EFTA00855040.pdf
dataset_9 pdf 246.5 KB • Feb 3, 2026 • 4 pages
From: "Jeffrey E." <jeevacation@gmail.com>
To: Joi Ito <,
Subject: Re:
Date: Sun, 07 Jun 2015 17:47:48 +0000
two. it took time to write it
On Sun, Jun 7, 2015 at 1:24 PM, Joi Ito < > wrote:
Actually, I guess that was rather one-dimensional of me...
On Jun 7, 2015, at 1:24 PM, Joi Ito < > wrote:
True. I guess "What if?" and "What is the answer to X?" are both questions.. one with a solution and one
without. A ray or a line vs a line segment right? Math!
- Joi
On Jun 7, 2015, at 1:10 PM, jeffrey E. <jeevacation®gmail.com> wrote:
solutions like nouns are the end. of a computation . questions are the beginning and middle.. open ended .
like the name joi. its much more authentic to say you are joing. in process of change . bounded by the
object know as a joi
On Sun, Jun 7, 2015 at 1:07 PM, Joi Ito < > wrote:
One other thought.
Have been thinking that engineers like to "solve" things. Are answers to questions "solutions"? How is
the role of imagination? What about "what if?" questions rather than questions with solutions?
- Joi
> On Jun 7, 2015, at 10:02 AM, Joi Ito <S> wrote:
> "mean but funny..)" Am I the only one who is every mean and funny to you? If so, it's important I
think. For your fitness.
> The question is great, but the question about the question, or the question of what is the "highest"
question or an even "better" question is also sort of funny. It's recursive up in a weird way.
> - Joi
>> On Jun 7, 2015, at 9:01 AM, jeffrey E. <jeevacation®gmail.com> wrote:
>> mean but funny..) ; if you have read kant his principles are equivalent to arrows in cat theory. he
did not have the formal apparatus to analyze. . amusing. economics is a description of the category of
exchanges. . it is not limited to money or information , it is a process , not a noun
>> On Sun, Jun 7, 2015 at 8:55 AM, Joi Ito - wrote:
EFTA00855040
»Not your old age question?
>>
>> :-)
» It's like Jeopardy except that Watson won't have the answer.
» One of my faculty, Cesar Hidalgo, recently wrote a book called "Why Information Grows".
http://www.amazon.com/Why-Information-Grows-Evolution-Economies/dp/0465048994
» I haven't read it yet, but I've had some conversations with him. He's trying to approach it from a
physics perspective and agues that life is "information" and "order". Not sure this is right.
>>
>> "What is economic growth? And why, historically, has it occurred in only a few places? Previous
efforts to answer these questions have focused on institutions, geography, finances, and psychology. But
according to MIT's antidisciplinarian Cesar Hidalgo, understanding the nature of economic growth
demands transcending the social sciences and including the natural sciences of information, networks,
and complexity. To understand the growth of economies, Hidalgo argues, we first need to understand the
growth of order.
» At first glance, the universe seems hostile to order. Thermodynamics dictates that over time, order--or
information--will disappear. Whispers vanish in the wind just like the beauty of swirling cigarette smoke
collapses into disorderly clouds. But thermodynamics also has loopholes that promote the growth of
information in pockets. Our cities are pockets where information grows, but they are not all the same. For
every Silicon Valley, Tokyo, and Paris, there are dozens of places with economies that accomplish little
more than pulling rocks off the ground. So, why does the US economy outstrip Brazil's, and Brazil's that
of Chad? Why did the technology corridor along Boston's Route 128 languish while Silicon Valley
blossomed? In each case, the key is how people, firms, and the networks they form make use of
information.
» Seen from Hidalgo's vantage, economies become distributed computers, made of networks of people,
and the problem of economic development becomes the problem of making these computers more
powerful. By uncovering the mechanisms that enable the growth of information in nature and
society,Why Information Grows lays bear the origins of physical order and economic growth. Situated at
the nexus of information theory, physics, sociology, and economics, this book propounds a new theory of
how economies can do, not just more, but more interesting things."
>>> On Jun 7, 2015, at 6:51 AM, Jeffrey E. <jeevacation@gmail.com> wrote:
>»,
>>> my age old question . if LIFE is the answer , what is the question, what set of problems
are living systems solving for?
>,»
>>> --
>» please note
>>> The information contained in this communication is
>>> confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may
>>> constitute inside information, and is intended only for
>» the use of the addressee. It is the property of
>» JEE
>>> Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this
>>> communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited
>>> and may be unlawful. If you have received this
>>> communication in error, please notify us immediately by
>>> return e-mail or by e-mail to jeevacation@gmail.com, and
EFTA00855041
>>> destroy this communication and all copies thereof,
>>> including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved
--
» please note
>> The information contained in this communication is
>> confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may
>> constitute inside information, and is intended only for
» the use of the addressee. It is the property of
>> JEE
>> Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this
>> communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited
>> and may be unlawful. If you have received this
>> communication in error, please notify us immediately by
>> return e-mail or by e-mail to jeevacation®gmail.com, and
>> destroy this communication and all copies thereof,
>> including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved
Please use this email for confidential mail only. For general Media Lab email, please use
please note
The information contained in this communication is
confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may
constitute inside information, and is intended only for
the use of the addressee. It is the property of
JEE
Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this
communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited
and may be unlawful. If you have received this
communication in error, please notify us immediately by
return e-mail or by e-mail to jeevacation®gmail.com, and
destroy this communication and all copies thereof,
including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved
WWI
Please use this email for confidential mail only. For general Media Lab email. please use
Please use this email for confidential mail only. For general Media Lab email. please use
EFTA00855042
please note
The information contained in this communication is
confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may
constitute inside information, and is intended only for
the use of the addressee. It is the property of
JEE
Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this
communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited
and may be unlawful. If you have received this
communication in error, please notify us immediately by
return e-mail or by e-mail to jeevacation@gmail.com, and
destroy this communication and all copies thereof,
including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved
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