Languish.org

General Category => Off the Record => Topic started by: Caliga on May 24, 2015, 08:52:05 AM

Title: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: Caliga on May 24, 2015, 08:52:05 AM
Killed in a car accident on the New Jersey Turnpike along with his wife yesterday. :(
Title: Re: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: dps on May 24, 2015, 10:12:02 AM
;(
Title: Re: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: grumbler on May 24, 2015, 10:13:44 AM
RIP.   :(
Title: Re: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: alfred russel on May 24, 2015, 11:07:25 AM
And yet Russell Crowe still lives.  :(
Title: Re: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: DGuller on May 24, 2015, 11:46:31 AM
Another senseless tragedy.  Why do people think that being in a back seat of a taxi means you don't need to wear seatbelts?
Title: Re: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: Grinning_Colossus on May 24, 2015, 01:45:20 PM
Sometimes they're buried really deep between the seats. I only spend 15 minutes digging them out because I grew up with seatbelts and feel naked without them.

RIP Nash  :(
Title: Re: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: Rex Francorum on May 24, 2015, 02:37:48 PM
R.I.P. (I had no idea who he was however).  :blush:
Title: Re: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: Norgy on May 24, 2015, 04:42:58 PM
Rest in peace, you amazing mind.
Title: Re: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: alfred russel on May 24, 2015, 07:45:36 PM
Quote from: DGuller on May 24, 2015, 11:46:31 AM
Another senseless tragedy.  Why do people think that being in a back seat of a taxi means you don't need to wear seatbelts?

That is what it seems at first, but I think to really assess the matter we need to set up a payoff matrix. There is the most likely case where the taxi is not in a serious accident but putting a seatbelt on may require some effort and digging into crevasses of a less than sanitary nature.

The likelihood of a serious accident is limited to the point it might be considered a black swan event. Even then, while wearing a seatbelt will reduce the chance of death, there is a chance of death in either case, and at least without a seatbelt you may be thrown from the taxi. Who wants to die in a New Jersey taxi? (although to be fair, who wants to die in New Jersey, and it is unlikely you will be thown into another state).

In the end, the decision to wear a seatbelt involves a series of value judgments that will be unique to each player.
Title: Re: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: Admiral Yi on May 24, 2015, 08:10:55 PM
Just for the sheer thrill of being a buzzkill dick Dorsey, that's not game theory.  You're just doing a cost/benefit.
Title: Re: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: alfred russel on May 24, 2015, 08:19:25 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 24, 2015, 08:10:55 PM
Just for the sheer thrill of being a buzzkill dick Dorsey, that's not game theory.  You're just doing a cost/benefit.

At first I was going to keep going into the decision making process of whether to wear a seatbelt with your spouse sitting next to you (do we both wear the seatbelt, do we die together?) based on the value judgments--of which at least one party was older and had previous suicidal tendencies, which would get into game theory, but it was too complicated and the whole thing was stupid anyway.

The only winning move was not to play.  :(
Title: Re: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: jimmy olsen on May 25, 2015, 06:03:28 PM
Maybe one Korean in a hundred wears a seatbelt in a backseat, maybe half wear it up front if I'm being generous. A lot of times the belts in the back simply don't work.
Title: Re: RIP John Forbes Nash Jr.
Post by: Razgovory on May 25, 2015, 06:48:10 PM
Needs more matrices.