How Can So Many Be Wrong?

How Can So Many Be Wrong?

Author: Margaret A. Hagen

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-04-04

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1498579884

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Of the 347 U.S. false criminal convictions overturned so far through DNA testing, 73 percent were based on erroneous eyewitness testimony. How could so many eyewitnesses be wrong? This book answers this question. The analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court eyewitness cases shows that most of the Court’s holdings were likely in error. The Court—like the judges and juries in the courts below—greatly overestimated the reliability of eyewitnesses against the defendants and decided their convictions based on unsound evidence. The facts of the cases and personalities of the defendants are engaging and compelling. An expert is needed to inform the judge and the jury of the circumstances to consider when weighing the testimony of the witness against the facts of the case. It is a clear violation of Due Process to deny the defendant the provision of an expert witness in all cases where the eyewitness testimony lacks corroboration. Research assessing both cross-examination and jury instructions makes it abundantly clear that neither can effectively provide courts with the counterintuitive information necessary to evaluate eyewitness reliability: denial of an expert is denial of Due Process.


Book Synopsis How Can So Many Be Wrong? by : Margaret A. Hagen

Download or read book How Can So Many Be Wrong? written by Margaret A. Hagen and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-04-04 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of the 347 U.S. false criminal convictions overturned so far through DNA testing, 73 percent were based on erroneous eyewitness testimony. How could so many eyewitnesses be wrong? This book answers this question. The analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court eyewitness cases shows that most of the Court’s holdings were likely in error. The Court—like the judges and juries in the courts below—greatly overestimated the reliability of eyewitnesses against the defendants and decided their convictions based on unsound evidence. The facts of the cases and personalities of the defendants are engaging and compelling. An expert is needed to inform the judge and the jury of the circumstances to consider when weighing the testimony of the witness against the facts of the case. It is a clear violation of Due Process to deny the defendant the provision of an expert witness in all cases where the eyewitness testimony lacks corroboration. Research assessing both cross-examination and jury instructions makes it abundantly clear that neither can effectively provide courts with the counterintuitive information necessary to evaluate eyewitness reliability: denial of an expert is denial of Due Process.


How Not to Be Wrong

How Not to Be Wrong

Author: Jordan Ellenberg

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2015-05-26

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 0143127535

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“Witty, compelling, and just plain fun to read . . ." —Evelyn Lamb, Scientific American The Freakonomics of math—a math-world superstar unveils the hidden beauty and logic of the world and puts its power in our hands The math we learn in school can seem like a dull set of rules, laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In How Not to Be Wrong, Jordan Ellenberg shows us how terribly limiting this view is: Math isn’t confined to abstract incidents that never occur in real life, but rather touches everything we do—the whole world is shot through with it. Math allows us to see the hidden structures underneath the messy and chaotic surface of our world. It’s a science of not being wrong, hammered out by centuries of hard work and argument. Armed with the tools of mathematics, we can see through to the true meaning of information we take for granted: How early should you get to the airport? What does “public opinion” really represent? Why do tall parents have shorter children? Who really won Florida in 2000? And how likely are you, really, to develop cancer? How Not to Be Wrong presents the surprising revelations behind all of these questions and many more, using the mathematician’s method of analyzing life and exposing the hard-won insights of the academic community to the layman—minus the jargon. Ellenberg chases mathematical threads through a vast range of time and space, from the everyday to the cosmic, encountering, among other things, baseball, Reaganomics, daring lottery schemes, Voltaire, the replicability crisis in psychology, Italian Renaissance painting, artificial languages, the development of non-Euclidean geometry, the coming obesity apocalypse, Antonin Scalia’s views on crime and punishment, the psychology of slime molds, what Facebook can and can’t figure out about you, and the existence of God. Ellenberg pulls from history as well as from the latest theoretical developments to provide those not trained in math with the knowledge they need. Math, as Ellenberg says, is “an atomic-powered prosthesis that you attach to your common sense, vastly multiplying its reach and strength.” With the tools of mathematics in hand, you can understand the world in a deeper, more meaningful way. How Not to Be Wrong will show you how.


Book Synopsis How Not to Be Wrong by : Jordan Ellenberg

Download or read book How Not to Be Wrong written by Jordan Ellenberg and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-05-26 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Witty, compelling, and just plain fun to read . . ." —Evelyn Lamb, Scientific American The Freakonomics of math—a math-world superstar unveils the hidden beauty and logic of the world and puts its power in our hands The math we learn in school can seem like a dull set of rules, laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In How Not to Be Wrong, Jordan Ellenberg shows us how terribly limiting this view is: Math isn’t confined to abstract incidents that never occur in real life, but rather touches everything we do—the whole world is shot through with it. Math allows us to see the hidden structures underneath the messy and chaotic surface of our world. It’s a science of not being wrong, hammered out by centuries of hard work and argument. Armed with the tools of mathematics, we can see through to the true meaning of information we take for granted: How early should you get to the airport? What does “public opinion” really represent? Why do tall parents have shorter children? Who really won Florida in 2000? And how likely are you, really, to develop cancer? How Not to Be Wrong presents the surprising revelations behind all of these questions and many more, using the mathematician’s method of analyzing life and exposing the hard-won insights of the academic community to the layman—minus the jargon. Ellenberg chases mathematical threads through a vast range of time and space, from the everyday to the cosmic, encountering, among other things, baseball, Reaganomics, daring lottery schemes, Voltaire, the replicability crisis in psychology, Italian Renaissance painting, artificial languages, the development of non-Euclidean geometry, the coming obesity apocalypse, Antonin Scalia’s views on crime and punishment, the psychology of slime molds, what Facebook can and can’t figure out about you, and the existence of God. Ellenberg pulls from history as well as from the latest theoretical developments to provide those not trained in math with the knowledge they need. Math, as Ellenberg says, is “an atomic-powered prosthesis that you attach to your common sense, vastly multiplying its reach and strength.” With the tools of mathematics in hand, you can understand the world in a deeper, more meaningful way. How Not to Be Wrong will show you how.


Humble Pi

Humble Pi

Author: Matt Parker

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2021-01-19

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0593084691

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#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AN ADAM SAVAGE BOOK CLUB PICK The book-length answer to anyone who ever put their hand up in math class and asked, “When am I ever going to use this in the real world?” “Fun, informative, and relentlessly entertaining, Humble Pi is a charming and very readable guide to some of humanity's all-time greatest miscalculations—that also gives you permission to feel a little better about some of your own mistakes.” —Ryan North, author of How to Invent Everything Our whole world is built on math, from the code running a website to the equations enabling the design of skyscrapers and bridges. Most of the time this math works quietly behind the scenes . . . until it doesn’t. All sorts of seemingly innocuous mathematical mistakes can have significant consequences. Math is easy to ignore until a misplaced decimal point upends the stock market, a unit conversion error causes a plane to crash, or someone divides by zero and stalls a battleship in the middle of the ocean. Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.


Book Synopsis Humble Pi by : Matt Parker

Download or read book Humble Pi written by Matt Parker and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-01-19 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AN ADAM SAVAGE BOOK CLUB PICK The book-length answer to anyone who ever put their hand up in math class and asked, “When am I ever going to use this in the real world?” “Fun, informative, and relentlessly entertaining, Humble Pi is a charming and very readable guide to some of humanity's all-time greatest miscalculations—that also gives you permission to feel a little better about some of your own mistakes.” —Ryan North, author of How to Invent Everything Our whole world is built on math, from the code running a website to the equations enabling the design of skyscrapers and bridges. Most of the time this math works quietly behind the scenes . . . until it doesn’t. All sorts of seemingly innocuous mathematical mistakes can have significant consequences. Math is easy to ignore until a misplaced decimal point upends the stock market, a unit conversion error causes a plane to crash, or someone divides by zero and stalls a battleship in the middle of the ocean. Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.


Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #6

Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #6

Author: Bob Fingerman

Publisher: Image Comics

Published: 2015-10-07

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13:

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Like a malign spirit, All Hallows Eve looms in the season finale, as Rob finds the self-administered noose that is his rekindled relationship with Sylvia ever-tightening. Eyes wide open and with no exit strategy in mind, dark forces and the specter of death converge on Sylvia's band's Halloween gig.


Book Synopsis Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #6 by : Bob Fingerman

Download or read book Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #6 written by Bob Fingerman and published by Image Comics. This book was released on 2015-10-07 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like a malign spirit, All Hallows Eve looms in the season finale, as Rob finds the self-administered noose that is his rekindled relationship with Sylvia ever-tightening. Eyes wide open and with no exit strategy in mind, dark forces and the specter of death converge on Sylvia's band's Halloween gig.


The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values

The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values

Author: Brian Christian

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2020-10-06

Total Pages: 459

ISBN-13: 039363583X

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A jaw-dropping exploration of everything that goes wrong when we build AI systems and the movement to fix them. Today’s “machine-learning” systems, trained by data, are so effective that we’ve invited them to see and hear for us—and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Recent years have seen an eruption of concern as the field of machine learning advances. When the systems we attempt to teach will not, in the end, do what we want or what we expect, ethical and potentially existential risks emerge. Researchers call this the alignment problem. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole—and appear to assess Black and White defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And as autonomous vehicles share our streets, we are increasingly putting our lives in their hands. The mathematical and computational models driving these changes range in complexity from something that can fit on a spreadsheet to a complex system that might credibly be called “artificial intelligence.” They are steadily replacing both human judgment and explicitly programmed software. In best-selling author Brian Christian’s riveting account, we meet the alignment problem’s “first-responders,” and learn their ambitious plan to solve it before our hands are completely off the wheel. In a masterful blend of history and on-the ground reporting, Christian traces the explosive growth in the field of machine learning and surveys its current, sprawling frontier. Readers encounter a discipline finding its legs amid exhilarating and sometimes terrifying progress. Whether they—and we—succeed or fail in solving the alignment problem will be a defining human story. The Alignment Problem offers an unflinching reckoning with humanity’s biases and blind spots, our own unstated assumptions and often contradictory goals. A dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, it takes a hard look not only at our technology but at our culture—and finds a story by turns harrowing and hopeful.


Book Synopsis The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values by : Brian Christian

Download or read book The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values written by Brian Christian and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A jaw-dropping exploration of everything that goes wrong when we build AI systems and the movement to fix them. Today’s “machine-learning” systems, trained by data, are so effective that we’ve invited them to see and hear for us—and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Recent years have seen an eruption of concern as the field of machine learning advances. When the systems we attempt to teach will not, in the end, do what we want or what we expect, ethical and potentially existential risks emerge. Researchers call this the alignment problem. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole—and appear to assess Black and White defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And as autonomous vehicles share our streets, we are increasingly putting our lives in their hands. The mathematical and computational models driving these changes range in complexity from something that can fit on a spreadsheet to a complex system that might credibly be called “artificial intelligence.” They are steadily replacing both human judgment and explicitly programmed software. In best-selling author Brian Christian’s riveting account, we meet the alignment problem’s “first-responders,” and learn their ambitious plan to solve it before our hands are completely off the wheel. In a masterful blend of history and on-the ground reporting, Christian traces the explosive growth in the field of machine learning and surveys its current, sprawling frontier. Readers encounter a discipline finding its legs amid exhilarating and sometimes terrifying progress. Whether they—and we—succeed or fail in solving the alignment problem will be a defining human story. The Alignment Problem offers an unflinching reckoning with humanity’s biases and blind spots, our own unstated assumptions and often contradictory goals. A dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, it takes a hard look not only at our technology but at our culture—and finds a story by turns harrowing and hopeful.


I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It

I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It

Author: Charles Barkley

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks

Published: 2003-10-14

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 0812966287

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Charles Barkley has never been shy about expressing his opinions. Michael Jordan once said that we all want to say the things that Barkley says, but we don’t dare. But even die-hard followers of the all-time NBA great, the star of TNT’s Inside the NBA and CNN’s TalkBack Live, will be astonished by just how candid and provocative he is in this book—and just how big his ambitions are. Though he addresses weighty issues with a light touch and prefers to stir people to think by making them laugh, there’s nothing Charles Barkley shies away from here—not race, not class, not big money, not scandal, not politics, not personalities, nothing. “Early on,” says Washington Post columnist and ESPN talk show host Michael Wilbon in his Introduction, “Barkley made his peace with mixing it up, and decided the consequences were very much worth it to him. And that makes him as radically different in these modern celebrity times as a 6-foot-4-inch power forward.” If there’s one thing Charles Barkley knows, it’s the crying need for honest, open discussion in this country—the more uncomfortable the subject, the more necessary the dialogue. And if the discussion leader can be as wise, irreverent, (occasionally) profane and (consistently) funny as Charles Barkley, so much the better. Many people are going to be shocked and scandalized by I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It, but many more will stand up and cheer. Like Molly Ivins or Bill O’Reilly, Charles Barkley is utterly his own thinker, and everything he says comes from deep reflection. One way or another, if more blood hasn’t reached your brain by the time you’ve finished this book, maybe you’ve been embalmed.


Book Synopsis I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It by : Charles Barkley

Download or read book I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It written by Charles Barkley and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2003-10-14 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles Barkley has never been shy about expressing his opinions. Michael Jordan once said that we all want to say the things that Barkley says, but we don’t dare. But even die-hard followers of the all-time NBA great, the star of TNT’s Inside the NBA and CNN’s TalkBack Live, will be astonished by just how candid and provocative he is in this book—and just how big his ambitions are. Though he addresses weighty issues with a light touch and prefers to stir people to think by making them laugh, there’s nothing Charles Barkley shies away from here—not race, not class, not big money, not scandal, not politics, not personalities, nothing. “Early on,” says Washington Post columnist and ESPN talk show host Michael Wilbon in his Introduction, “Barkley made his peace with mixing it up, and decided the consequences were very much worth it to him. And that makes him as radically different in these modern celebrity times as a 6-foot-4-inch power forward.” If there’s one thing Charles Barkley knows, it’s the crying need for honest, open discussion in this country—the more uncomfortable the subject, the more necessary the dialogue. And if the discussion leader can be as wise, irreverent, (occasionally) profane and (consistently) funny as Charles Barkley, so much the better. Many people are going to be shocked and scandalized by I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It, but many more will stand up and cheer. Like Molly Ivins or Bill O’Reilly, Charles Barkley is utterly his own thinker, and everything he says comes from deep reflection. One way or another, if more blood hasn’t reached your brain by the time you’ve finished this book, maybe you’ve been embalmed.


Getting Jesus Wrong

Getting Jesus Wrong

Author: Matt Johnson

Publisher: New Growth Press

Published: 2017-03-20

Total Pages: 109

ISBN-13: 1942572948

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Jesus is not a life coach or a blessing dispenser—but we often treat him like he is. We get burned out on some caricature of Jesus (a caricature that often bears an uncanny resemblance to ourselves) and become mired in anxiety, pride, or despair. Getting Jesus Wrong presents the biblical Christ and reassures disillusioned people that this ...


Book Synopsis Getting Jesus Wrong by : Matt Johnson

Download or read book Getting Jesus Wrong written by Matt Johnson and published by New Growth Press. This book was released on 2017-03-20 with total page 109 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jesus is not a life coach or a blessing dispenser—but we often treat him like he is. We get burned out on some caricature of Jesus (a caricature that often bears an uncanny resemblance to ourselves) and become mired in anxiety, pride, or despair. Getting Jesus Wrong presents the biblical Christ and reassures disillusioned people that this ...


The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

Author: Robert Anson Heinlein

Publisher: Baen Books

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780743488440

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In an illustrated, hand-lettered edition of maxims, Lazarus Long, the oldest living member of the human race, shares his wit and wisdom culled from his twenty-four-century odyssey through space and time.


Book Synopsis The Notebooks of Lazarus Long by : Robert Anson Heinlein

Download or read book The Notebooks of Lazarus Long written by Robert Anson Heinlein and published by Baen Books. This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an illustrated, hand-lettered edition of maxims, Lazarus Long, the oldest living member of the human race, shares his wit and wisdom culled from his twenty-four-century odyssey through space and time.


Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #2

Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #2

Author: Bob Fingerman

Publisher: Image Comics

Published: 2015-06-03

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13:

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"Bela Legosi is dead," as the song said, but Rob is alive and well. Well, maybe not well, but decked out in gloomy Goth resplendence courtesy of his interim fling, Bekka. Maybe it's time for Rob to rethink the trajectory his love life has taken?


Book Synopsis Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #2 by : Bob Fingerman

Download or read book Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #2 written by Bob Fingerman and published by Image Comics. This book was released on 2015-06-03 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Bela Legosi is dead," as the song said, but Rob is alive and well. Well, maybe not well, but decked out in gloomy Goth resplendence courtesy of his interim fling, Bekka. Maybe it's time for Rob to rethink the trajectory his love life has taken?


Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #4

Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #4

Author: Bob Fingerman

Publisher: Image Comics

Published: 2015-08-05

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13:

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Odd what a mysterious roll of undeveloped film can inspire. In previous chapters we've seen snippets of Rob's dreamscape, but this fourth installment dives head-first into a full-length sequence. Lovecraftian rites, anthropomorphic pets, and girlfriends of past, present, and possibly future all vie for Rob's attention before the alarm clock tolls.


Book Synopsis Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #4 by : Bob Fingerman

Download or read book Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #4 written by Bob Fingerman and published by Image Comics. This book was released on 2015-08-05 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Odd what a mysterious roll of undeveloped film can inspire. In previous chapters we've seen snippets of Rob's dreamscape, but this fourth installment dives head-first into a full-length sequence. Lovecraftian rites, anthropomorphic pets, and girlfriends of past, present, and possibly future all vie for Rob's attention before the alarm clock tolls.