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I tend to get fascinated with useless trivia! It's not so bad: It "keeps me off the streets", and once upon a time some of the useless trivia was just useful enough to build up a small nest-egg for me. Unfortunately -- Fair Warning! -- sometimes I share the useless trivia at IIDB. 8-) First...

The "efficiency" of photosynthesis is an ambiguous term: losses occur at various stages of the process, beginning with the incoming photons: Many photons are of the wrong wavelength, or not aimed at a chlorophyll. However one key step in photosynthesis is said to be almost 100% efficient. The...

Before prescribing future money, let's review the history of money. In this thread I propose to discuss money in the 20th century and earlier. There are 21st century innovations: "Quantitative Easing" Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin but to keep the conversation...

I'm delighted to learn that Jason will soon tell us how money creation works in his vision. Over to you, Jason.

Poor Sir Isaac. Once considered the greatest scientific genius who ever lived, many of his ideas have been refuted. His Law of Gravitation produced a tiny error when used to predict the orbit of Mercury. Albert Einstein had heart palpitations when he found that his own theory predicted that...

Do we have any bridge players here at IIDB? I will show a fascinating bridge puzzle, but first a digression to explain why I put this thread in the Political forum. In 2016 the QOP staged a Presidential debate. There were many issues they could have debated: Should women who abort their 10...

A favorite parlor game is to rank the U.S. Presidents -- Who were the "Greatest"? Let's keep the discussion out of Politics by ignoring Presidents since Reagan; there are few candidates for "Great President" in the 21st century anyway. A good starting point for Presidential rankings is...

Religious skeptics like to point out that the God (Yahweh) of the Old Testament is very different from the God (Father) described by Jesus in the Gospels. Yes: These were two very different entities. I am particularly interested in evidence from ancient documents, including Old and New...

Let's compile a list of the most poignant scenes in movies. I'm starting with one that isn't particularly poignant -- that's to encourage others to participate! ("I can think of scenes much more poignant than that one.") What does "poignant" even mean anyway? One dictionary suggests that a...

IIDB has several Members who are very competent historians. I ask them to help me to understand how present-day politics compares to past crises. In a recent thread I compared the present Trumpist political dystopia in the U.S. to the American Civil War and the rise of Hitlerism in 1930's...

Inspired by Alcoholic Actuary, I plan on placing some more probability puzzles in this thread. I'll assign them Roman numerals. Please feel free to add other puzzles of your own, labeling them with the next Roman numeral. I have three "nifty" puzzles to start with, ranging from the quite easy...

Girls just want to have fun is a song written by Robert Hazard and made famous by Cyndi Lauper. But a little-known fact is that the original lyrics were "Mathematicians just want to have fun!" Hazard just couldn't get the meter to scan properly with the original lyrics. A rather famous example...

I don't see a thread to actually predict the winner of the Pres. election. I'll just report now on odds implied by the punters at Betfair. Last summer, Trump and DeSantis had the #1 and #2 slots. In August DeSantis was ahead: 22% / 20% / 16%, with Biden as #3. November it was 27% / 17% / 15%...

I find it fun to make lists. What is the best depiction of The Ten Ages of Man ? (Feel free to define 8 or 12 ages, or whatever, instead of 10.) At this scale it makes little sense, I think, to separate Bronze and Iron Ages. Early Stone Age -- humans develop speech and use of fire and tools...

The Bible contains puzzles and mysteries. Some facts are conveyed cryptically or with only hints; perhaps the facts were uncomfortable or were kept hidden for some other reason. The Bible was written over centuries, and edited with care. I will mention four puzzles (2 in the OT, 2 in the NT)...

In another thread, there seemed to be disagreement about how to calculate simple probabilities when there are three or more outcomes to consider. It seemed best to start a math thread focusing on a very simple example depicting the confusion. The three outcomes are S1, S2, and Not-S. But...

I just started this YouTube with Nouriel Roubini, aka Doctor Doom. I've just clicked on it! We can watch it together!! AFAIK I've never even heard Roubini's voice. This very renowned expert (professor, advisor, author) Foresaw the 2008 crisis. etc. His latest book is subtitled Ten Megatrends...

I recently moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand. This is a major tourist destination; so Infidels may visit often. Message me and we'll meet for coffee, lunch or beer. It might be fun to have a thread for questions and comments about Chiang Mai. But first: What is Chiang Mai? Chiang Mai Province...

How about a thread NOT to debate economic or political controversies, but just to display simple economic data? I'll start with a List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita. Notes: 1. I show the average of IMF and CIA estimates. I have omitted several, mostly smallish, countries. 2. Singapore...

The credit crisis of 2008 was the most dangerous world-wide financial crisis since the the Great Depression. It was caused by a housing price bubble, and by financial shenanigans pursued in the name of "hyper-efficiency" but which led to large-scale gambling: Big Wall Street Traders were...