Re: time, memory of one and many, zipf's law.

From: Eva Ekeblad (eva.ekeblad@goteborg.utfors.se)
Date: Mon Aug 13 2001 - 09:30:56 PDT


At 01.40 +1000 01-08-14, Phil Graham quoted BB:
>>Bringing the xmca writer rankings in line with Mandelbrot's derivation
>>requires
>>thinking that it costs less for the top writers than for those higher in
>>numerical rank to write a message. In other words, it "costs less" for
>>mike to
>>write than Paul, and in turn Paul, than Diane, etc.

... and went on to say:
>Hmmmm. I can't help being uncomfortable with a requirement to assume that
>all such behaviours can be attributed to a cost/loss motivation which
>implies an econometric perspective on what we do here and in other such
>splaces.

Well, the two of you taken together make a pretty good argument for why it
might not be all that desirable to fit the distribution of xmca mail into
Zipf-by-Mandelbrot. I don't know if Phil is also saying that no grid of
maths should ever be cast over human affairs. Which I disagree with,
because studying now and then how such casting works will, hopefully, leave
me a little better prepared for all the nets of number cast over me by the
Powers that Be.

Eva



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