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WHY BLOWHARD CENTRAL?

WELL, WHY NOT?

Our Founding Manifesto

Edward D. Weinberger, Ph.D., F.R.M.

In times of old, one would begin a great undertaking such as the launch of this blog by invoking the Gods; in the Middle Ages, an appeal to the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit would be appropriate. But this is the 21^st Century, so I’m just going to have to settle for blaming it all on my wife.

The 21^st Century version, at least, has a basis in logic, if not in reality. My wife, having grown so tired of listening to my theories about this, that, and the other, has accused me of being a blowhard. And, after years of denials, I have finally realized that I am unusually fond of the sound of my own voice and the wit of my own ideas. Yet the fact that I am a blowhard doesn’t mean that you, Dear Reader, might not be amused and even instructed by my thoughts on such things as Why religion, not sex, is the Great Motivator, Freud notwithstanding, Why big companies out-bungle each other, yet still stay in business, a meditation on the miracle of Obama's victory, and Evolution and Creationism: Finding Common Ground. As a good blogger should, I will provide more of the same at irregular intervals going forward. Two such are “What the 10 Commandments really mean” and why I don't want to change the world . Watch this space for such additional titles as “Teaching High School Chemistry from an Alchemical Perspective” and “Why all of those hedge fund guys can sometimes deserve the big bucks”.

More prosaically, there are lots of things that I want and need to post on the Internet, so much so that I might as well make a blog of it. These include (with links to items currently available):

an open letter to those MIT applicants that I will be interviewing. Since my stated purpose for becoming an alumni interviewer is to “diffuse some of the psychosis surrounding the college admissions process,” I’m hoping that this blog will be read by others, as well. Towards this end, I posted the following comments on a blog for people denied admission to MIT.
a syllabus and course materials for my students in Polytechnic University’s Finance and Risk Engineering Department
links to my research papers on various topics in quantitative finance, “Pragmatic Information”, defined as the information that is actually used to make a decision, and biological “fitness landscapes”
reviews of various books that have taken my fancy over the years
a repository for all of those email jokes, etc. that people keep sending me
my CV, picture, and bio for the curious