01-03-18 A revisit to Blockchain & Bitcoin

01/03/18

A revisit to Blockchain/Bitcoin & The complex relationship between narratives and numbers.

Introductions/News/SMA Science Book Club update

******** Garth Agraik - Blockchain/Bitcoin -Talks of his Involvement with Blockchain & Bitcoin: Decentralized Distributed Ledgers: The Next Technological Revolution.

Who owns what? Who owes what to whom? The ability of humans to efficiently track this data is directly related to the rise of our civilization. The earliest such ledger systems have been discovered in ancient Mesopotamia dating back 15,000 years as single-entry accounting systems that allowed for the vast temple economies of the day. That simple system required absolute trust in the bookkeepers, so with the rise of a monetary economy in 13th century Europe came double-entry bookkeeping, allowing independent auditors to verify the ledger data. This ability facilitated the development of much larger human social structures, which eventually materialized in the forms of massive nation states, global corporations, and the industrial/technological revolution as we know it today. The year 2008 will come to be known as another revolutionary date in human history, when the first decentralized distributed ledger appeared as the Bitcoin network.

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John Allan Paulos - Narratives and Numbers

The complex relationship between stores and statistics or, to vary the alliteration, between narratives and numbers. The most common mathematical mistakes in news reports and the media generally. No mathematical background will be needed, just a bit of arithmetic, a little logic, and maybe a feel for probability.

Why, for example, are we so often apoplectic about minor risks and oblivious of significant ones or exercised by trivial expenditures and accepting of massive outlays? There are many examples of a variety of quantitative solecisms.

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Doug Wind - Synthetic Life

In 2010, scientists led by J. Craig Venter became the first to successfully create ?synthetic life"?putting humankind at the threshold of the most important and exciting phase of biological research, one that will enable us to actually write the genetic code for designing new species to help us adapt and evolve for long-term survival.

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Rob Lerner - Antibiotic Resistance

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This Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018 @ 11:00am to 1:00pm Community Room, Puente Viejo on Calzada de la Aurora #52

Puente Viejo is a gated community; sign in at the entrance.

Any problem, have them call David McClintock - 415-112-5202

******** Last week, Thomas Baxter presided over the elevation of Rob Lerner!

Rob's Last Week's links:

The Improbability Principle

- why unlikely things occur all the time

Nina Teicholz and nutrition science:

Book: THE BIG FAT SURPRISE- Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet