Unfair to pigeons!

Posted by Justin on Jan 9, 2011 in Abaddons Musings, logic | 0 comments There was an item on TV over the weekend (a comedy quiz, I believe) that mocked pigeons for being “superstitious” – for doing again the things they had been doing before when they were rewarded with food, etc Though they were compared to superstitious sportsmen, and the like, who insisted on wearing their “lucky jockstrap” for a match, or similar, in fact all the...
read more

Making a rod for your own back

Posted by Justin on Sep 5, 2009 in Abaddons Musings, beer, lawyers, local, logic, lunch, pubs | 3 comments Pursuing a service standard of “Excellent” is definitely a case of making a rod for your own backIn my business, I strive for a truly excellent standard of service and, inevitably, I do not always achieve it. When I fail, I feel mortified, but (illogically) I also slightly resent it when clients point out how I have failed to achieve the standard I try to set – I feel unfairly...
read more

"Risk" by Dan Gardner

Posted by Justin on Jun 21, 2009 in Abaddons Musings, books, logic, risk | 0 comments A good analysis of how we, as a society, perceive risk, and how we should perceive it and deal with it. We worry amount relatively small risks, but become blase about much bigger ones, due to various biases – the Von Rorkoff effect, optimism bias, hindsight bias, etc – and errors of logic.Our initial reaction to a given situation is based on gut instinct – our hard-wiring; if...
read more