I turned 23 over a month ago.
I wanted to share 23 lessons that I have learned over my past 23 years. These are ideas from people that I have been lucky enough to spend time with, to listen to, and learn from.
Read More »The Secret of Car Sales: The Science of the Negotiation
I spent an entire summer selling cars (July 4th is a good weekend to buy cars). I sold Hyundais, at a local dealership in Kentucky. I really enjoyed it, but it was a big time investment. I was on the car lot all the time – morning, night, weekends, weekdays – selling, selling, selling.
Read More »Is GameStop a Bank? Modeling the Video Game Market (Sort of)
I could not get this exchange between JK Rowling and Elon Musk from yesterday out of my head.
The App That Knows You Better than You Know Yourself: An Analysis of the TikTok Algorithm
Like many people, I downloaded TikTok at the beginning of quarantine on the recommendation of one of my friends. Immediately, the app figured out what I liked – parkour, fitness, mindfulness, but also science, skincare, and deadpan humor clips.
It was terrifying.
Probability vs. Possibility: Lottery Analysis in Quarantine
The probability of you winning is low, but the probability of someone winning is high. The paradox of the lottery.
It’s a scary time right now. Many people are losing their jobs, unemployment is past 20%, there is a global pandemic, and there doesn’t appear to be a clear path back to normalcy.
But the lottery is still being played in most states, with modifications. I know a few different people who play the lottery, and I was surprised to hear that they were still playing the game, despite it all. But as I thought about it more, the more sense it made (or so I thought).
Read More »Why Did Bernie Sanders Drop out of the Election? Lessons from Game Theory
Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign on April 9th of 2020. He will remain on the ballot.
What happened?
I think that there are some lessons from game theory that can apply here.
Disclaimer: this is not a political article, I have no opinion on any of the candidates below, and none of this is written in support of any candidate over another.
Read More »Spotify Sentiment Analysis: The Joy of the Jam
- What you listen to influences your emotional state
- It’s interesting to use music choices as a chance for reflection on the past
- A R I Z O N A is a great band
I have been trying to figure out what to write about for a long time. Everything felt wrong or off that was outside of COVID-19, and I truly can’t contribute to that conversation, as much as I would like to. Not a virologist. Not an epidemiologist. I had a Waffle House dataset that I was going to use to model expected virus impact via number of store closures, but that felt wrong (if anyone wants it, reach out).
Read More »The Reminder That We Are All Human
“A philosopher once asked, “Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?” Pointless, really…”Do the stars gaze back?” Now, that’s a question.”
Source: Neil Gaiman
I do not have the words for what is currently happening.
There is so much uncertainty. It is almost crushing, the sheer weight of the unknown. I didn’t realize that it would be so heavy. I didn’t understand how much I relied on knowledge, on the fact that today would at least be similar to tomorrow, that yesterday was like today, and that this would repeat indefinitely.
I didn’t realize how much I was taking for granted.
Read More »The Market as an Athlete: Periodization in Training
I remember 2008. I was 11. I remember being worried about gas prices. I remember not going on vacation. I remember things being tense. I could feel the stress that surrounded me.
Read More »My Old Kentucky Home: Place-based Inequality in America
- Central and Eastern Kentucky are flooding, with hundreds of homes lost.
- The loss of coal mining jobs and the opioid crisis are two key hindrances to growth that Kentucky is grappling with
- Place-based inequality is a tough issue to tackle, and it comes with many nuances.
- Kentucky is a beautiful, beautiful state.
