The Rapid Response Institute

Tag: Feynman

  • Fake Science

    Fake Science

    “I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.” – Richard Feynman

    “I am the science.”  You have got to be kidding me Mr. Fauci.  Clearly, you have no training in the Scientific Method or maybe your just plan arrogant.  Home many lives have you and you colleagues destroyed, you fake scientist?

    As an actual degreed physicist, I have published here and other media on the process ‘real’ scientists take to address new phenomena.  Yet a singular medical doctor, not a degreed scientist claims the godlike mantel of ‘I am science?’

    Welcome to 21st Century quackery.  In his testimony before Congress, “Dr. Fauci reaffirmed shocking testimony that the ‘six feet apart’ social distancing recommendation that he promoted was arbitrary, not based on science, and ‘sort of just appeared.’”  Science?  NOT!!  Do I hear leaches and blood letting are next?

    Trillions and Trillions and Trillions

    Untold lives and treasure has been destroyed by the Covid-19 quacks.  Not just MD types but a complacent media and hapless governments (politicians as well as regulators) at all levels.

    I am not a Covid denier.  Yes, many got sick and too many died, but we are now learning is that a so call ‘medical’ approach to this problem was based on NOTHING real!  Moreover, it appears that senior officials at the  National Health Institute knowingly lied to us repeatedly.

    Let me see if I understand this, a US funded research institute focused on ‘gain of function‘ released the Covid or it came from a bat?  Readers can make their own decision.

    Pockets were padded and many had their (more) than fifteen minutes of fame.  What did the rest of us get? Lost jobs, closed (forever) small businesses, and now ‘oh joy’ inflation due to government largess.

    The National Institute of Health appears to have put in place a systematic procedure to foil Freedom of Information Act requests.   Our right to know and have oversight that limits the ability of dictatorships to emerge was compromised.

    The arrogance and disgust which these so called public service hold us, the public is beyond the pail.  But not to worry they are all multimillionaires working on GS 15 (~ $180,000) salaries.  They must get great investment advice.

    The old saying about reality is applicable, “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it just may be a duck.”  Or it may be a MD policy wonk from the government that is ‘here to help or destroy your life.’  Remember how those who questioned the conventional wisdom were treated/abused?

    Bring in the mandatory masks.  No less than the conservative (lol) AL JAZEERA reports that key Covid players now question the value of masks we were all forced to wear.  Fascism!

    What the world was put through for years by dictatorial medical types and the fake media that took down other opinions and approaches is appalling.  Jail time is too good for these liars as they got rich.  Next time they come up with the crap they should be run out of town as they have not earned any respect.

    Have you put your liar detector in place when the fake government arrives and says ‘we are here to help/mandate?’

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    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to any third-party materials herein.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    See our Economic Value Proposition Matrix® (EVPM) for additional information and a free version to build your own EVPM.

    The author’s credentials in this field are available on his LinkedIn page.  Moreover, Dr. Shemwell is a coauthor of the just published book, “Smart Manufacturing: Integrating Transformational Technologies for Competitiveness and Sustainability.”  His focus is on Operational Technologies.

    “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” (Martin Luther King speech at Cornell College, 1962).  For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game.  You can contact this author as well.

    For more details regarding climate change models, check out Bjorn Lomborg ands his latest book, False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet.

    Regarding the economics of Climate Change, check out our blog, Crippling Green.

    For those start-up firms addressing energy (including renewables) challenges, the author can put you in touch with Global Energy Mentors which provide no-cost mentoring services from energy experts.  If interested, check it out and give me a shout.

  • Questions, Questions, Questions

    Questions, Questions, Questions

    Picture sourced from LinkedIn, author unknown.

    It seems like there are a lot of answers these days, even to questions that have not been posed.  As of this writing, this author understands that masks work for Covid-19 but vaccines not so much although we are advised to get the shots and even a third one this fall.  So many flip-flops I feel like I spent the last year on a beach.

    Claiming, The settled Science says … is an answer designed to shut down debate.  Facts are, unless one believes the world is flat or the earth is the center of the universe (thank you Galileo Galilei), science is never settled.  If it were. we would be living in a Flintstones’ world.

    “And the Answer Is . . .”

    Thank you Alex.  For almost two years, we have been told the answers to the Covid-19 crisis are understood and the data is valid and reliable.   Then it isn’t.  Blamed on a dynamic and changing environment, we are told “we are following the science.”  Or perhaps just a political slogan.

    “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”  Just sit down, shut up and do as your told is often the mantra when authorizes’ edicts are questioned.  Good advise for a toddler but not so much for those over the age of 10.

    Are We There Yet?

    Tesla crashes are the latest Big Data enabled autopilot failures.  The level of maturity regarding digitalization and its various cousins has been discussed in this blog before.  Begging the question, are we ready for data Prime Time?

    We are besieged with answers from all manner of pundits, both electronic and in person.  We are told, “we must believe” without any serious discussion or in-depth assessment of the explanation.  Moreover, many of these statements regarding technology have not undergone the Scientific Method process.

    The result; many do not believe.  Covid-19 vaccination concerns are but one example of this squandering of faith.  Readers may have other issues that bother them.

    One consistent argument for not taking the inoculation is that vaccines take many years to develop and vet.  Perhaps, in the past but (1) we don’t have years with this deadly virus and (2) technology marches on and perhaps years are no longer required.  One can argue that this lack of trust is a result of so many answers in advance of the questions.

    How is your organization assuring that Answers are not being provided before the Questions are asked?

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    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to any third-party materials.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game

    We presented, Should Cross Cultural Serious Games Be Included in Your Diversity Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned at the Online Conference, New Diversity Summit 2020 the week of September 14, 2020.  Check Out this timely event and contact the organizer for access to the presentations!!

    You can contact this author as well.

  • What Is Your Opinion Based On?

    What Is Your Opinion Based On?

    “Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.”

    ~ W. Edwards Deming

    Data and its use is a very hot topic these days.  Significant controversy exists over decision making regarding Covid-19 strategies and the quality or lack there of the data supporting government policies.  Scientific disagreements and so called ‘academic arguments‘ are appropriate, especially when facing the NEW.  However, the way some data is being used should give us all pause.

    We will learn a lot from this pandemic, one important opportunity is to understand how incomplete and competing data can/must be used in important decision processes.  By definition, every decision is made with incomplete and/or poor quality data.  Moreover, all data is not revealed by traditional data analysis–Latent variables play a major role in any assessment process.

    Opinions Are Like …

    There are a number of ways to complete the above sentence and we will leave that to the reader.  As Deming mentioned, if the data supporting a position is not valid and reliable, it enters the arena of “FAKE.”  According to Accenture, “Fake data is data that is unverified, maliciously tampered with, or just plain wrong.”

    Unfortunately, much of what is passed today, especially on social media might be classified in the fake category.  With no quality assurance, even by institutional resources, positions are advanced as gospel and are often not just wrong but driven by agendas.

    For example, months ago, hydroxychloroquine was vilified by an on air journalist, yet a world leading medical expert posited that it helped.  Presently, the pendulum has swung against this drug.  Questions of the efficacy of the data have been resurrected.

    It is beyond the scope of this piece to address data nuances. Interested parties may find the Public Health Research Guide: Primary & Secondary Data Definitions useful.  Moreover, it is not necessary to become a data expert or data scientist.  The construct, Wisdom of the Crowds suggest that the knowledge and decision of a large group can be better than experts.

    If you have expertise in data, ask this simple question “Is the data reliable and valid?”  Also, follow the wisdom of physicist Richard Feynman, “If it disagrees with experiment, its wrong.”

    With so many claiming to follow The Science, it is important that individuals have a level of understanding about the data that supports The Science.  Sadly, from this physicist’s perspective secondary, unvetted data is often the weak foundation of their positions.

    So, What Are Your Statements Based On?

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    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to any third-party materials.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game

    We presented, Should Cross Cultural Serious Games Be Included in Your Diversity Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned at the Online Conference, New Diversity Summit 2020 the week of September 14, 2020.  Check Out this timely event and contact the organizer for access to the presentations!!

    You can contact this author as well.

  • Linear Metrics in Non-Linear Times?

    Linear Metrics in Non-Linear Times?

    “If it disagrees with experiment, its wrong”

    Our point today is to assess how behavioral decisions are being made today; not about the politics of one candidate or the other.

    The race to the US presidential election has entered its final phase.  As of this writing, establishment wisdom holds the conventional candidate as the presumptive winner.

    Pollical polling is a linear straightforward process albeit with the inherent bias of ‘all’ behavioral instruments.  Effective surveys will take a statistically significant representative sample and project those results to the larger electorate.  A time-honored approach for product marketing as well.

    However, there is another school of thought.  When a new produce/idea is disruptive or not well understood, the firm needs to be proactive rather than simply reactive such as using a survey.  Steve Jobs stated, “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them.  By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.

    One interpretation, ‘They don’t know what they don’t know.’  Echo the words of Donald Rumsfeld!

    Pollsters suggests that 2016 will not be repeated and they have modified their survey instrument control processes.  Recently one noted canvasser, Frank Luntz stated, “Pollsters did not do a good job in 2016.  So, if Donald Trump surprises people, if Joe Biden had a 5 or 6-point lead, my profession is done.”

    Our Lying Eyes

    When the world was the center of the universe with all the stars and galaxies rotating around us, linear projections confirmed the observed metrics.  However, famously, Nobel laureate, Richard Feynman taught us that, “If it disagrees with experiment, its wrong.”

    Galileo and Kepler among others experimented using the observable data differently.  They discovered that the universe does not revolve around our planet.

    Their assessments altered the given world forever and caused them significant personal angst in the process.  Established ‘science’ did not welcome this change readily.

    If the incumbent rallies and is elected for a second term despite expert projections using legacy linear tools, it maybe time to rethink how social beliefs and behaviors are measured.  Given the problems with Covid-19 data management, the same maybe said for that issue as well

    Hypothesis—Disruption cannot be accurately measured with traditional tools.

    Learnings

    Beyond politics and marketing, there are lessons for all of us.  Artificial Intelligence, Search Engines, Predictive, Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning, IoT et al are now all the rage.  But what if they are using the wrong algorithms?

    There are ramifications for our daily lives.  In March 2019, the Boeing Max 8 was grounded and has yet to return to service.  Will driverless automobiles put us all at risk?

    This survey question maybe answered on November 3 or whenever the final results are tabulated.  Other questions about the use of other metrics will remain unanswered; at least for now.

    How are you certain your decision supports processes and tools are providing valid and reliable data?

    For More Information

    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to any third-party materials.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game

    We presented, Should Cross Cultural Serious Games Be Included in Your Diversity Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned at the Online Conference, New Diversity Summit 2020 the week of September 14, 2020.  Check Out this timely event and contact the organizer for access to the presentations!!

    You can contact this author as well.

  • Can Never Be Proved Right!

    Can Never Be Proved Right!

    “If it disagrees with experiment, its wrong”—Richard Feynman

    Full Disclosure: this author holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics with a minor in Mathematics.  My doctoral dissertation developed a new Game Theory based practical solution.

    For those unfamiliar with this discipline, check out the movie Beautiful Mind or the work of John von Neumann who is also the father of the modern computing architecture.  Our approach is based on these integrated disciplines.

    This follows on the last blog and was inspired by a weekend conversation with my brother who holds a Ph.D. in physics and has invented products making the aviation world much safer.

    The incomparable (Nobel Prize in Physics) Richard Feynman knew how to teach physics to laypeople.  One of his most notable moments was when he showed the shuttle Challenger committee that freezing o-rings made them more brittle—something most living in the north intuitively know but somehow was lost during cold snaps in Florida (not entirely as some warned of this potential).  The other option was “get-there-itis” or the need to fulfill a mission no matter what.  Time, money and reputation at risk.  For more information, check out the final report on the Challenger.

    Instead of taking your time to read this pundit’s opinion, spend 10 minutes to hear what this Nobel Laurate has to say regarding the definition of Science and the Scientific Method.  He also argues that with ‘Vague Theory’ you can get multiple results, aka pseudo-science.

    I think this model works for Covid-19 as well.  After all, addressing this pathogen is largely technology based.

    “For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled”

    —R. Feynman, Challenger Report

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    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to any third-party materials.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    The Short Version of this Feynman lecture.

    For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game

    We presented, Should Cross Cultural Serious Games Be Included in Your Diversity Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned at the Online Conference, New Diversity Summit 2020 the week of September 14, 2020.  Check Out this timely event and contact the organizer for access to the presentations!!

    You can contact this author as well.

  • Lessons from the Seventies

    Lessons from the Seventies

    At lunch the other day and for whatever reason, the history of the 3M Post It Note became a subject of our conversation.  This technological marvel unveiled in the 1970s is still widely used today.

    As with other new or disruptive technologies, the ‘sticky note’ was panned at first and for some time.  According to Wikipedia, the technology was first developed in 1968.  It was not until 1974 that it gained some internal company support.

    When finally introduced in 1977, the pilot results were unsatisfactory.  However, things started to change in 1978 when a small (focus) group of consumers were positive about the product.

    The United States roll-out began in the spring of 1980, followed by Europe and Canada in 1981.  A bit of trivia, the reason it was originally yellow was because yellow colored scrap paper was readily available at its inception.

    Earlier the day of our lunch meeting, a discussion revolved around how long it might take an idea to become a fundable start-up company.  Several participants argued that with proper guidance, the process still might take up to two years.  This pundit argued that many entrepreneurs would see that as too long and become disinterested.

    The legacy of the Post It Note suggests that this pundit might be incorrect.  The lowly sticky note did not even begin its journey to become a Unicorn until twelve years after its technology was discovered.

    In 2015, we penned a blog, Titans of the 1940s Today.  The basic premise of that piece was when commenting about the Internet of Things (IoT) and its complexity, individuals such as Richard Feynman and John von Neumann (father of the 1945 computer architecture that is the basis of modern computing) had developed solutions for today prior to this author’s birth.

    We stand on the shoulders of these and other giants.  The challenge of every generation has been to build on what those who came before advanced.  So it remains today!

    Body of Knowledge

    Human kind has developed a rich body of knowledge in all areas of endeavor.  It is readily available for entrepreneurs as well as those employed by all types of organizations.  This knowledge base has been addressed in this blog and other writings by the author.  Interested readers are invited to review my blogs and newsletters dating back to the last century.

    Our march through history provides all of us a ‘go-by’ that can shorten our learning curve.  One example this author often cites is the depth of historical knowledge of management.  Contrary to many gurus, humans have managed others and processes for many millennia.

    Fail Fast, Fail Often?

    If 3M or Feynman et al practiced this technology development model as most interpret it, our world might be a lesser place.  Give up and move on to the next?

    One interpretation suggests, “Originating from Silicon Valley and its ocean of start-ups, the real aim of “fail fast, fail often,” is not to fail, but to be iterative.  To succeed, we must be open to failure—sure—but the intention is to ensure we are learning from our mistakes as we tweak, reset, and then redo if necessary.”

    This same article goes on to state, “Thomas Edison, by example, ‘failed’ 9,000 times before he was successful with his light bulb invention.”  Perseverance can be a lonely quality!

    Don’t lose heart.  Great ideas abound but must gestate.  It is often said that we find our soulmate when we least expect to—I know I did.  Progress is an iterative process fueled by creativity and critical thinking.

    Is Your Idea a Unicorn Waiting to be Born and Mature?

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    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to other materials.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    You can contact the author more information as well.

    End Notes

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-it_Note

      https://therrinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Titans-of-the-1940s-Today-April-20-2015.pdf

      https://therrinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/1993-Management-Theory-Evolution-Not-Revolution.pdf

      https://www.forbes.com/sites/danpontefract/2018/09/15/the-foolishness-of-fail-fast-fail-often/#1db35b0e59d9