……..

    How we define the “cloud” means a lot for our future. We are putting more and more of our “stuff” in the cloud, which special interests want to regulate, control, and monitor. We will lose our freedom unless we fight to keep it. Unless we fight to keep the cloud a “commodity”, it will indeed start to look like an Orwellian “utility”.”

    Now I have to think about the cloud as well as water!

    http://erratasec.blogspot.co.nz/2011/10/cloud-computing-is-commodity-not.html

    That ruthless old fella called ‘Privatisation for Corporates’ can step on so many toes as it crosses the swamp to it’s own selfish island haven called “Doasthouwiltandsodeveryoneelse”, so named after that quaint ancient satanist expression. I feel that no one can be trusted. Fancy such modernities as cloud computing having to worry about the incessant harassment of rabid ancient spirits!

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.