Why the House won’t Decide 2024
Recently, I’ve encountered a new source of election anxiety from several distinct quarters. The fear is that one or more third party or independent candidates will “spoil” the 2024 Presidential election, but not in the usual way.
Keep readingI Finally Got My Patent
Official Patent My database patent finally has been granted after a long and expensive ordeal. While this is better than not having it granted after a long and expensive ordeal, it still was a truly pathetic reflection on the state of the American patent system. My perception (and, from what I can gather, that of…
Keep readingThe Most Important Problem in the World — Solved!
Toilet Seat Problem Should the toilet seat be left up or down after use? I decided to undertake a rigorous investigation of this critical issue. Every woman I asked knew the answer: leave it down. Every married man also knew the answer: do what she says. The truly domesticated men did one better: leave…
Keep readingMy Moral Metrics Paper Has Been Published!
The paper develops a geometry of moral systems with applications in social choice theory. I submitted it last October, and it recently was accepted by AJEB (the Asian Journal of Economics and Banking) for publication in a forthcoming special issue on Social Choice. As far as I’m aware, the print version will be issued in…
Keep readingCCSearch State Space Algo
While toying with automated Fantasy Sports trading systems, I ended up designing a rapid state search algorithm that was suitable for a variety of constrained knapsack-like problems. Here is a discussion of the algorithm and a link to a reference implementation on github.
Keep reading180 Women and Sun Tzu
A perplexing tale of Sun Tzu, and a meandering, highly improbable, and possibly offensive interpretation of it.
Keep readingHow 22% of the Population can Rewrite the Constitution
This is a scary piece in which I analyze precisely how many voters would be required to trigger a Constitutional Convention and ratify any amendments it proposes. Because the 2/3 and 3/4 requirements in the Constitution refer to the number of States involved, the smaller States have a disproportionate effect. In Congress, the House…
Keep readingA Travel-Time Metric
Especially in urban areas, two locations may be quite close geographically but difficult to travel between. I wondered whether one could create a map where, instead of physical distances, points are arranged according to some sort of travel-time between them. This would be useful for many purposes.
Keep readingInflation, Up Close and Personal
We examine the real effective inflation that individuals experience and offer suggestions to mitigate it.
Keep readingA Proposal for Tax Transparency
A system of direct attribution is proposed, to allow taxpayers to understand where their money is going.
Keep readingProbabilistic Sentencing
I propose adopting a sentencing mechanism based on a probabilistic assessment of guilt or innocence. This allows jurists to better express their certainty or lack thereof than does our traditional all-or-nothing verdict.
Keep readingThe Requirements of Effective Democracy
We consider the components which support the popular conception of democracy, and whether these are present in our society.
Keep readingA System for Fairness in Sentencing
We often hear of cases that offend our sense of fairness – excessive sentences, minor crimes that are punished more severely than serious crimes, or two equivalent crimes that are punished very differently. We consider the question of whether mathematically a well-intentioned individual can assign sentences in a way that seems reasonable and consistent…
Keep readingWhy Voting Twice is a Good Thing
We should require that every bill be ratified by a second vote, one year after its original passage. It goes into effect as normal, but automatically expires if not ratified at the appropriate time.
Keep readingInfluence in Voting
Have you ever wondered what really is meant by a “deciding vote” on the Supreme Court or a “swing State” in a presidential election? These terms are bandied about by the media, but their meaning isn’t obvious. After all, every vote is equal, isn’t it?
Keep readingYe Olde Physics Papers
Once upon a time there was a physicist. He was productive and happy and dwelt in a land filled with improbably proportioned and overly cheerful forest creatures…
Keep reading
A Place of Sand 