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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Hi Josh,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Thanks for the tip. Just put it on my Kindle.
Apologies again to all for the hold noise last night. Not intentional.
There is a classic philosophy text that also touches on a lot of the themes we’ve
discussed: Dodd’s Greeks and the Irrational.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Amazon link (no kindle): <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/Greeks-Irrational-Sather-Classical-Lectures/dp/0520242300/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257272385&sr=8-1-catcorr">here</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Great call last night!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Tim<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#A6A6A6'>.......................................................................................................<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#984806'>Tim
Albright</span></b><b><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";
color:#0D0D0D'> | </span></b><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#262626'>The Reading Odyssey</span><span
style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";color:#404040'>
|</span><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";color:#0D0D0D'>
</span><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#404040'>+ 1.512.632.1810 (gmt -6)<br>
</span><span style='font-size:4.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#404040'><br>
</span><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#404040'>The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new
landscapes but in having new eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span
style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#404040'>—
<i>Marcel Proust<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span
style='font-size:4.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#404040'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#404040'>Read
the great books. Share your best thoughts.</span><span style='font-size:
8.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#404040'><br>
Join us: <a href="http://showsupport.typepad.com/odyssey/"><span
style='color:blue'>website</span></a></span><b><span style='font-size:1.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";color:#0D0D0D'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><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>Josh
Kirschner<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, November 03, 2009 8:08 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> homer2009-1@readingodyssey.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Homer2009-1] Chance, Gods, and statistics<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<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>
</div>
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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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