This year, much of the Curse of Oak Island focus has been on an apparently paved area in the swamp area. According to the show’s speculations, this would have been created for transport of treasure to the original money pit. Ian Spooner, an environmental scientist from Acadia University, who has worked with archaeologists in the…
Addressing pseudoarchaeological claims, a practical guide (eventually)
Note: For the past few months, as I work on them, I have been posting sections of what will eventually be part of a collaborative work on addressing pseudoarchaeology in the classroom, in public, and online. As the text nears readiness, I will start assembling these pieces into rough drafts of the main chunks, hopefully…
Talent vs Luck part 2 : Under what conditions does success reflect talent?
Back in the fall, I commented on a simulation paper by Pluchino et al that argued that luck is much more important than talent in determining life outcomes. The authors focus on the mismatch between the distribution of talent, which is thought to be a normal curve, and the distribution of success, such as accumulated…