All the old men (and women) are dying!
Is it a sign or is it a portent of things to come that Leonard Cohen and
Fidel Castro both checked out soon with the election!?
Thanks Roger for letting us know about Weininger and Fienberg... I
hadn't heard.
On 12/14/16 7:45 PM, Roger Critchlow wrote:
Ah,the mortality is getting thick. My high school buddy Aaron had a
fatal massive heart attack in August. My sister-in-law Mimi succumbed
to cancer on October 30 while I was flying back from visiting her and
my brother. Dave Weininger, master of chemical information, passed
away on November 2. Cosma Shalizi has posted a memoriam for Stephen
E. Fienberg today on his weblog, his first entry since the end of
August. You begin to worry about the people you haven't checked in
with lately.
-- rec --
On Wed, Dec 14, 2016 at 8:38 PM, Merle Lefkoff <merlelefk...@gmail.com
<mailto:merlelefk...@gmail.com>> wrote:
Thanks so much for the memory--one of my first aha! moments as I
discovered Complexity science was watching Schelling's segregation
ABM.
On Wed, Dec 14, 2016 at 5:29 PM, Stephen Guerin
<stephen.gue...@simtable.com <mailto:stephen.gue...@simtable.com>>
wrote:
A message from Yaneer:
In Memoriam: Thomas C. Schelling
December 13, 2016
Tom Schelling, master of the important idea in a complex
world, passed away, Tuesday, December 13, 2016. His work on
mutual assured destruction and on segregation showed he knew
what the most important questions were and had the ability to
answer them. In each case we gained new insight as well as
essential aspects of dealing with important real world problems.
In the former, he identified the way we could survive nuclear
confrontation between the US and Soviet Union, showing the way
to stability through mutual assured destruction---whose
recognition would provide not just deterrence but calming
assurance---an incredible force for peaceful coexistence in a
century of the massive conflicts in world wars and political
uncertainty that actions might be taken leading to global
destruction.
In the latter, he recognized the central insight of complex
systems science, the ability of individual agent choices to
result in collective behavior s. He understood that the
connection between them might, and often is, not clear to a
casual observer, but yields to the right kind of analysis. In
this case, the choice of individuals who prefer to live near
others of the same type, manifests in the creation of
segregated communities.
Both of these contributions to our understanding reflect deep
and important questions, and remarkably clear and (in
retrospect) simple answers. And the answers were, and are,
essential to our understanding of the world around us and the
challenges we are facing.
This spring when I learned of concerns about North Korea from
the National Security Council and the Defense Threat Reduction
Agency, I spoke with Tom to learn from his insights into this
version of the nuclear confrontation. He was clear and
straightforward in his view that we should not be concerned,
and should not act with concern. After some thought about the
unique conditions of the North Korea confrontation, I unde
rstood better not only the reason for his statements but their
wisdom---one of the greatest destabilizing forces is the
concern itself.
Perhaps we should formally define the difference between
intelligent and wise as the ability to include one's own words
into the frame of analysis.
I am sure I still have much to learn from Tom and will be
reading his papers and books for years to come. Still, I will
miss the chance to talk with him.
There are many who have gained from his intellectual
contributions, there are few if any who have not benefitted
from his wisdom. We are diminished at his passing.
Yaneer Bar-Yam, New England Complex Systems Institute,
Cambridge, MA
New England Complex Systems Institute
New England Complex Systems Institute
210 Broadway Suite 101
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 617-547-4100 <tel:%28617%29%20547-4100>
Fax: 617-661-7711 <tel:%28617%29%20661-7711>
necsi.edu <http://necsi.edu>
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