Related papers: Anna Karenina and The Two Envelopes Problem
In this methodological article on experimental-yet-rigorous enumerative combinatorics, we use two instructive case studies, to show that often, just like Alexander the Great before us, the simple, "cheating" solution to a hard problem is…
The laws of Physics are time-reversible, making no qualitative distinction between the past and the future -- yet we can only go towards the future. This apparent contradiction is known as the "arrow of time problem". Its current resolution…
The solution to science's replication crisis is a new ecosystem in which scientists sell what they learn from their research. In each pairwise transaction, the information seller makes (loses) money if he turns out to be correct…
This paper presents a plausible reasoning system to illustrate some broad issues in knowledge representation: dualities between different reasoning forms, the difficulty of unifying complementary reasoning styles, and the approximate nature…
The Fermi paradox is the conflict between an expectation of a high {\em ex ante} probability of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe and the apparently lifeless universe we in fact observe. The expectation that the universe should be…
Well known Simpson's paradox is puzzling and surprising for many, especially for the empirical researchers and users of statistics. However there is no surprise as far as mathematical details are concerned. A lot more is written about the…
Luhmann (1984) defined society as a communication system which is structurally coupled to, but not an aggregate of, human action systems. The communication system is then considered as self-organizing ("autopoietic"), as are human actors.…
The "double Dixie cup problem" of D.J. Newman and L. Shepp (1960) is a well-known variant of the coupon collector's problem, where the object of study is the number $T_{m}(N)$ of coupons that a collector has to buy in order to complete $m$…
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle implies that if one party (Alice) prepares a system and randomly measures one of two incompatible observables, then another party (Bob) cannot perfectly predict the measurement outcomes. This implication…
This paper introduces the Theory of the Unique Latent Pattern (ULP), a formal epistemic framework that redefines the origin of apparent complexity in dynamic systems. Rather than attributing unpredictability to intrinsic randomness or…
The theory of complex trees is introduced as a new approach to study a broad class of self-similar sets. Systems of equations encoded by complex trees tip-to-tip equivalence relations are used to obtain one-parameter families of connected…
The best developed formulation of closed system quantum theory that handles multiple-time statements, is the consistent (or decoherent) histories approach. The most important weaknesses of the approach is that it gives rise to many…
Recently, we introduced in arXiv:1105.2434 a model for product adoption in social networks with multiple products, where the agents, influenced by their neighbours, can adopt one out of several alternatives. We identify and analyze here…
If space is compact, then a traveller twin can leave Earth, travel back home without changing direction and find her sedentary twin older than herself. We show that the asymmetry between their spacetime trajectories lies in a topological…
The CSP of a first-order theory $T$ is the problem of deciding for a given finite set $S$ of atomic formulas whether $T \cup S$ is satisfiable. Let $T_1$ and $T_2$ be two theories with countably infinite models and disjoint signatures.…
This paper offers a comprehensive treatment of the question as to whether a binary relation can be consistent (transitive) without being decisive (complete), or decisive without being consistent, or simultaneously inconsistent or…
We study two-player games with alternating moves played on infinite trees. Our main focus is on the case where the trees are full (regular) and the winning set is open (with respect to the product topology on the tree). Gale and Stewart…
Astrophysical paradoxes are the paradoxes of physics. The main motivation of a formulated paradox is clearly recognized in the scientific environment because the phenomenon of a paradox itself has become interesting. There is an explanation…
The probability distribution P from which the history of our universe is sampled represents a theory of everything or TOE. We assume P is formally describable. Since most (uncountably many) distributions are not, this imposes a strong…
We study maximum entropy mechanisms of information exchange between agents modeled by neural networks and the macroscopic states of a society of such agents in a few situations. Mathematical quantification of surprise, distrust of other…