26 May 2010

Muslim extremists and moderate Muslims: Know the difference!

Recently, there's been a debate about depictions of Mohammed. This is because Mail & Guardian dared to publish a Zapiro cartoon that depicts the Prophet (Peace be Upon Him, but not upon those who dare get in the way of Muslim extremists). In former cases of depictions of Mohammed, the creators of South Park have received death threats, while some Danish embassies were burnt to the ground.

For these reasons, it is absolutely crucial for us as practitioners of freedom of speech to know the difference between Muslim extremists, and moderate Muslims. Though I don't get the big deal. We in the West don't have freedom of speech anyway. Just try some holocaust denial or to walk around with Nazi regalia, my friend. Even saying that Jesus was a Jew could land you in the principal's office (don't ask).

This is an example of Muslim extremists


Muslim extremists

This is an example of moderate Muslims


moderate Muslims

Know the difference! It could save your life!

19 May 2010

Anamorph DVD Review

Conclusion


This is a gem of a find - an independent film (which means the stars lived in a greasy motel instead of in their own personalised trailers) that stars Willem Dafoe and Scott Speedman (of Underworld fame) in an engaging psychological thriller. Like The Silence of the Lambs, it features a team of special agents taxed and taunted by their perpetrator. Also like The Silence of the Lambs and Manhunter, the focus is on the characters of those doing the hunting instead of on the character of the hunted. But this is not a Robert Harris rip-off. It's more of an Umberto Ecco rip-off.


Anamorph film poster

Plot


The serial killer in this film takes the anamorphosis technique as employed by Julian Beever to an entirely new level. By employing camera obscura, tattoos, finger painting (in a somewhate literal sense) and an elaborate pantograph, he anoints himself as the MacGuyver of the macabre. The blood and guts are almost as vile as agent Stan Aubrey's (Willem Dafoe) fascination with antique chairs.

There are some valuable life lessons to be learnt from the macabre staging of the murders. Of course I shall bore you with them now. You're welcome.

Thinking outside the box


Think outside the box has to be one of the most flogged of dead horses out there. Usually, when life coaches expect this quantum leap of faith from their victims, it results in us unsuspecting victims focusing on boxes. After focusing on boxes, we focus on the inside of the box, then we try to wrap our minds around the box to the outside.

This is usually followed by a blunt sense of irrelevancy to daily commuting, the numbing buzz of fluorescent lights, the flat-line sound of deadlines as they fly by, cafeteria food and the perpetual catharsis resulting from arriving at the water cooler only to find the coffee pot empty, filthy and surrounded by the optical illusion of cattle carcasses complete with hovering vultures and a tumble weed. Thinking about boxes or thinking differently about boxes has somehow failed to deter us lost souls from turning to debauchery for a paradigm shift. Perhaps there is something more fundamentally wrong with our thinking than boxes?

General Semantics and the Death of Some Square Boxes


General semantics is a mental hygiene regimen invented and endorsed by Korzybski. In our usual modes of thinking, logic is based on certain infallible axioms. These axioms are largely derived from Aristotle's laws of thought:
  • The law of identity: Also noted as A is A. This means you are what you is.

  • The law of non-contradiction: This means A can't be something other than A.

  • The law of the excluded middle: This means either A is A, or A is not A. A can't be both A and not A at the same time. Thus, there is no middle way between being A and not being A.


General semantics reminds us that things are not necessarily so three dimensional as we are lead to believe by our dogmatic clinging to Aristotle's legacy. General semantics should not be interpreted as contradicting Aristotle's laws of thought. Instead, they remind us that some things are just unknown, ineffable and inexplicable. As an augmentation to Aristotle, here are the laws of general semantics:
  • The law of null-A: Boolean logic, with only true and false categories for all its elements, cannot accurately map the full expressions of our universe. The law of null-A reminds us that some things fall in the murky areas between true and false. Much like Justin Bieber's gender, there are things that are best described in terms of probabilities, instead of with absolutes like A or not A.

  • The law of null-I: The law of non-identity reminds us that no two events, no matter how similar, may be considered exactly the same. This actually echoes the law of identity of Aristotle, because it classifies two similar events as two separate events, each with its own identity.

  • The law of null-E: The law of non-Euclidean geometry reminds us that Euclidean geometry is insufficient to describe our entire universe. Take a look at hyperbolic geometry and Gödel's (or Godel's) incompleteness theorems.


hyperbolic traingle wikipedia

A hyperbolic triangle. These angles don't add up to 180 degrees.

How does this relate to Anamorph?


Anamorph will remind you that there are many ways to look at a situation. Sometimes, the tools you employ may be the problem. Different tools may give different results. And you don't have to think about boxes.

Director


Henry S. Miller

Cast


Willem Dafoe and Scott Speedman and some other people I don't care to google now.

Rating


Yeah it's aright.

14 May 2010

What does the Gini coefficient mean?

The Gini coefficient is often cited by politicians and other socialists to highlight income inequalities. Usually, it is meant to invoke a moral judgement concerning income gaps, thereby justifying government intervention in the economy in a Keynesian manner. This is exactly where the Gini coefficient is abused for ulterior motives.

Bust of Voltaire from  Wikipedia

Whatever you do, crush the infamous thing, and love those who love you. - Voltaire, who rocks and not just because he is a bust.

What is the Gini coefficient?


The Gini coefficient is a measure of income inequality. There are two assumptions here with regards to income inequality, namely:
  • Complete income equality is when everyone receives an equal income. This state lies on one end of the scale and is represented by a Gini coefficient of 0.

  • Complete income inequality is when one person or entity receives all income, while the rest receives none. This state lies on the opposite end of the scale and is represented by a Gini coefficient of 1.


The Gini coefficient is obtained by plotting the Lorentz curve (representing actual income distribution) to the normal distribution line (representing the ideal income distribution where everyone receives the same amount of income).

This sounds confusing, but it isn't. The Gini coefficient is simply a measure of how far the actual income distribution is from the line of perfect income equality.

What moral implications does the Gini coefficient have?


None whatsoever. The Gini coefficient simply states things as they are, even though its value may be distorted to suit your particularly malignant political purpose. The reason why I claim that there cannot be any moral scrutiny forthcoming from the Gini coefficient becomes apparent when one looks at the list of countries by income inequality.

Some deductions from the list of countries by income inequality


The first observation is the slight difference between the UN figures and the CIA figures for the Gini index. The first 30 figures for the UN index have a median of 38, while the same first 30 figures for the CIA index have a median of 40,25. How is this possible? This discrepancy may be the result of the proportions of quantiles used to calculate the Gini coefficient.

Suggest that both the CIA and the UN had the same data sets. If the CIA used a lower granularity than the UN (in other words, less quantiles, or less squares on their grid), their Gini coefficient would usually be lower than the Gini coefficient of the UN. If you want to prove to your country that your economic policies are bringing about more income equality, you should use lower granularity.

Yet if the CIA used higher granularity than the UN (in other words more quantiles, or more squares on their grid), the Gini coefficient would typically be higher than that of the UN. If you were running a presidential campaign and you'd like to show your potential voters how the previous regime has failed, you could show them a Gini coefficient calculated with higher granularity.

Note that the same data set here could give widely different figures, while the actual income distribution has not changed one bit. This is why a Gini coefficient cited without describing the proportions of the quantiles used is a meaningless number that is better than a thumb suck number at a ratio of 1 to 0,999....

The second observation is less apparent, but it is obtained by comparing the Gini coefficients with the United Nations Human Development Index. Note that the Gini coefficient data I used here are from various years, while the Human Development Index data is from 2007. Regardless, there is no correlation between the level of human development and the Gini coefficient.

It becomes clear that the Gini coefficient is not a reliable measure to use when one is trying to give an impression of the current state of affairs of the general household in a given population. What then is the use of the Gini coefficient?

What is the use of the Gini coefficient?


Having a state of affairs where a brain surgeon, a rocket scientist and a waiter all receive the same wage is not a desirable one. This is because transporting beverages does not really require the amount of mental strain, education, training and strong character that is required to obtain a PhD in physics or medicine.

Naturally, the opposite side of the spectrum, where one institute enjoys all the income while nobody else shares in the spoils of the gravy train is a kleptocracy. This is not a desirable state of affairs either. The safest road is usually in the middle. Intuitively, we deduce that a Gini index of around 0,5 is the most equal in that it is fair towards brain surgeons, rocket scientists and waiters, all things being equal.

Economic development and how it relates to the Gini coefficient


Simon Kuznet discovered that - contrary to the interpretation often cited by hysterical politicians - a developing country often shows a decline in Gini coefficient index. This makes perfect sense because some people would start earning more while others would still earn the same, or less. This is a good sign, as it means development is taking place. Furthermore, Kuznet claims that the Gini coefficient reaches a maximum, after which the income inequality begins to decrease as more people work themselves into higher income groups.

Thus, citing a high Gini coefficient for a country like South Africa, and noting that it has increased since 1994, is actually good news as it shows that the country is developing. A high Gini coefficient could thus be good news or bad news, depending on the current level of development in the cited population. Once again we see that a Gini coefficient by itself is nothing but a number.

What is the ideal Gini coefficient?


According to econometrics, the ideal Gini coefficient lies between 0,25 and 0,40. This is because at a level where brain surgeons, rocket scientists and waiters all receive the same wage, there is no financial incentive to study physics or neuroscience. Similarly, at levels where income inequality is too high, the ownership disputes and social incoherence affect development negatively. Private property and other human rights cannot be guaranteed to last where a government can decide to say, nationalise mines and disrupt productive farms after sniffing too many beer farts in a shebeen.

South Africa had a Gini index of 0,65 in 2005, according to the CIA. Instead of requiring the government to act to bring this Gini coefficient down for its own sake, it is perhaps a better idea to start focussing on the implications of such a high Gini coefficient, namely:
  • Incentive traps: who gets the incentive from FIFA and Eskom's new power stations? Wouldn't it aid development - and by implication our high Gini coefficient - more positively if South Africa sidestepped the government in these matters entirely?

  • Erosion of social cohesion: The ongoing genocide of white South Africans is still largely being ignored by the South African government and the media. Kill the Boer and other struggles against reality songs are not aiding in creating social cohesion in South Africa. The longer the government pussyfoots with dealing with these hate speech instances, the more murky the social cohesion becomes.

  • Social conflicts: Black economic empowerment has failed because it is a racist employment policy. Getting rid of double standards such as BEE would go far further to bringing down the Gini coefficient of South Africa than more government intervention in the economy ever could.

  • Uncertain property rights: South Africans should insist on unequivocal and very real support of its constitution by our government. There cannot even be a debate about nationalisation of our mines or land grabs Zimbabwe style because these matters bring about uncertainty about property rights. In return, those with resources are not going to invest in South Africa simply because their property rights here are uncertain. If there were certainty regarding property rights, the Gini coefficient would come down as more resources would flow into South Africa and more would stay here!


Conclusion


Next time you read a Gini coefficient thrown around like an absolute, simply enquire as to the granularity of the quantiles. If the author or speaker cannot answer you, chances are they read about a terribly high Gini coefficient on Wikipedia and are trying to create their own moral panic. It is imperative that a Gini coefficient be contextualised properly before it has any meaning whatsoever, as a number by itself is nothing but a number. A high Gini coefficient could be a very good thing, or a very bad thing, but it does not correlate with a desirable state of human development or with economic development.

Further reading


Google sucks piles I'm moving to Steemit

Short and sweet, Google isn't allowing me to post ads on my blogs here on blogspot any longer. Not that I provide my angry nerd rants fo...