Published in The GuardianThursday June 12, 2008 Ian Stewart asserts that his university’s mathematics students “earn more money, on average, than those studying any other degree subject” and that “their ability to handle technical ideas is highly prized, and rewarded” (Letters, June 7). His assumption, shared by most other contributors to the current debate about …
Category: complexity
May 09
Are we doomed to live in an oppressive safety culture?
Martin Parkinson raises an interesting question (comment on previous post): what should be the reaction to an accident that, a priori, was an extremely low probability event? He suggests that any attempt to reverse the counterproductive aspects of ˜health and safety culture is doomed to failure. After an accident he argues that most people will …
Jan 18
Complexity & Uncertainty in a Risk Averse Society
Summary of presentation to Omega Centre Conference on Planning and decision-making amidst complexity, risk and uncertainty, Royal Institute of British Architects, London, 22 January 2007. The Omega Centre project aims to contribute to the advancement of the art and science of planning, appraising and evaluating the impacts of mega land-based transport projects in major urban …