Posts from — July 2011

When I read a technical or a business book I usually want to know more about the author. Over the past few days I have been reading The Undercover Economist and I can say that I didn’t knew anything about its author, Tim Harford. That’s why TED thought that it could help me by sharing Tom’s recent TED talk.

Tim Harford’s “Trial, error and the God complex” confirms me, once again, how important is to clearly define the environment on which analysis’s is made. I am saying this because Tim is trying to demonstrate points of view through a method well known in mathematics: reduction to the absurd. A very good method by the way. But whenever you want to apply it into an “outdoor environment” you must be very carefully with the contradiction elements and indirect proofs. Above all is absolutely essential to clearly define the medium and context, in order to avoid confusions and misunderstandings. In this case, if you drop the TRUE/FALSE route and you will further look at “Trail And Error VS The God Concept”  from an economical, entrepreneurial perspective then the idea will become crystal clear – FAIL FAST FORWARD.

Tim Harford books