Sweeping away superstition.

Sweeping Away the Monopole Problem

We propose a new solution to the cosmological monopole problem in which domain walls sweep away the magnetic monopoles and subsequently decay. The solution does not require extensive finetuning or model building; it works for the prototype SUs5d grand unification model. More generally, it shows that defect interactions can lead to “defect erasure” in phase transitions and that this can be relev...

Superstition in the pigeon.

Superstition and Rational Learning by Superstition and Rational Learning

We argue that some but not all superstitions can persist when learning is rational and players are patient, and illustrate our argument with an example inspired by the code of Hammurabi. The code specified an “appeal by surviving in the river” as a way of deciding whether an accusation was true, so it seems to have relied on the superstition that the guilty are more likely to drown than the inn...

Superstition and Rational Learning

We argue that some but not all superstitions can persist when learning is rational and players are patient, and illustrate our argument with an example inspired by the code of Hammurabi. The code specified an “appeal by surviving in the river” as a way of deciding whether an accusation was true. According to our theory a mechanism that uses superstitions two or more steps off the equilibrium pa...

Superstition and Rational Learning

We argue that some but not all superstitions can persist when learning is rational and players are patient, and illustrate our argument with an example inspired by the code of Hammurabi. The code specified an “appeal by surviving in the river” as a way of deciding whether an accusation was true, so it seems to have relied on the superstition that the guilty are more likely to drown than the inn...