Considerable expense and effort are thrown at the question: What will people choose? Which cell phone? Which features? Which dinner entrée? Which school? Which local political candidate? Which stock or bond? Which financial advisor? Which job candidate? Which job? Which hole to stick your nose in, if you’re offered a choice? BUT BUT BUT sometimes, maybe […]
Tag: decision
A Peek Inside the Ig Nobel Prize Selection Committee Process
It’s unfortunate that the workings of the Ig Nobel Prize Selection Committee are off-limits to outside observers. Unfortunate but necessary, as adding observers (let alone cameras) would spoil the atmosphere, which can be funny, fascinating, and contentious. But occasionally there is a story from the meetings that should be told. The committee was assembled and […]
Modernizing the Roman Thumbs-up-or-down Decision
This patent describes (among other things) an automated way to perform the Roman Emperor’s decision (indicated in the old days — reputedly — by a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down signal, displayed by the emperor) as to whether a gladiator should live or die: “Monitoring of crowd response to performances,” US patent #6885304, issued Apr 26, […]