tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post6983774277467295938..comments2024-03-28T17:13:01.117+10:00Comments on Condensed concepts: Are power laws good for anything?Ross H. McKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09950455939572097456noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-44932662470328099772017-01-07T10:03:30.593+10:002017-01-07T10:03:30.593+10:00I think the most important "goodness" of...I think the most important "goodness" of power laws is the lack of a characteristic scale, what is termed "scale invariance". This is the main distinction with respect to Gaussian or exponential behaviour in general, in which case there IS a characteristic scale for the phenomenon being analysed. Scale invariance is at the core of critical phenomena, which is an amazing fact in many systems which suffer a phase transition, another amazing fact ... all these concepts find fertile grounds in the theory of complex systems, being them physical, economic, social or whatever. Daniel Stariolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02894215727855045251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-37597779987887205322016-12-29T01:25:00.201+10:002016-12-29T01:25:00.201+10:00Krug gives a very well written answer to the quest...Krug gives a very well written answer to the question in your title from the field of growth physics: https://arxiv.org/pdf/cond-mat/0403267.pdfDan Doughertyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11089735058294216590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-27624731063495720622016-12-23T09:48:53.905+10:002016-12-23T09:48:53.905+10:00Off-topic: I remember you being interested (or at ...Off-topic: I remember you being interested (or at least posting about) the (hype in) linear magnetoresistance.<br />Hence I wanted to point you at this recent paper:<br />http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.256601<br /><br />pcshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03647766316634749128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-47091758151568995332016-12-22T23:12:32.211+10:002016-12-22T23:12:32.211+10:00Interesting indeed.
I do question a bit the statem...Interesting indeed.<br />I do question a bit the statement that "These (successful) individuals have access to *exactly* the same resources and face the same challenges and obstacles as their peers."<br /><br />In my view the availability of (multiple) resources will also have a distribution. Couldn't it be that the successful ones just accidentally have access to a (infinitesimally) more/better timed resources as compared totheir peers that admittedly live in the same society with the same mean level of resources?<br /><br />Quick example: poor nutrition results in bad health. Possibly not continuously though. So the timing of an infection could accidentally prevent someone of being able to take advantage of a certain resource that happens to pop up at that time - or vice versa, just accidentally "not being sick" at the right time could give people a leg up that leaves them successful.<br /><br />So I question the word "exact" in my quote. <br />Obviously this book is about ensembles and not individuals. But (especially when one speaks about humans in need) I think the individuality of the problem matters for the individual path out of the problematic situation.<br /><br />(But indeed policy-makers may be well-advised to look into the thoughts you communicated.)pcshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03647766316634749128noreply@blogger.com