The Teleparallel Equivalent of Newton-Cartan Gravity

We construct a notion of teleparallelization for Newton-Cartan theory, and show that the teleparallel equivalent of this theory is Newtonian gravity; furthermore, we show that this result is consistent with teleparallelization in general relativity, and can be obtained by null-reducing the teleparallel equivalent of a five-dimensional gravitational wave solution. This work thus strengthens substantially the connections between four theories: Newton-Cartan theory, Newtonian gravitation theory, general relativity, and teleparallel gravity

Robert Fland, or Elandus Dialecticus?

ISBN 978-0-88844-680-0In the late 1970s, Paul Spade edited three treatises, on Consequences, Insolubles and Obligations, which he attributed to an otherwise unknown fourteenth-century logician whom he named as Robert Fland. We question this reading of the name and argue that his real name was Robert Eland. Moreover, we suggest that he should be identified with Eland the dialectician, whose Sophismata is mentioned in an account book at Merton College in 1367, and whose renown as a logician was disdainfully recorded some two hundred years later by the bibliographer John Bale.PostprintPeer reviewe

The Precautionary Principle (with Application to the Genetic Modification of Organisms)

We present a non-naive version of the Precautionary (PP) that allows us to avoid paranoia and paralysis by confining precaution to specific domains and problems. PP is intended to deal with uncertainty and risk in cases where the absence of evidence and the incompleteness of scientific knowledge carries profound implications and in the presence of risks of "black swans", unforeseen and unforeseable events of extreme consequence. We formalize PP, placing it within the statistical and probabilistic structure of ruin problems, in which a system is at risk of total failure, and in place of risk we use a formal fragility based approach. We make a central distinction between 1) thin and fat tails, 2) Local and systemic risks and place PP in the joint Fat Tails and systemic cases. We discuss the implications for GMOs (compared to Nuclear energy) and show that GMOs represent a public risk of global harm (while harm from nuclear energy is comparatively limited and better characterized). PP should be used to prescribe severe limits on GMOs

Prediction and control under uncertainty: Outcomes in angel investing

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2007.11.004Venture investing plays an important role in entrepreneurship not only because financial resources are important to new ventures, but also because early investors help shape the ventures' managerial and strategic destiny. In this study of 121 angel investors who had made 1038 new venture investments, we empirically investigate angel investors' differential use of predictive versus non-predictive control strategies. We show how the use of these strategies affects the outcomes of angel investors. Results show that angels who emphasize prediction make significantly larger venture investments, while those who emphasize nonpredictive control experience a reduction in investment failures without a reduction in their number of successes

Effectual versus predictive logics in entrepreneurial decision-making: Differences between experts and novices

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2008.02.002In support of theory, this study demonstrates that entrepreneurial experts frame decisions using an “effectual” logic (identify more potential markets, focus more on building the venture as a whole, pay less attention to predictive information, worry more about making do with resources on hand to invest only what they could afford to lose, and emphasize stitching together networks of partnerships); while novices use a “predictive frame” and tend to “go by the textbook.”We asked 27 expert entrepreneurs and 37MBAstudents to think aloud continuously as they solved typical decision-making problems in creating a new venture. Transcriptions were analyzed using methods from cognitive science. Results showed that expert entrepreneurs framed problems in a dramatically different way than MBA students