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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>For those interested in the progression of human thinking from
gods/chance to modern mathematical understanding of statistics and risk, there
is a great book by Peter Bernstein called, “Against the Gods: The
Remarkable Story of Risk”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Bernstein provides a tour of Man’s perceptions of chance,
starting with the ancient Greeks, and progressing through early Arab mathematicians,
the Renaissance, and the development of modern statistical concepts of risk.
Interestingly, the creation of statistics was heavily driven by the need/desire
to better understand gambling. Not the first innovation to be spurred
forward by vice (see the Internet and porn).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>The book is written for the lay person and is very enjoyable.
Peter Bernstein is a Wall Street guy, so the later part of the book deals
heavily economics and investment theory – itself, an interesting topic
given the latest financial crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Here is a link to the book on Amazon – it’s available
on Kindle, too. <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/Against-Gods-Remarkable-Story-Risk/dp/0471295639/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257257024&sr=8-1">http://www.amazon.com/Against-Gods-Remarkable-Story-Risk/dp/0471295639/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257257024&sr=8-1</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Josh<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>
homer2009-1-bounces@readingodyssey.org
[mailto:homer2009-1-bounces@readingodyssey.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Andre
Stipanovic<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, November 01, 2009 10:16 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> homer2009-1@readingodyssey.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Homer2009-1] Of Gods and Men<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Good
questions for us to think about.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>I am
looking forward to our call tomorrow night!</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Andre</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>James
Janicki <<a href="mailto:yanitski@earthlink.net">yanitski@earthlink.net</a>>
writes:</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span
style='color:black'>The questions I'm wondering is if people of that time
really thought that way about the gods affecting their lives so closely?
Was this a way to accept the impact of chance on their lives? Are our
modern gods also a way to assist us in accepting chance in our lives?</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span
style='color:black;background:#D0D0D0'>The question I'm wondering is if The
Odyssey was used as a teaching story of its time or was it meant to be pure
entertainment or was it meant to be historical documentation?</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
12.0pt;margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p>
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