NOBEL PRIZE in ECONOMICS goes to 2 Americans.
Oddly, I'd done several blogs since 2009, nibbling at the edges of their work as basis for Science Fiction Romance novels.
"QUOTE FROM CNN: Roth and Shapley’s work focuses on finding the most efficient way to match parties in a transaction, whether it be students to schools or organ donors to recipients, according to the academy. Shapley used game theory to study matching models, and Roth built on them to make real-world changes to existing markets, including school choice and organ transplants, the academy said. Elements of their work are built into software that guides kidney donations in the United States, as well as in school choice models in New York, Boston, New Orleans and other U.S. cities, Roth told reporters Monday."
Nobel Prize for economics awarded to two U.S. economists - CNN.com
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Here's the CNN article:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/15/world/europe/sweden-nobel-economics/index.html
I’ve blogged about the “Overton Window” and Game Theory -- links below, but first ....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window
....which concepts are used to shape and direct the behavior of large groups of people (e.g. writing commercials for TV or promotion "trailers" for novels). Here in this Prize Winning work that theory is used to shape and direct the connections among individuals — in a way that anyone would approve of (i.e. organ donor with recipient in need). But what about if this technique is used to PREVENT associations-networks from forming (as in preventing organizations that oppose a government/dictator from forming, or perhaps to shape genetics by preventing certain couples from mating)?
You see how SCIENCE connects to ROMANCE here? Romance as a mathematical phenomenon is nothing new -- control of associations, putting the power of mating-choice into the hands of other humans is not new (Regency Romance) -- but making the power of mating-choice a scientific technology (internet dating sites) is pretty new, and successful enough to give people who want power over all humanity (to fix us, you know, because we are so broken we can't be trusted with free will choices) -- aha, now THAT IS NEW and worth exploring in fiction.
There’s a theory that says an individual has a limited number (about a thousand) people they can really know and associate with, a limit built into the human brain, the upper limit of a village before families pick up and move away.
If that's true, then you can fill people up with associates you choose, and you prevent them from associating in ways you don’t approve of.
WHAT A SCIENCE FICTION PREMISE! Now use this connect-the-right-people technique to do "Match Making" and control human genetics? Here's where I've been nibbling around the edges of this concept.
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/04/wired-magazine-for-romance.html
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2010/10/glenn-beck-didnt-invent-overton-window.html
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2011/01/failure-of-imagination-part-4-teasing.html
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-change-perception-of-romance.html
The oddest thing about this Nobel Prize development is that it connects to my Science Fiction novel series, Sime~Gen.
Right now, there is a gaming company working at developing a Sime~Gen Videogame for handheld devices. So I'm very involved in how GAMERS think. That could be why I see the possibilities in this Nobel Prize.
To get news of this game as it develops, sign up for the free newsletter at:
http://simegengame.com
The main premise of Sime~Gen is that HUMAN NATURE CHANGES in such a way that "survival of the fittest" is redefined from the "fittest" being those who are best at killing to those who are best at Compassion.
This premise does not affect individuals or characters in the stories so much as it affects the behavior of large groups of people. The peak of the bell curve of distribution of the trait of compassion among human populations gets moved just a bit toward higher compassion -- and as a result, group behavior such as depicted in the novels FIRST CHANNEL and its direct sequel CHANNEL'S DESTINY -- and eventually in the timeline ZELEROD'S DOOM -- makes sense. It's in a new paper edition and ebook formats.
Each of the new paper editions (and the 4 new novels that make a total of 12 ) has both the internal chronology of the stories in the universe, and the publication order chronology in the front so you can choose which order to read them.
You can find them all on Amazon:
http://astore.amazon.com/simegen-20
And here is a recent article on genetic research which is being discussed on the Sime~Gen Group on Facebook:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/11/recent-human-evolution-2/
Quote from inside this article:
So we're in a high (maybe peak) population explosion phase where permutations and combinations of genetic variations are going to be tested to select out survival traits. What happens to this soup of genetic variation when these mathematicians apply their new Nobel Prize Winning theory of connecting individuals to the online dating game?
Where do cell phones - smartphones that can monitor your vital signs - fit into this? Where does GPS tracking fit into this?
What usually happens when humans try to impose our pet philosophies on Nature?
"But, wait! There's More!" The Sime~Gen Game being developed is set in the space age where Humanity creates a new kind of star-drive and disrupts the patterns of commerce among dozens of alien species who think THEY own the galaxy. What happens when such Aliens try to impose their pet philosophies on Nature? On humans?
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com
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