Open in app
Home
Notifications
Lists
Stories

Write
Dennis A.V. Dittrich
Dennis A.V. Dittrich

Home

Jul 26, 2016

Success and Luck — Good fortune and the myth of meritocracy

While I agree with Frank’s policy recommendation and how he arrived at his conclusion I cannot honestly say I have enjoyed his recent Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy. The primary goal is not to tell a story about Success and the role of Luck it…

Economics

3 min read


Jul 25, 2016

Trekonomics

Post-scarcity is not just a recent idea, predicted in such work like The 2nd Machine Age as a result of the imminent and highly anticipated singularity, and it is not just the necessary condition for implementing the communist dream, it is the world of Star Trek (after the Original Series)…

Star Trek

3 min read


Jul 19, 2016

Does Altruism Exist?

Altruism is usually defined as social behavior that decreases the fitness of the altruist and increases the fitness of the recipient (Hamilton 1964). If you are an economist you will likely prefer utility in lieu of fitness. A society of pure altruists can be successfully invaded by a non-altruist and…

Economics

7 min read


Feb 21, 2016

The power of fifty bits

The Praise. What happens when a practitioner writes about behavioral sciences’ insights and their applications? You get a refreshingly different perspective, refreshingly new examples for behavior change strategies that work, and in this particular case a refreshingly balanced discussion of the underlying ethical principles. In contrast to many other authors…

Behavioral Economics

4 min read


Feb 12, 2016

Phishing for Phools

Phishing for Phools leaves me with a rather ambivalent feeling. Some parts I like and found interesting, in other parts Akerlof and Shiller seem to just state the obvious, and in the remaining parts they offer interpretations that I cannot agree with. …

Economics

2 min read


Jan 24, 2016

How do you know?

Seemingly irrational behavior or rather bounded rationality is the result of bounded cognitive abilities, bounded willpower, bounded self-interest, and — yes — bounded knowledge. Russell Hardin offers an account of the consequences of — fully rational — limited knowledge, an economics of ordinary knowledge. …

Book Review

2 min read

Dennis A.V. Dittrich

Dennis A.V. Dittrich

Following
  • Andreas Ortmann

    Andreas Ortmann

  • BIT

    BIT

  • RAND Corporation

    RAND Corporation

  • Lisa Ellen Niver

    Lisa Ellen Niver

  • Dropbox

    Dropbox

Help

Status

Writers

Blog

Careers

Privacy

Terms

About

Knowable