Much of the best biological work in decision-making has been carried out in bacteria and insects because the genetics of these organisms is better understood and they provide the most physically accessible nervous systems. With the advent of modern imaging and neurophysiological techniques, however, decision-making by human and non-human primates has become a bustling area in the early stages o...

Just a few years ago, it was fashionable to decry the short-sightedness of the American financial system, the tendency of U.S. financial markets to ignore longer-term corporate prospects while focusing heavily on quarterly earnings reports. There were repeated calls for the U.S. to adopt new laws that would permit financiers to take a longer view of their investments, and to move toward the mor...

Complexity is examined in the context of Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety, and systems are shown to rapidly reach transcomputability, at which point they become uncontrollable. The circular notion of control is introduced, where control occurs “between”. Systems that are in principle beyond control are defined as unmanageable. Unmanageability is examined and shown to be potentially enrichening,...

Sports events, as the ancient Greeks knew well, could be used as a substitute for war in city-state competition, hence the creation of the ancient Olympics. Although the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, envisioned an event free of consumerism and nationalism, they are now a forum for national conflict and rivalry (Riggs 1993). As Katz and Dayan (1985) argue, the Olympics are...