ALGORITHMS, PARALLEL UNIVERSES & GROUNDHOG DAY (THE MOVIE)

Algorithms dictate our everyday lives: researchers collect data from open-access social media, smart phones, laptops, etc. This information then gets analyzed and used, as part of statistical analysis, to predict trends--all wrapped up in an artificial bow known as algorithms. These formulas have been used, most notably, in investment strategies for better or worse. Movies, for example The Big Short (2015), have centered on the dangers of relying on numbers without taking long-term vision or considering humanist implications. Because in the end, the seemingly perfect models used to anticipate human behavior can crash and burn. The facts become distorted by human fallacy and greed.

For years, fiction, as in the classic Twilight Zone TV episode called "Mirror Image" (1960), and earlier literary stories such as Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (1871) delved into the idea that people could travel through space or time into another dimension with often frightening implications. Recent science, the much-toted "string theory" has posited that like a "sliced loaf of bread," we could be living among multiple dimensions but proving this theory has been elusive (Brian Greene, Nova, based on his book The Elegant Universe, 1999)

(Science fiction - Google Images)

Now, theoretical physicists are exploring the idea that dark matter, the blackness of space, may have the answers needed to support parallel universes and other dimensions (Powell, "The Possible Parallel Universe of Dark Matter, Discover Magazine, 2013). How do these theories parallel, forgive the pun, the algorithm discussion above? Algorithm models may accurately predict market forces, but until empirical evidence in the form of investor behavior is quantified, i.e. including outside forces which these formulas can't foresee to prove the models are more than 90% accurate, the models serve little purpose. Science and math won't settle for anything but QED, or proven by the numbers, and when applied, by real-world application.  [For other sources about string theory and dark matter: Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku and Neil DeGrasse Tyson have written accessible books about these theories. See below.]

(Science Fact - Google Images)

To move onto a field which has shown to be far less than perfect in predicting, a.k.a. meteorology, I use the example Groundhog Day, the 1993 movie, starring Bill Murray as a cantankerous, self-involved weatherman, "Phil Connors," who reluctantly covers the annual Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, PA.

Unlike media forecasters who must have the creds and credibility to make their predictions, the character Phil has neither and shows little interest in doing human interest pieces. Still, like Phil's character who lives the same day over and over, many viewers have accepted the idea that the science of weather-predicting should take a backseat to the entertainment factor.

Of course, The Weather Channel exists to bring 24/7 forecasts to more serious followers, but even that channel has lost some of its respectability. Why? Because media moguls prefer to emphasize fluff pieces rather than hard numbers or science.

We all agree that two plus two equals four, that predicting human behavior can't be done solely with a computer, that theories are theories until proven otherwise, but some have forgotten to use their eyes, see for themselves, instead depending on others. Many don't have the curiosity, education and experience to justify their comments to tell them what is real and what's imaginary.

According to NASA, 97% of active climate scientists not only believe but can demonstrate climate change exists. Moreover, Wall Street insiders who saw the numbers and understood the housing market would collapse, capitalized on "The Big Short." Steven Eisman (Steve Carell portrayed him in the movie) predicted the dire consequences by crunching the numbers (Belvedere, CNBC, 2016) of the housing crisis to come in 2008 and now predicts that the same devastating event will occur under the current administration if financial regulations are rolled back.

And finally, reality TV isn't real but science is; meteorology continues to be an inexact field though improving; investing remains a gamble--in part due to human error, and, scientists admit that theories only work when they can be applied to the real world. Get your facts straight, viewers, whether watching TV, surfing the Internet or listening to radio. Double-check what you hear and make sure your get your facts from reliable sources (from both sides of the question). Hated homework in school? Do it now--before it's too late and before our country, our world implodes.

Suggested reading (all NON-FICTION) -
Articles/books listed above and,

1. The Universe in a Nutshell (2001) by Stephen Hawking
2. Physics of the Impossible (2008) by Michio Kaku
3. One Universe (2000) by Neil deGrasse Tyson
4. The Big Short (book, 2010) by Michael Lewis
5. Meteorology & Climate Change - good luck on finding a non-technical, available book on meteorology but excellent source for climate change is: the Pulitzer Prize winning, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History (2015) by Elizabeth Kolbert

Suggested watching -
Movies/episodes above plus the following links:

1. For all ages (hey, if we can't trust Bill Nye, a trained engineer/scientist, who can we trust?): Bill Nye on Climate Change
2. For climate deniers/skeptics: ELON MUSK ON CLIMATE CHANGE
3. For bullish investors in the stock market who want a simple explanation of "the big short" & how it can happen again: Animated explanation of THE BIG SHORT
4. For science-adverse (those who don't like science or want to know much about it) or science-facts opponents: Neil deGrasse Tyson on WHY SCIENCE (Literacy) MATTERS