The time resolution of the St. Petersburg paradox

A resolution of the St. Petersburg paradox is presented. In contrast to the standard resolution, utility is not required. Instead, the time-average performance of the lottery is computed. The final result can be phrased mathematically identically to Daniel Bernoulli's resolution, which uses logarithmic utility, but is derived using a conceptually different argument. The advantage of the time resolution is the elimination of arbitrary utility functions.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figur

The perseverance of Pacioli's goods inventory accounting system

This paper details sources of the 'undoubtedly strange' (Yamey, 1994a, p.119) system of goods inventory records described in Pacioli’s 1494 bookkeeping treatise and traces the longevity and widespread use of this early perpetual inventory recording (EPIR) system in English language texts. By doing so and contrasting this system with the bookkeeping treatment of modern texts, it is shown that the EPIR system persisted as the dominant form of goods inventory accounting for between 400 and 500 years and that the reasons for its demise are worthy of further consideration and research

Modelling the underlying principles of human aesthetic preference in evolutionary art

Our understanding of creativity is limited, yet there is substantial research trying to mimic human creativity in artificial systems and in particular to produce systems that automatically evolve art appreciated by humans. We propose here to study human visual preference through observation of nearly 500 user sessions with a simple evolutionary art system. The progress of a set of aesthetic measures throughout each interactive user session is monitored and subsequently mimicked by automatic evolution in an attempt to produce an image to the liking of the human user

Problemas de Relojes. Ejemplos Históricos y Consideraciones Didácticas

Abordamos un problema matemático clásico: aquel en el que se trata de calcular el tiempo que debe transcurrir, a partir de una hora determinada, para que las manecillas de un reloj ocupen una posición concreta. En particular, nos centramos en el caso en que la disposición requerida es que las agujas estén superpuestas. En este artículo, presentamos diversos ejemplos extraídos de textos clásicos y del siglo XIX que ilustran distintos contextos en los que se presenta el problema, así como diferentes métodos de resolución. Además, como consecuencia de dicho análisis, presentamos algunas consideraciones didácticas que pueden motivar el trabajo de estos materiales con profesorado en formación

The visual and material dimensions of legitimacy:Accounting and the search for Socie-ties

We are grateful to the Fondation Audencia for the financial support provided for our archival research.The aim of this article is to contribute to the literature on legitimacy by investigating its material and visual dimensions. By drawing on studies on rhetoric as a means of composing visions of social order and on an historical analysis of accounts in three paradigmatic eras (Roman times, Renaissance and Modernity), it shows how symmetry in accounts constituted an aesthetic code which tied members of a community together in ‘socie-ties’. We investigate the rhetorical process of ratiocinatio and explore how the visual and material dimensions of accounts provided social actors with an opportunity to explore their positions and ties within a community. This process augmented social actors’ understanding of their current relations by reducing them to a series of entries into an account, thus allowing them to reflect on what it meant to be a legitimate member of a society.PostprintPeer reviewe