What is one to think about words about thoughts about prayers and thoughts? A new study tries to tease out the answer. The study is: “The Value of Thoughts and Prayers,” Linda Thunström and Shiri Noy, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, epub 2019. The authors, at the University of Wyoming, explain: “A standard […]
Tag: value
Neither a spender nor a buyer be: The Zero-Rupee Note
Is paper money that has no value of no value? The zero-rupee note, issued in India by non-governmental volunteers, is a way to study that question. The organization behind the zero-rupee note sees it as a way to fight corruption. The Wikipedia description boils that down: “The notes are ‘paid’ in protest by angry citizens […]
Sharp shaped vegetation lifts property prices (new study)
Residential property owners who want increase the sale price of their property can try a new way of adding value – plant some palm trees out front. See: ‘Money in your palm: Sharp shaped vegetation in the surroundings increase the subjective value of houses.’ Journal of Environmental Psychology, Volume 46, June 2016, Pages 176–187 “We […]
Relative Value of Nature and Poetry (in Science)
Walter Westman wonders about worth: “How Much Are Nature’s Services Worth?” Walter E. Westman, Science, vol. 197, no. 4307 (Sep. 2, 1977), pp. 960-964. The author, at UCLA, begins with a snippet of poetry from Wordsworth, then gets on with it: ‘To me the meanest flower that blows can give Thoughts that do often lie […]
The value of love, according to Bob Dylan
In honor of Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday, here is a Dylan-derived mathematical study about the value of love. We originally published it in vol 1, no. 5 of the Annals of Improbable Research (thanks to investigator Lynne Cohen for suggesting it re-appear today). Click on the link to download the entire study, which begins: The […]