All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

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All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

Eric Charles-2
Most of you probably know the site Five Thirty Eight, which emerged over the last few election cycles as the top nerdy polling / public-opinion-modeling site. Some of you know SMBC, which has spent quite a few years towards the top of the pantheon of nerd comics. Well, the two collaborated on a long-form comic explaining why it is so hard to get stable models of Covid-19. It is really well done. If you have been struggling to explain to people how models like this work and why they are challenging, I highly recommend you try sharing this with them:




-----------
Eric P. Charles, Ph.D.
Department of Justice - Personnel Psychologist
American University - Adjunct Instructor

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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

thompnickson2

Eric, ‘n all,

 

The Pandemic Cartoon,

 

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-comic-strip-tour-of-the-wild-world-of-pandemic-modeling

 

 

is REALLY GOOD.

 

The basic message is that we are effed from here to Sunday because we don’t know the initial conditions.  It’s like modeling the weather on a day when all the weather observers are known to be drunk.   

 

And that message comes through even tho the cartoon NEVER reminds us of the stupendous irrationality of non-linear systems. 

 

But one thing we do know.  We have bent the curve in Santa Fe.  Please see attachment.  Now, mind you, I still think there are about 100 active cases of the virus in the County at the moment and until we know where each of those people is and what she/he is doing, we had better stay home and stay masked.  

 

Nick

 

Nicholas Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology

Clark University

[hidden email]

https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/

 

 

From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Eric Charles
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 10:24 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

 

Most of you probably know the site Five Thirty Eight, which emerged over the last few election cycles as the top nerdy polling / public-opinion-modeling site. Some of you know SMBC, which has spent quite a few years towards the top of the pantheon of nerd comics. Well, the two collaborated on a long-form comic explaining why it is so hard to get stable models of Covid-19. It is really well done. If you have been struggling to explain to people how models like this work and why they are challenging, I highly recommend you try sharing this with them:



 


-----------

Eric P. Charles, Ph.D.
Department of Justice - Personnel Psychologist

American University - Adjunct Instructor


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Coronavirus New Mexico numbers extended.xlsx (17K) Download Attachment
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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

Marcus G. Daniels
Nick writes:

< The basic message is that we are effed from here to Sunday because we don’t know the initial conditions.  It’s like modeling the weather on a day when all the weather observers are known to be drunk.  >

Another perspective on prediction.



From: Friam <[hidden email]> on behalf of [hidden email] <[hidden email]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 11:07 AM
To: 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19
 

Eric, ‘n all,

 

The Pandemic Cartoon,

 

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-comic-strip-tour-of-the-wild-world-of-pandemic-modeling

 

 

is REALLY GOOD.

 

The basic message is that we are effed from here to Sunday because we don’t know the initial conditions.  It’s like modeling the weather on a day when all the weather observers are known to be drunk.   

 

And that message comes through even tho the cartoon NEVER reminds us of the stupendous irrationality of non-linear systems. 

 

But one thing we do know.  We have bent the curve in Santa Fe.  Please see attachment.  Now, mind you, I still think there are about 100 active cases of the virus in the County at the moment and until we know where each of those people is and what she/he is doing, we had better stay home and stay masked.  

 

Nick

 

Nicholas Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology

Clark University

[hidden email]

https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/

 

 

From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Eric Charles
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 10:24 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

 

Most of you probably know the site Five Thirty Eight, which emerged over the last few election cycles as the top nerdy polling / public-opinion-modeling site. Some of you know SMBC, which has spent quite a few years towards the top of the pantheon of nerd comics. Well, the two collaborated on a long-form comic explaining why it is so hard to get stable models of Covid-19. It is really well done. If you have been struggling to explain to people how models like this work and why they are challenging, I highly recommend you try sharing this with them:


 


-----------

Eric P. Charles, Ph.D.
Department of Justice - Personnel Psychologist

American University - Adjunct Instructor


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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

gepr
That is a super cool paper, well worth the time it took for my super slow brain. I'm still struggling with the stance I have to take on non-determined numbers for it to make sense. But because it simply *smacks* of the same argument I make to my clients about numerical integration e.g. ODE systems vs. DE systems, I keep thinking I'll snap to it at some point. Maybe I need to get my hands on some LSD and re-read it. 8^)

Thanks for posting it.

On 4/14/20 10:15 AM, Marcus Daniels wrote:
> Another perspective on prediction.
>
> https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10670-019-00165-8


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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

thompnickson2

Marcus, et. al.,

 

I love it when you Wizards talk dirty.

 

It is usual to identify initial conditions of classical dynamical systems with mathematical real numbers. However, almost all real numbers contain an infinite amount of information. I argue that a finite volume of space can’t contain more than a finite amount of information, hence that the mathematical real numbers are not physically relevant. Moreover, a better terminology for the so-called real numbers is “random numbers”, as their series of bits are truly random. I propose an alternative classical mechanics, which is empirically equivalent to classical mechanics, but uses only finite-information numbers. This alternative classical mechanics is non-deterministic, despite the use of deterministic equations, in a way similar to quantum theory. Interestingly, both alternative classical mechanics and quantum theories can be supplemented by additional variables in such a way that the supplemented theory is deterministic. Most physicists straightforwardly supplement classical theory with real numbers to which they attribute physical existence, while most physicists reject Bohmian mechanics as supplemented quantum theory, arguing that Bohmian positions have no physical reality.

 

Nick

 

 

Nicholas Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology

Clark University

[hidden email]

https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of u?l? ?
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2020 9:30 AM
To: FriAM <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

 

That is a super cool paper, well worth the time it took for my super slow brain. I'm still struggling with the stance I have to take on non-determined numbers for it to make sense. But because it simply *smacks* of the same argument I make to my clients about numerical integration e.g. ODE systems vs. DE systems, I keep thinking I'll snap to it at some point. Maybe I need to get my hands on some LSD and re-read it. 8^)

 

Thanks for posting it.

 

On 4/14/20 10:15 AM, Marcus Daniels wrote:

> Another perspective on prediction.

>

> https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10670-019-00165-8

 

 

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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

gepr
To be clear, the below aren't Nick's words, they're cut-n-paste from the paper.

On 4/16/20 9:23 AM, [hidden email] wrote:
> It is usual to identify initial conditions of classical dynamical systems with mathematical real numbers. However, almost all real numbers contain an infinite amount of information. I argue that a finite volume of space can’t contain more than a finite amount of information, hence that the mathematical real numbers are not physically relevant. Moreover, a better terminology for the so-called real numbers is “random numbers”, as their series of bits are truly random. I propose an alternative classical mechanics, which is empirically equivalent to classical mechanics, but uses only finite-information numbers. This alternative classical mechanics is non-deterministic, despite the use of deterministic equations, in a way similar to quantum theory. Interestingly, both alternative classical mechanics and quantum theories can be supplemented by additional variables in such a way that the supplemented theory is deterministic. Most physicists straightforwardly supplement classical
> theory with real numbers to which they attribute physical existence, while most physicists reject Bohmian mechanics as supplemented quantum theory, arguing that Bohmian positions have no physical reality.

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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

Marcus G. Daniels
Well, I love the idea that all the QM hocus pocus could just boil down to round off.   Your "free will" is truncation error.  Oops.   (Funny contrast with the last episode of Devs.) 

Marcus

From: Friam <[hidden email]> on behalf of uǝlƃ ☣ <[hidden email]>
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2020 10:27 AM
To: FriAM <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19
 
To be clear, the below aren't Nick's words, they're cut-n-paste from the paper.

On 4/16/20 9:23 AM, [hidden email] wrote:
> It is usual to identify initial conditions of classical dynamical systems with mathematical real numbers. However, almost all real numbers contain an infinite amount of information. I argue that a finite volume of space can’t contain more than a finite amount of information, hence that the mathematical real numbers are not physically relevant. Moreover, a better terminology for the so-called real numbers is “random numbers”, as their series of bits are truly random. I propose an alternative classical mechanics, which is empirically equivalent to classical mechanics, but uses only finite-information numbers. This alternative classical mechanics is non-deterministic, despite the use of deterministic equations, in a way similar to quantum theory. Interestingly, both alternative classical mechanics and quantum theories can be supplemented by additional variables in such a way that the supplemented theory is deterministic. Most physicists straightforwardly supplement classical
> theory with real numbers to which they attribute physical existence, while most physicists reject Bohmian mechanics as supplemented quantum theory, arguing that Bohmian positions have no physical reality.

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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

gepr
Or, your free will is nothing but randomness.

When we took Renee's granddaughter to the UK last year, I made some comment suggesting I doubted she would ever respond violently to a mugger (all the girls, being typical Americans who rarely travel to foreign countries and, hence, suffer an implicit xenophobia, were afraid of some of the alleys in Newcastle). She looked up at me and said "You don't know me" with that hilarious cuteness riding atop mysterious girlpower that's a recognizable trope in most modern narratives. (Think "Liza" in Transferts https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6531888/mediaviewer/rm2036883456.)

I was forced to admit it's true. I don't know her or what the next bit in her sequence will produce.

On 4/16/20 9:30 AM, Marcus Daniels wrote:
> Well, I love the idea that all the QM hocus pocus could just boil down to round off.   Your "free will" is truncation error.  Oops.   (Funny contrast with the last episode of Devs.) 


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uǝʃƃ ⊥ glen
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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

Marcus G. Daniels
Glen writes:

"I was forced to admit it's true. I don't know her or what the next bit in her sequence will produce."

Similarly, and without being a spoiler, Marty's adaptation to his visit to Mexico, in _Ozark_.  Whether it is "free" or not is not the distinction I would make.  Is it an interesting response, to whatever it is?

Marcus

From: Friam <[hidden email]> on behalf of uǝlƃ ☣ <[hidden email]>
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2020 10:45 AM
To: FriAM <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19
 
Or, your free will is nothing but randomness.

When we took Renee's granddaughter to the UK last year, I made some comment suggesting I doubted she would ever respond violently to a mugger (all the girls, being typical Americans who rarely travel to foreign countries and, hence, suffer an implicit xenophobia, were afraid of some of the alleys in Newcastle). She looked up at me and said "You don't know me" with that hilarious cuteness riding atop mysterious girlpower that's a recognizable trope in most modern narratives. (Think "Liza" in Transferts https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6531888/mediaviewer/rm2036883456.)

I was forced to admit it's true. I don't know her or what the next bit in her sequence will produce.

On 4/16/20 9:30 AM, Marcus Daniels wrote:
> Well, I love the idea that all the QM hocus pocus could just boil down to round off.   Your "free will" is truncation error.  Oops.   (Funny contrast with the last episode of Devs.) 


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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

thompnickson2
In reply to this post by Marcus G. Daniels

Could anybody have been in any doubt that those weren’t my words?

 

(};-)]

 

If there is such a person, I am honored by their confusion.

 

By the way, what is this “reality” that the author is talking about, speaking of physics’ s need for philosophy.  And while I am in and being grumpy, Steve, speaking as a lifetime bird researcher, I can assure you that birds could make good use of ornithology if it were available to them.  I am truly, TRULY, bothered by the Feynman cult.  That’s a terrible quote.

 

NIck

 

Nicholas Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology

Clark University

[hidden email]

https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/

 

 

From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Marcus Daniels
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2020 10:30 AM
To: FriAM <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

 

Well, I love the idea that all the QM hocus pocus could just boil down to round off.   Your "free will" is truncation error.  Oops.   (Funny contrast with the last episode of Devs.) 

 

Marcus


From: Friam <[hidden email]> on behalf of uǝlƃ <[hidden email]>
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2020 10:27 AM
To: FriAM <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

 

To be clear, the below aren't Nick's words, they're cut-n-paste from the paper.

On 4/16/20 9:23 AM, [hidden email] wrote:
> It is usual to identify initial conditions of classical dynamical systems with mathematical real numbers. However, almost all real numbers contain an infinite amount of information. I argue that a finite volume of space can’t contain more than a finite amount of information, hence that the mathematical real numbers are not physically relevant. Moreover, a better terminology for the so-called real numbers is “random numbers”, as their series of bits are truly random. I propose an alternative classical mechanics, which is empirically equivalent to classical mechanics, but uses only finite-information numbers. This alternative classical mechanics is non-deterministic, despite the use of deterministic equations, in a way similar to quantum theory. Interestingly, both alternative classical mechanics and quantum theories can be supplemented by additional variables in such a way that the supplemented theory is deterministic. Most physicists straightforwardly supplement classical
> theory with real numbers to which they attribute physical existence, while most physicists reject Bohmian mechanics as supplemented quantum theory, arguing that Bohmian positions have no physical reality.

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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

gepr
It's not a matter of the audience misunderstanding you so much as taking responsibility for our own actions. With the recent discussion with Dave about his assuming nobody would read his words as authoritative (despite their wording not having any "in my opinion" caveats) AND the citing of notorious self-aggrandizing egomaniacs like Wolfram who rarely, if ever, credit others for their works, I think it's important for us to do at least some accounting of where our work starts and others' works end.

FWIW, I can barely bring myself to read Kauffman's works with all the "I invented this" and "I thought that". Wolfram is orders of magnitude worse than Kauffman ... makes me sick to my stomach to read anything Wolfram writes ... but then, I'm an ordinary person so my gustatory reaction to his work is irrelevant.

As for the Feynman cult ... there is no Feynman cult, only well-deserved recognition. You can see that pretty easily from *how* Feynman is cited, as compared to other admitted geniuses like Kauffman or Wolfram.

On 4/16/20 10:57 AM, [hidden email] wrote:
> Could anybody have been in any doubt that those weren’t my words?
>
> (};-)]
>
> If there is such a person, I am honored by their confusion.
>
> By the way, what is this “reality” that the author is talking about, speaking of physics’ s need for philosophy.  And while I am in and being grumpy, Steve, speaking as a lifetime bird researcher, I can assure you that birds could make good use of ornithology if it were available to them.  I am truly, TRULY, bothered by the Feynman cult.  That’s a terrible quote.

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uǝʃƃ ⊥ glen
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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

thompnickson2
Glen,

I think the repetition of the Feynman Quote, which is just misguided, and which I hear all the time, and which I cannot believe Feynman would not have repudiated if he were set down with a good philosopher, is Cultish.  

But it was Cranky Nick who said that.  I disavow him, utterly.

Nick

Nicholas Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
Clark University
[hidden email]
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
 


-----Original Message-----
From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of u?l? ?
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2020 12:29 PM
To: FriAM <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

It's not a matter of the audience misunderstanding you so much as taking responsibility for our own actions. With the recent discussion with Dave about his assuming nobody would read his words as authoritative (despite their wording not having any "in my opinion" caveats) AND the citing of notorious self-aggrandizing egomaniacs like Wolfram who rarely, if ever, credit others for their works, I think it's important for us to do at least some accounting of where our work starts and others' works end.

FWIW, I can barely bring myself to read Kauffman's works with all the "I invented this" and "I thought that". Wolfram is orders of magnitude worse than Kauffman ... makes me sick to my stomach to read anything Wolfram writes ... but then, I'm an ordinary person so my gustatory reaction to his work is irrelevant.

As for the Feynman cult ... there is no Feynman cult, only well-deserved recognition. You can see that pretty easily from *how* Feynman is cited, as compared to other admitted geniuses like Kauffman or Wolfram.

On 4/16/20 10:57 AM, [hidden email] wrote:
> Could anybody have been in any doubt that those weren’t my words?
>
> (};-)]
>
> If there is such a person, I am honored by their confusion.
>
> By the way, what is this “reality” that the author is talking about, speaking of physics’ s need for philosophy.  And while I am in and being grumpy, Steve, speaking as a lifetime bird researcher, I can assure you that birds could make good use of ornithology if it were available to them.  I am truly, TRULY, bothered by the Feynman cult.  That’s a terrible quote.

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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

gepr
Well, my guess is that Feynman would admit that everything has context, including both an original utterance and subsequent repetitions of all or part of that utterance. [†] And it's also important to note that ALL pithy aphorisms are abominations because they all deny the context. We see this most clearly in "pseudo-profound bullshit": http://sebpearce.com/bullshit/

And, as Marcus points out with "complexity club", we see it right here in this forum. So, when we read something like that, it's more important to try to understand, e.g., what _Steve_ meant in his use of the aphorism, rather than asserting that he's a member of a cult ... which he probably is, but since I'm a member of the Church of Set, the Satanic Temple, a Discordian Episkopos, and a member/owner of a brewing cooperative, his cult membership is not the point.

[†] One of the lessons of postmodernism is that one can read a text without reading *through* the text. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

On 4/16/20 11:35 AM, [hidden email] wrote:
> I think the repetition of the Feynman Quote, which is just misguided, and which I hear all the time, and which I cannot believe Feynman would not have repudiated if he were set down with a good philosopher, is Cultish.  

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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

thompnickson2
Ok.  Well said.  I am sending Cranky Nick to the medicine cabinet right now.  Give a few hours for the medication  to take.

Nick

Nicholas Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
Clark University
[hidden email]
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
 


-----Original Message-----
From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of u?l? ?
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2020 12:53 PM
To: FriAM <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

Well, my guess is that Feynman would admit that everything has context, including both an original utterance and subsequent repetitions of all or part of that utterance. [†] And it's also important to note that ALL pithy aphorisms are abominations because they all deny the context. We see this most clearly in "pseudo-profound bullshit": http://sebpearce.com/bullshit/

And, as Marcus points out with "complexity club", we see it right here in this forum. So, when we read something like that, it's more important to try to understand, e.g., what _Steve_ meant in his use of the aphorism, rather than asserting that he's a member of a cult ... which he probably is, but since I'm a member of the Church of Set, the Satanic Temple, a Discordian Episkopos, and a member/owner of a brewing cooperative, his cult membership is not the point.

[†] One of the lessons of postmodernism is that one can read a text without reading *through* the text. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

On 4/16/20 11:35 AM, [hidden email] wrote:
> I think the repetition of the Feynman Quote, which is just misguided, and which I hear all the time, and which I cannot believe Feynman would not have repudiated if he were set down with a good philosopher, is Cultish.  

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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

Frank Wimberly-2
Good Freud quote, Glen.

On Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 12:57 PM <[hidden email]> wrote:
Ok.  Well said.  I am sending Cranky Nick to the medicine cabinet right now.  Give a few hours for the medication  to take.

Nick

Nicholas Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
Clark University
[hidden email]
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/



-----Original Message-----
From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of u?l? ?
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2020 12:53 PM
To: FriAM <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

Well, my guess is that Feynman would admit that everything has context, including both an original utterance and subsequent repetitions of all or part of that utterance. [†] And it's also important to note that ALL pithy aphorisms are abominations because they all deny the context. We see this most clearly in "pseudo-profound bullshit": http://sebpearce.com/bullshit/

And, as Marcus points out with "complexity club", we see it right here in this forum. So, when we read something like that, it's more important to try to understand, e.g., what _Steve_ meant in his use of the aphorism, rather than asserting that he's a member of a cult ... which he probably is, but since I'm a member of the Church of Set, the Satanic Temple, a Discordian Episkopos, and a member/owner of a brewing cooperative, his cult membership is not the point.

[†] One of the lessons of postmodernism is that one can read a text without reading *through* the text. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

On 4/16/20 11:35 AM, [hidden email] wrote:
> I think the repetition of the Feynman Quote, which is just misguided, and which I hear all the time, and which I cannot believe Feynman would not have repudiated if he were set down with a good philosopher, is Cultish. 

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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

gepr
Yes, but what did he mean by it, I wonder? >8^D

On 4/16/20 12:01 PM, Frank Wimberly wrote:
> Good Freud quote, Glen.


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uǝʃƃ ⊥ glen
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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

Frank Wimberly-2
He meant that cigars aren't always phalluses.  He was probably smoking a cigar when he said it.

Classically "phallus" means a  symbol.

On Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 1:03 PM uǝlƃ ☣ <[hidden email]> wrote:
Yes, but what did he mean by it, I wonder? >8^D

On 4/16/20 12:01 PM, Frank Wimberly wrote:
> Good Freud quote, Glen.


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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

Marcus G. Daniels
The queen was wondering too.



From: Friam <[hidden email]> on behalf of Frank Wimberly <[hidden email]>
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2020 1:06 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19
 
He meant that cigars aren't always phalluses.  He was probably smoking a cigar when he said it.

Classically "phallus" means a  symbol.

On Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 1:03 PM uǝlƃ ☣ <[hidden email]> wrote:
Yes, but what did he mean by it, I wonder? >8^D

On 4/16/20 12:01 PM, Frank Wimberly wrote:
> Good Freud quote, Glen.


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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

gepr
I'm not so sure we know what he meant ... or if he even said it!

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/08/12/just-a-cigar/


On 4/16/20 12:09 PM, Marcus Daniels wrote:

> The queen was wondering too.
>
> https://hvmag.com/life-style/history/franklin-delano-roosevelt-the-picnic-that-won-the-war-the-royal-visit-the-hot-dog-summit-of-1939-and-hyde-park-on-the-hudson-movie/
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Friam <[hidden email]> on behalf of Frank Wimberly <[hidden email]>
> *Sent:* Thursday, April 16, 2020 1:06 PM
> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19
>  
> He meant that cigars aren't always phalluses.  He was probably smoking a cigar when he said it.
>
> Classically "phallus" means a  symbol.
>
> On Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 1:03 PM uǝlƃ ☣ <[hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]>> wrote:
>
>     Yes, but what did he mean by it, I wonder? >8^D

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uǝʃƃ ⊥ glen
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Re: All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19

Frank Wimberly-2
Well, I know this happened:  

In 1974, when I worked in the Research Center in Child Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, I was happily smoking a cigar while working on my computer terminal which gave me access to the DECSystem10.  A very senior woman psychoanalyst looked in my door and said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."  She was a child training analyst which is the highest level of training in the psychoanalytic training hierarchy.  I didn't ask her what she meant by that.

On Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 1:18 PM uǝlƃ ☣ <[hidden email]> wrote:
I'm not so sure we know what he meant ... or if he even said it!

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/08/12/just-a-cigar/


On 4/16/20 12:09 PM, Marcus Daniels wrote:
> The queen was wondering too.
>
> https://hvmag.com/life-style/history/franklin-delano-roosevelt-the-picnic-that-won-the-war-the-royal-visit-the-hot-dog-summit-of-1939-and-hyde-park-on-the-hudson-movie/
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Friam <[hidden email]> on behalf of Frank Wimberly <[hidden email]>
> *Sent:* Thursday, April 16, 2020 1:06 PM
> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] All models are wrong - modeling Covid-19
>  
> He meant that cigars aren't always phalluses.  He was probably smoking a cigar when he said it.
>
> Classically "phallus" means a  symbol.
>
> On Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 1:03 PM uǝlƃ ☣ <[hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]>> wrote:
>
>     Yes, but what did he mean by it, I wonder? >8^D

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505 670-9918

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