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Chess Opening Theory/1. g4/1...d6. 1...Na6?! Black attacks the g4-pawn with the bishop. White should ignore the attack and play /2. Bg2/, because after 2... Bxg4?! 3. Bxb7 Nd7 4. Bxa8 Qxa8 White is up one point of material but Black has their queen on an active square and is threatening to capture White's rook on h1. Protecting the pawn with /2. h3/ is another good choice.

Chess Opening Theory/1. g4/1...Na6. 1...Na6?! This move doesn't do anything to help Black's position, but rather hurts it. The knight on a6 is not doing anything important or attacking White's weak kingside. White can develop with /2. Nf3/, /2. Bg2/, or take the center with /2. d4/, /2. e4/.

Chess Opening Theory/1. g4/1...Nf6. 1...Nf6. This move develops a knight and attacks the defenseless g-pawn. The problem with this move is that White can play /2. g5/ to attack the knight, which does not have a good square to retreat besides h5 and its starting square. The move 2...Ng4 is particularly bad as the knight gets trapped after 3. d4.

Occupational Health/Occupational Illnesses. Silicosis. Summary of the history. The laws and guidelines put up around occupational illnesses really put meaning into "regulations [being] written in blood." Some of the more notable events include the 1930s Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster, where workers, in addition to being put under working conditions akin to sweatshops, were also not given respirators. This is "despite" respirator guidelines being drawn up by the US Bureau of Mines prior to the disaster. This is why seemingly draconian and strict OSHA regulations exist; somewhere along the line, one can bet that someone failed to absorb all the relevant safety literature, until disaster struck. Thus, voluntary guidelines are not enough: safety rules "must" be regulated. History "can" repeat itself. Despite all the accumulated knowledge on silicosis, countertop cutters have, unbelievably, still gotten silicosis in the 21st century. This has resulted in a outright ban on engineered stone in Australia as of 2024-07-01, resulting in the loss of jobs. To defend against safety laws falling into obscurity, and jobs being lost through outright bans, "all" workers, be it management or laborers, must "also" defend themselves by being aware of all the dangers in their work "before" committing to an unfamiliar job. To sum up: Pathogens. Summary of the history. In the 1990s, the weakened immune systems caused by the HIV-AIDS epidemic resulted in mass reactivations of TB in hospitals. A disease which had been all but forgotten about, due to antibiotics and sanitation, was suddenly making a comeback. "Federal Register" documents from NIOSH, as well as the NIOSH TB guide (pictured) describe the noted "failure" of certain disposable Dust/Mist respirators, as well as surgical masks, when it came to preventing tuberculosis infections. This was a large impetus for the creation of 42 CFR 84 in 1995, which created commonly known respirator ratings such as N95 and P100, to represent the change in testing methodology only. Don't get it confused: These ratings are not "fit-tests", and never have been. The major change that 42 CFR 84 brought was the replacement of silica dust as a testing medium, in favor of NaCl (salt particles) or DOP (oily particles previously used for HEPA filter testing). Fit tests are regulated by OSHA under 29 CFR 1910.134. Certain respirators do "not" require fit testing. These are called "powered-air-purifying respirators" (PAPRs) and are directly mentioned in the NIOSH TB guide. One should also note the required occupational use of PAPRs in places like Biosafety-Level-3 labs. For context, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was rated BSL-3 until 2024, according to CIDRAP. History "can" repeat itself. Enter the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Prior to COVID, during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, randomized control trials showed little difference in outcomes for healthcare personnel wearing N95 respirators over surgical masks, usually not controlling for fit, or people getting infected outside a hospital. Likely due to the proliferation of RCT papers, after the H1N1 pandemic, the CDC recommended "surgical masks" over respirators, seemingly in contradiction to other CDC documents like the NIOSH TB guide. Coincidentally, the US Strategic National Stockpile "did not" refill their supply of respirators, and, very quickly, shortages of N95 respirators began in the early months of 2020. Thus, people were left, to find out for themselves, the flaws of non-approved non-fit-tested PPE—think surgical and cloth masks—despite the fact that their effectiveness was already known: "absolutely terrible" against TB, as described in the NIOSH TB guide. This became especially problematic during the Omicron outbreak. Since Omicron, there have been many anecdotal reports on social media on people getting infected going to the hospital, likely caused by hospital personnel not wearing masks. Their complaints may have merit: In 2023, the New York Times noticed a decline in mask mandates among hospital workers. The scientific studies in that article note that the Omicron, a variant of SARS-CoV-2, "at the time" was already shown to cause increased mortality among cancer patients. The details. What is less known is SARS-CoV-2 can "exacerbate" occupational hazards. One of the more troubling hazards is SARS' ability to infect brain cells. Another is its effects on the immune system, increasing the risk of infection from opportunistic pathogens. These symptoms, along with many others, constitute what is known as Long COVID. Most of the time, pathogens alone did not constitute an occupational hazard outside of labs, crowded spaces like barracks, and healthcare settings like in hospitals. Most dangerous pathogens, prior to SARS-CoV-2, either didn't transmit very well, or were easy to treat. And SARS-CoV-2 might have been easy to treat, if it weren't for its propensity to change. Rapid mutation rate of SARS-CoV-2. The R0 of SARS-CoV-2 has increased considerably with variants. In fact, there is perhaps no better proof of evolution than the variants constantly being submitted to databases like GISAID. A SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant caused encephalitis in 2022, in Children, in Taiwan. Omicron in general has seen its R0 triple compared to the 2021 Delta variant, according to a paper by Ying Liu et. al. The virus has "unpredictible risk". "Unpredictable risk" is how the flu became deadly back in 1918. Just like how flu vaccines need to be adjusted every year to account for new mutations, the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine needs "boosters" every year. Unfortunately, re-vaccination rates are well below 50%, even in places with large economies, like the US. And despite an attempted push to vaccinate everyone around 2021, herd immunity has "never" been reached in developed countries, let alone the rest of the world. Fortunately, there are controls that can be used that do not rely on human behavior. Looking at history can also help; especially since no vaccine was available for the 1918 influenza pandemic, given the state of medical science at the time. Thus, along with changes in behavior, anti-pandemic design had to built in buildings. Pathogens outside the hospital. New mitigations. It pays to stay on top of the latest news on non-PPE mitigations. Even if an unsafe situation seems necessary now, that doesn't mean it will always be the case.

Occupational Health/Risk Analysis. Swiss cheese model. One field where the Swiss cheese model is used extensively is in spacecraft. In space, NASA is unable to service spacecraft, so redundant systems, and processes, have to be built in so the mission is 100% successful in not being inoperative. The same "margin of error" applies to society as well.

AI Art Generation Handbook/AI Model Showdown. "Note: If you have ideas for "high difficulty" prompts for me to test, kindly start a discussion here." In this showdown format, we stick to the following format: (ii) Each model have 4 chances to generate the images (iv) Scoring is as followed: Complex Prompt Adherences. Prompt 1: Context: (i) Testing AI Model of "concept bleeding" , i.e: Whether the red coloured wall will "bleed" into saree or otherwise / items in the box will spread to other areas (ii) Testing AI Model of "relative positioning" , i.e: Able to identify the area of image for left , middle and right positions (iii) Testing AI Model of "composition generation" , i,e: Able to generate multiple items at its specific arrangment Prompt 2: Context: (i) Testing AI Model of "perspective rendering", i.e Accurate perspective for different scenes viewed from inside, looking out. (ii) Testing AI Model of "object interactions", i,e How the people handle the scissor and use it for cutting fabrics Prompt 3: Context:

Chess Opening Theory/1. g4/1...f5. 1...f5 - Alessi Gambit. This offbeat, dubious gambit attacks the g4 pawn immediately, but allows White to take the pawn with 2. gxf5. Disadvantages of 1...f5:. 1.g4 f5

Chess Opening Theory/1. f4/1...d5/2. g4. 2. g4?? This move blunders a pawn for no apparent reason. Black can play 2...e5!, threatening checkmate and therefore winning a pawn. 1.f4 d5 2.g4??

Chess Opening Theory/1. g4/1...b5. = Grob's Attack, 1...b5!? = This really is not a very good idea. White can just play 2. Bg2 and Black cannot play 2...Bb7?? because of 3. Bxb7! followed by 4. Bxa8. The board below shows that 1752 games fell to the game-losing blunder of 2...Bb7??. This is an example of why 1...b5 is not good, nor popular. 1.g4 b5!?

AI Art Generation Handbook/FLUX/ComfyUI. Comfy UI. Click here to see how to install ComfyUI first. Depending on your GPU's VRAM capacity, it can be recommended to use FLUX.1-schnell (recommended if your GPU's VRAM requirement is less than 12 GB VRam / want faster image generation) FLUX.1-dev (recommended if your GPU's VRAM requirement is more than 12 GB VRam) Then, download the following files as followed and paste it into the related folders : And then, you can download the workflow files json for FLUX here

In-Depth General Biology/Foreword. We are all alive. We all breathe, eat, move, react, grow, reproduce and die. And that's something that extends to all living things on Earth and not only us, humans. Life extends everywhere, and some lifeforms are so small we can't even see them without a microscope aid. Life is a hard concept to define, no doubts about it. But life is something so aweinspiring and mesmerizing that pushes us to study every aspect of it and examine all its facets, ranging from the smallest virus of all, the most complex chemical reactions in cells and the transformation of species through space and time, to the interactions of living matter and energy, and the biggest of all trees. The aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive walkthrough of biology, the aptly named "science of life," through its current understanding, debates, and wonders. Whether it's used as a textbook for an introductory biology course, as a self-study guide, or simply for the joy of learning more about the complexity and beauty of life's processes, "In-Depth General Biology" offers an introduction to the principles and phenomena that govern the living world. We will delve into the chemical reactions that occur every second within our cells and the interactions between atoms. We'll explore how macromolecules interact to sustain life and comprehend the cellular organization of living beings. The transmission of genetic information, evolution through space and time, the relationships between organisms and their environments, and the diversity of life, aided by the study of form and function, will collectively reveal the grand panorama of life in all its glory. The book is interconnected, so, you can explore all you want whenever you desire to do so. This will also give you a fresh glance into new perspectives of life. Good voyage in the beautiful study of life!

In-Depth General Biology. Contents. In-Depth General Biology: A Foreword. 1. Biology: The Science of Life

In-Depth General Biology/UNIT 1. The Chemical Basis of Life. If you desire to understand life, you have to learn first what makes life and how it works at the smallest levels. From atoms to DNA, this first unit seeks for you to understand the principles of chemistry and physics tha will aid you in your journey. "In this Unit, you'll learn":

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5/2. Nf3/2...c5/3. g3. White plans to fianchetto the light-squared bishop. Black usually responds with /3...cxd4/ or /3...Nc6/.

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5/2. Nf3/2...c5/3. g3/3...Nc6. As planned, White is going to play /4. Bg2/, which transposes to the Reversed Grünfeld.

Chess Opening Theory/1. Nf3/1...c5/2. g3. 2. g3. White plans to fianchetto the light-squared bishop. Theory table. 1. Nf3 c5 2. g3

Chess Opening Theory/1. Nf3/1...c5/2. g3/2...Nc6. 2...Nc6. White will most likely play /3. Bg2/ to justify the g3 push. Transpositions with /3. c4/ and /3. e4/ are possible. Theory table. 1. Nf3 c5 2. g3 Nc6

Chess Opening Theory/1. Nf3/1...c5/2. g3/2...Nc6/3. Bg2. 3. Bg2. Black can try to mirror White with /3...g6/ or play a bit more aggressively with /3...e5/. The unusual /3...d5/ transposes to the French Variation of the King's Indian Attack. Theory table. 1. Nf3 c5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2

Chess Opening Theory/1. c4/1...c5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6. 2...Nc6. This continues the main line of the Symmetrical Variation.

Chess Opening Theory/1. c4/1...c5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. g3. 3. g3. White plans to fianchetto the light-squared bishop. Black usually responds by mirroring White with /3...g6/.

Chess Opening Theory/1. c4/1...c5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. g3/3...g6. 3...g6. White will play /4. Bg2/ to justify the g3 push.

Chess Opening Theory/1. c4/1...c5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. g3/3...g6/4. Bg2. 4. Bg2. Black will continue to mirror White with /4...Bg7/.

Chess Opening Theory/1. c4/1...c5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. g3/3...g6/4. Bg2/4...Bg7. 4...Bg7. White can either castle with /5. O-O/ or transpose into a popular line of the Symmetrical Variation with /5. Nc3/.

Chess Opening Theory/1. Nh3/1...Nh6. = 1...Nh6!? - Ammonia Opening = 1...Nh6!? A really odd move. It is almost never seen as it does not help black exploit white's mistake. White can continue with moves such as: 1.Nh3 Nh6!?

Quantum Chemistry/Complex numbers. write a brief review of complex numbers, including euler's relation. Sample Question. Use Euler's relation to simplify the following expression, which is relevant to the phase factor in quantum wavefunctions: formula_1 Express your answer in the form a+bi, where a and b are real numbers.

Quantum Chemistry/Integrals in polar coordinates. Write a brief review of integrals in spherical polar coordinates Example. formula_1

Quantum chemistry/Integration by parts. Write a brief summary of how to perform integration by parts. Example Question: Use integration by parts to evaluate the expectation value of position ⟨x⟩ for a particle described by the wavefunction formula_1

Quantum Chemistry/Integration by change of variables. Provide a brief description of solving integrals by change of variables Example formula_1

Quantum Chemistry/Finding maxima. Describe the process of finding a maximum of a function Find the maximum of the function formula_1

Quantum Chemistry/Integration by parts. Write a brief review of integrals in spherical polar coordinates Example. formula_1

Quantum Chemistry/Probability and Statistics. Write a brief summary of the properties of probability distributions. Give an example of integrating a probability distribution to determine a probability.

Quantum Chemistry/Multivariable differentiation. Provide a brief description of partial differentiation. Example. Show the calculation of the derivative of this wavefunction with respect to x and y for the function formula_1

Quantum Chemistry/Implicit differentiation. Provide a brief description of implicit differentiation. Example. Differentiate the function with respect to x formula_1 Where formula_2

Quantum Chemistry/Operator algebra. Provide a brief description of operator algebra as it relates to quantum chemistry. Provide a short example

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e6/2. d4/2...d5/3. Nd2/3...Be7. This is the Morozevich Variation in the French Defense. This is a sideline which has the idea to force Ngf3, not a comfortable place for the king's knight as he would rather be tucked at e2 to protect the d pawn. Hence, 4.Bd3 is the main line to delay the king's knight to establish itself on f3 and force and Nf6 and e5, to possibly transpose to the mainline.

The science of finance/What is wealth?. Economic science often invites us to wish for growth, in order to fight against unemployment, because it is good for public finances and because it is supposed to improve the quality of our lives. Pollution, the depletion or destruction of natural resources, the psychological distress that often accompanies a consumerist lifestyle, the wasting of wealth to satisfy vanity, and many other effects, are enough to show that there is something insane about the idolatry of growth. But on the other hand, the defense of degrowth does not seem very sensible either, because we must produce wealth to live and live well. Choosing between growth and degrowth is foolish. We want both because we want the growth of the good and the degrowth of the bad, quite simply. But what is good? And what is bad? What is really wealth? Goods and services. Work has value as soon as it bears fruit. But what is real fruit? To be in good health, to perceive well, to be moved well, to imagine well, to think well, to want well, to act well, and all that constitutes a good life of a mind, are all fundamental goods for all minds. Similarly, to be in bad health, to perceive badly, to be moved badly, to imagine badly, to think badly, to want badly, to act badly, and all that constitutes a bad life of a mind, are all fundamental evils for all minds. Derivative goods are means to achieve fundamental goods. Derivative evils are causes of fundamental evils. Fundamental goods and evils are mutually exclusive but derivative goods and evils are not, because a means to achieve a fundamental good can at the same time be a cause of a fundamental evil. Goods may be essential or only desirable. Essential goods can be more or less essential, the same goes for desirable goods. Evils can be intolerable or bearable. Intolerable evils can be more or less intolerable, the same goes for bearable evils. Preventing intolerable evil is an essential good. Being deprived of an essential good is an intolerable evil. Preventing a bearable evil is generally a desirable good. Being deprived of a desirable good is generally not an evil, because desirable goods are far too numerous for one to be able to have them all. We sometimes distinguish between goods and services. But services are also goods, and even more fundamental goods than others, because a good which is not a service is a good because it provides a service. For example, food is a good because it provides the service of nourishing. Some products are not goods because they provide no service. They generally have a negative value, because getting rid of them has a cost. Services are consumed at the time they are produced. Goods that are not services are consumed after a certain period of time, short (fresh products) or more or less long (durable goods, including stocks of non-perishable foods). Some durable goods are almost eternal (quality housing, jewelry, works of art, etc.). Others are consumed by use over their lifespan. Even near-eternal goods generally require work to maintain. A durable good is like a service put in a bottle, can or container. Those who produce the durable good provide the service. Those who use and consume the durable good receive the service. A good is a good only if it provides a service. Good is always to be of service. The economy as a whole is a system of exchange or gift of services. Workers are sometimes competed with and replaced by durable goods, because these are also service providers. The wealth accumulated and retained is not only the sum of all the tangible and durable goods that we keep for the services they will render to us, because projects in progress and companies are also durable goods. As with all durable goods they are expected to provide services. A project or company is profitable if the value of the goods and services provided, the revenue, is greater than the value of the costs, the goods and services consumed. Wealth is always a service or a means of providing services. A service is wealth because it improves the quality of life, or because it is a means of producing other wealth. Workers, tangible and durable goods, projects and companies are wealth because they provide services. Final consumption is the consumption of goods and services which directly improve the quality of life (in principle, because they can also deteriorate it): food, clothing, housing, health, education, transport, sport and entertainment, communication to long distance... Intermediate consumption is the consumption of goods and services which are used in the production chain of final goods and services. Certain goods, such as means of transport, computers and smartphones, can serve as both intermediate goods and final goods. The line between intermediate goods and final goods is often blurred, because final goods are also generally intermediate goods which are used to produce new goods. The quality of life does not depend only on final consumption: having a good job and benefiting from good working conditions, feeling secure in the present, for one's future, that of one's children, one's country and all of humanity, respect and be respected, love and be loved, know how to meditate and relax, be at peace with oneself and with others, not despair, breathe good air, benefit from a good climate and a welcoming nature... The fruits of the Earth are all the riches given to us by Nature, plus all those that we can produce. We too are fruits of the Earth. How is wealth created? Nature constantly creates wealth. Sunlight, rain and wind, Earth, seas and rivers, fauna and flora are perpetually renewed riches. Workers and durable goods create wealth by providing services. It is generally necessary to consume wealth to produce new wealth. Supplies must be consumed. Workers must consume wealth to reproduce their labor power. Production goods are consumed by their use, unless they are quasi-eternal. Wealth combined can produce more wealth than wealth separated. A team of workers can do what separate workers cannot do. Well-equipped workers can produce wealth that cannot be produced without such equipment. They also need supplies. Production goods generally require workers to be used. Projects and companies create wealth with workers, supplies, and productive goods, which could not produce such wealth if they were not thus brought together. Projects joined together can produce more wealth than separate projects, because the completion of one project can increase the value of another project, when there are synergies. The art of producing wealth is always an art of composing wealth already present, just as a symphony is a composition of all the talents of the musicians of an orchestra. Bringing together wealth and carrying out several projects at the same time to find synergies is like finding harmony between several voices. Finding the right progression and rhythm for the projects put together is like finding a beautiful melody and its rhythm. To be good producers of wealth we have to be like Mozart. Real wealth and market wealth. Real wealth (capital) at a given time is the set of all durable goods that exist at that time. Real wealth must include the intelligence, skills and health of human beings (human capital) and natural resources (seas, oceans, rivers and lakes, landscapes, wildlife and natural flora...). Market wealth is the market value of real wealth. It is evaluated based on market prices. When goods are not sold, their market value is assessed based on the market prices of equivalent goods. As human beings are not sold as slaves, their market value cannot be assessed, except by indirect means (discounted lifetime income or price of risk) which are highly questionable. The valuation of natural resources poses similar problems. Market wealth depends on long-term expectations. Durable goods have a market value because it is anticipated that they will be used, and that they can be sold. Companies have a market value because we anticipate that they will make profits. But lifestyles, and anticipations of future lifestyles, can vary. Such variations are difficult to predict. If, for example, humans give up on air tourism, all the infrastructure and equipment intended to produce and consume airplanes, including the airplanes themselves, automatically lose their value. If fiancés lose the habit of offering diamonds, the market value of diamond stocks will be greatly diminished. Expectations are very fluctuating. They vary with the occurrence of unforeseen events (disasters...) and are often irrational (animal spirits) because no one can predict with certainty what the future holds. This is why the market value of shares can vary suddenly. Billions of dollars can disappear in a day without a note having been burned, simply because human beings have changed their minds. The ubiquity of options. The freedom to choose is the most fundamental good. If we remove freedom, we remove most fundamental goods. If everything is prescribed in advance, minds are nothing more than servants or slaves. And the freedom to choose is also generally a condition of efficiency and intelligence. A program that wants to prescribe everything in advance is most often too rigid, prevents us from adapting to novelty and condemns us to failure. Having the freedom to choose means having options. We have an option when we have the possibility or the right to do something but not the obligation. For example, a lottery ticket is an option on its eventual gain. We have the right but not the obligation to collect the gain if there is one. When exercising an option is simply to cash in an immediate gain, the agent's freedom to exercise the option is more or less fictitious. In general, agents do not refuse to cash in their gains. But the same is not true if the exercise of an option exposes to the risk of loss. Usually we reason about options that offer only two possible choices: either we exercise the option, or we don't. But we can also reason about options that have many possible choices. To exercise the option is then to choose one possibility among the many offered. For example, if A and B are two two-choice options, to be exercised on the same date, the two together can be considered a single four-choice option: exercise A and B, exercise A without B, exercise B without A, exercise neither A nor B. Not to exercise an option is to exercise the option not to exercise it. When we have a two-choice option, we always have at the same time the opposite option of not exercising it. We exercise one when we do not exercise the other. An option is European style (more commonly we say European) when the date of its exercise is fixed in advance. It is American style when the date of the exercise can be chosen. A durable and consumable good is an option on its consumption. One acquires the option by acquiring the good, one exercises the option when one consumes it. It is an American option whose maturity is the consumption limit date. A capital good is an option on its use. If not worn out by use, there is an unlimited succession of European options, one option for each day, or period, of use. But if worn by use, it is similar to a batch of American options. Each time we use it, we consume part of its potential use, which amounts to exercising an American option. A natural wealth is an option on its use. If it is renewable, like land that is not degraded by its use, it is an unlimited succession of European options, one for each day, or each period, of use. If consumed by its use, such as a natural reserve of oil, it is similar to a batch of American options. A skill is an option on its exercise. It is a succession of European options for every day, or all periods, of work. Designing a project means acquiring the option to carry it out. If the project is dated, it is a European option. If the project is not dated, if we can choose the moment of its realization, it is an American option. A buy or sell decision is usually the exercise of an option and the acquisition of a new option at the same time. When we have 1000 dollars, we acquired the option to spend them, to buy everything that is sold within the limit of 1000 dollars. The option is exercised by spending the 1000 dollars. It is an American option with perpetual duration. As soon as there is uncertainty about the value of the expected services, a purchase is similar to the purchase of an option. It's like buying a lottery ticket. As soon as one is free to choose the dates of the expected services, a purchase is similar to the purchase of an American option. The only purchasing decisions that do not look like option purchases are those for which there is no uncertainty either about the dates or about the value of the services expected. When we acquire a durable good, we acquire the option of reselling it. It's an American option. The exercise of the option, the sale, is at the same time the acquisition of a new option, the sum of money transferred by the buyer. A loan, if there is a risk of default, is like an option on its repayment. It is a European option, or a succession of European options, if the repayment dates are fixed in advance. To exercise the option is to be reimbursed, if possible. Ownership of a business is like an option on its profits. It is a succession of European options, for all the dates of payment of the dividends. To exercise the option is to receive the dividends, if any. To hire an employee is to acquire an option on the services they can render. To freely have the means to provide services is always to have a portfolio of options, because freely providing a service to others or to oneself is the exercise of an option. Wealth is always a wealth of options. The means to provide service and the freedom to make good use of them are the foundations of wealth. Savings and investment. Everything that is produced is consumed or saved. It is the law of the excluded middle: everything that is produced is consumed or is not consumed. To be saved is to be preserved, is not to be consumed. A stock of durable goods is a savings, like a squirrel's stock of nuts. Accumulated wealth is the sum of all the durable goods we have preserved and all the projects in progress. A durable good can be considered as a project, the plan to use it. Conversely, a project can be considered a durable good. Its purchase price is the money that must be paid to realize it. Like all other durable goods, it is purchased to provide services. Its revenues are the services it produces. When we advance the money to carry out a project, we create a durable asset, the project, and we buy it at the same time, we become the owner of the project. The project we created is a durable asset that we keep until it is finished. The money that we have advanced, that we have invested in a project, is therefore saved. One way of investing is to buy production goods to carry out the project of using them, but we can also invest without purchasing any production goods, because we can carry out projects by renting all the goods which we need. What matters for there to be investment, and therefore savings, is not the purchase of production goods, but the money advanced to carry out projects that we hope will be profitable. A company can be considered a project. To own shares is to be co-owner of a project. The money saved by the shareholder was invested in a project. Increasing a stock of unsold goods is usually unwanted savings. It can also be counted as an unwanted investment, because we plan to sell unsold items. If we always count stocks of goods as investments, savings equals investment. This is an accounting equality. With the law of the excluded middle, we then obtain: everything that is produced is consumed or invested. A company party can be counted as an investment, because it can increase the value of the company, by encouraging team spirit for example. All the money spent on the party is invested and therefore saved, since an investment is always a savings. By drinking bottles of Champagne, we save their value. The adage is therefore confirmed: a bottle drunk is a bottle won, not a bottle lost. Lost bottles are those that are never drunk. Net investment equals net saving. It is the change in overall wealth over a given period. It is equal to the change in value of the sum of all durable goods that are preserved, if we count the projects in progress as durable goods retained, and to the change in value of all projects in progress, if counts all durable goods kept as projects in progress, plans to use them, or sell them. The purchase of a durable good intended for consumption, a pair of shoes for example, is a saving as long as the good is not consumed, but it is generally counted as consumption, not as an investment, because we anticipate the consumption for which it is intended. Buying a bond, or any other way of lending your money, is saving because the bond is kept. When we lend our money, the lender's savings are offset by the borrower's dissavings, and overall savings are zero, because we have not retained more wealth. No wealth has been created. Keeping money in a bank account is a way of saving by lending money to the bank. As with bonds, overall savings are zero. No wealth is created. The customer's savings are offset by the bank's dissavings. Buying a lottery ticket is a savings because it is kept until the day of the draw. Games of chance are generally zero-sum games. Whatever is gained by some is lost by others, and vice versa. The sale of lottery tickets is a savings for the buyers and a dissaving for the seller, who will have to pay the winnings. Overall savings are zero. As with bonds, no wealth is created from the sale of lottery tickets. Financial products, except stocks and bonds, often resemble lottery tickets in zero-sum games. In such cases, the savings of the buyer of a financial product is offset by the dissavings of the seller, and the overall savings is zero. No wealth is created. Acquiring an option is a savings, because the option is retained. It is consumed on the day of exercise. If the exercise of an option is the acquisition of a new option, it is a saving which replaces the previous one. Cryptocurrencies are like lottery tickets. Buying them is therefore a savings, but it is not a good investment. Even final consumption can be accompanied by a form of savings, because it can produce good memories that are kept. A good memory is wealth that has been saved. What is a liability? An asset is a durable wealth, or a right to receive wealth. A liability is a debt, or a duty to return or provide wealth. Both assets and liabilities can be risky. A lottery ticket is a risky asset for the buyer and a risky liability for the seller. A liability is not necessarily the duty to pay money. It can be the duty to provide a good or service. Short selling is the sale of an asset that has been borrowed. It must be returned when the loan is due and therefore repurchased that day, if it has not been repurchased before. When we have sold short, the asset that we must return is a liability. Short selling is the financial technique for playing on falling prices, because we make a profit if the price of the asset that we have sold short decreases. If a project is risky, it happens that we do not know if it will bring in revenue or on the contrary cause a cost that we will have to pay. Such a project is neither an asset nor a liability, but a random asset-liability. This is what happens when a company has unlimited liability. Limited liability companies do not expose their owners to the risk of paying debts and are therefore always assets. A wealth or a portfolio is composed of assets and liabilities, risky or not, and random asset-liabilities. What's the point of saving? We can save to carry out projects and thus produce new wealth. We can also save to preserve wealth. If these riches will be useful to us, this amounts to carrying out the project of using them and thus producing new wealth. But if these preserved riches remain useless, like gold buried in a garden, nothing is produced. Now wealth is given to us to produce wealth. This is why Jesus condemns hoarding as a crime: “throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:30). Buying gold means locking it in a safe or a vault. It's like burying it in a garden. Gold in a vault produces nothing, and its conservation consumes a little wealth: guarding costs. Cryptocurrencies produce nothing, and their conservation consumes a lot of wealth, particularly the electrical energy consumed. This is why cryptocurrencies are not a good investment, but only a money pit.

The science of finance/Income. Profit. A project is profitable when the value of the wealth it produces is greater than the value of the wealth it consumes. The costs of a project are the wealth it consumes, its revenues are the wealth it produces. Supplies, labor, and wear and tear on production goods are costs. The goods and services produced are revenues. Profit is the difference in value between revenues and costs. When a durable good is a final consumption good, its revenues are the services provided by its consumption, its cost is its acquisition price. If the value of the service consumed is counted by the value of the good consumed at the same time, the value of the revenue is equal to the value of the cost. Generally, just stocking our pantry isn't enough to make a profit. A final consumer good produces a service, but it generally does not produce a profit, because the value of the service it provides is not increased by the plan to retain it. A durable good is quasi-eternal when it produces services without being consumed. In general, there are also usage costs, heating a home for example, or the electricity bill for a computer. If the services produced have a value greater than user costs, a quasi-eternal good resembles a goose that lays golden eggs, because it produces a profit without being consumed. When goods or services are consumed in a production project, the value of the wealth they produce depends on the project. The more intelligent a project is, the greater the wealth it produces for a fixed cost. Profit is possible because wealth can be used to produce more wealth. The intelligent use of wealth to produce new wealth brings profit. A business is generally an open-ended project. For a finite duration project, we count the profit made on the day the project closes. To count the profit of a company, we can consider it as a succession of projects with a finite duration. The company is like a project that is renewed each period. The value of the company at the beginning of the period is counted as an initial cost of the project for that period, the value of the company at the end of the period is counted as final revenue. To count the profit of a company, we must count its value, its capital, and its appreciation, or depreciation. A worker is a profitable enterprise for himself. His income is the remuneration for his work. His costs are those he must pay to work. For a worker, an increase in his labor income is an increase in his profit. For the company that employs him, this is an increase in its costs, which is removed from its profit. The calculation of profits depends on prices. If prices vary, a profitable project can become ruinous, and vice versa. Is profit a theft? Profit from a business or project is property income, not labor income. If there is any work involved in managing the property or business, it should be counted as a cost of the project, which is subtracted from the profit. The profits of a business or project are income paid to owners who have not worked, whereas a worker must earn his profit, the income from his work, by the sweat of his brow. Should we conclude that the owners' profits are wealth stolen from the workers? An unfair price is a theft in disguise. If it is too high, the buyer is harmed, as if robbed by the seller. If it's too low, it's the opposite. But if the price is right, there is no theft. When labor is underpaid, it is stolen by those who purchase its services. The unfair price of labor means that in this case, profit is theft. We often think about projects as if all prices were fixed and imposed, because there is a tyranny of prices. We often don't choose the cost prices and we can't set a price for the revenue that strays too far from the prices that already exist, if we want to hope to sell. If the price system is fair, there is no theft. A profitable project is not necessarily a thieving project. Profit is wealth created by the completion of the project. For a profitable project, revenues are greater than costs, because the project is intelligent, because the means have been well chosen to produce goods or services. The wealth created by a project is a fruit of intelligence. If prices are right, the most profitable project is not the most thieving project, only the most intelligent project. Owners take profits from businesses and leave nothing for others, who may feel they have been robbed, if property is very unfairly distributed. But it is the injustice in the distribution of profits that causes theft, not the profit itself. Even if the property is public, we must still count the profits of a project, if we want to know if we have made good use of our wealth, because profit is a creation of wealth. Even in a purely socialist economy, we want profitable projects, because we want to create wealth. To repair the injustice of the distribution of property, one might believe that workers should always be owners of their means of production: the land to those who work it.. In this way, the wealth produced returns entirely to those who produce it and the owners cannot earn anything without working. The redistribution of wealth to workers is sometimes a measure of justice, but it can also lead to senseless consequences if it is generalized excessively. The responsibilities of an owner are not the same as those of a worker. We may want to work without being an owner. Requiring a flight attendant to be a shareholder in the airline in which she is recruited would be insane, and would pose recruitment difficulties. Additionally, capital per worker (the value of the firm divided by the number of workers) varies a lot depending on the firm. Some workers should therefore be much richer than others. The redistribution of the means of production to workers could therefore worsen wealth inequalities instead of reducing them. The owners of a project are those who have provided the money or wealth to carry it out. If they cannot receive the profits from a project and only suffer its losses, they have no incentive to advance their wealth. Abolishing profits from private property means removing incentives to make good use of property. If the workers do not want to put up the money for a project, or cannot, because they are not rich enough, if the private owners do not want to either, all that remains is the State- Providence to finance the project. Private property is not necessary for freedom of enterprise because the state can play the role of a universal bank that finances all projects as soon as they merit financing. With a magnificent state, always intelligent, competent, honest and dedicated to serving its citizens, all big property could be public without infringing on private liberties. But the state isn't always beautiful. We can fear, not without reason, that the State is sometimes tyrannical. Private property often provides good incentives: take care of wealth and make good use of it to carry out profitable projects. But it can also provide bad incentives. If prices are unfair, the most profitable projects can also be the most thieving. In this case, the search for profit pushes us to steal. Private interests can also be contrary to the public interest by ignoring costs paid by the public. Owners do not always pay all the costs of their projects. If the unpaid costs are costs of environmental degradation, the search for private profits can lead to ecological crime. Large projects are generally those that concern the greatest number of citizens. If wealth is very concentrated, the very rich can behave like tyrants and make decisions based on their private interests that concern everyone, and which sometimes harm everyone. When projects concern many citizens, it may seem desirable that ownership be public, because a good state always makes its decisions in the general interest. Public power can therefore be a way of limiting the tyranny of the very rich. But if the State is unjust, we have the choice between the plague and cholera, the tyranny of the very rich or the tyranny of the State. Social democracy is about taking the best of both worlds, private wealth and public wealth. It is the most commonly chosen option, on the left, the center and the right. Creating wealth without work. Nature constantly produces wealth without our assistance, the light that the Sun constantly sheds on the Earth for example. A fully automated or robotic production unit can operate with almost no labor, provided that supervision and maintenance costs can be neglected. Good quality housing is an almost eternal good which provides a great service, being housed, almost without work. We still have to clean up. If we consider reading as a pleasure and not as work, a book is an almost eternal good which produces wealth, the pleasure of reading, without work and without being consumed. If new, very useful uses are found for a raw material, the value of the stocks already accumulated is automatically increased. This is a real increase in wealth, because stocks are like reservoirs of the services they can provide. The owners of the stocks can make a profit by reselling their stocks for more than the purchase price. This is profit earned without any work having been done and without anyone having been robbed. Knowledge is a wealth that can create wealth without requiring any work, other than that of acquiring the knowledge. What is income? An agent's income is the sum of their labor and property income. It is consumed or saved. Property income is profit, which includes capital appreciation, net of depreciation. Depreciation of capital must be distinguished from consumption. When a durable good is consumed by its use, a car or a pair of shoes, for example, it is a consumption of capital, not a depreciation. Depreciation of capital is the decrease in its value when it is not consumed, diminished or partly sold. We increase our capital by saving a part of our income, therefore by investing our money: by buying durable goods or company shares, or by paying the initial costs of profitable projects. Appreciation of capital is the increase in its value when we have not bought anything. When a company reinvests its profits, it increases its capital by advancing money, as if shareholders had received dividends and used them to buy new shares of the company. We can consume by spending part of our income, by consuming or selling part of our capital, or by borrowing. Borrowing to consume is dissaving, because it increases liabilities without increasing assets. The value of a property is the difference between assets and liabilities. Savings can always be counted as an investment. They are the difference between the value of the property held at the end of the period and the value of the property held at the beginning of the period.

The science of finance/Where does the money come from?. Money and the multiplication of goods and services. Money is a multiplier of goods and services. Everyone is encouraged to provide goods services to earn money, and to request goods and services, as soon as we can afford them. In this way, money incentivizes everyone to provide and demand services. This incentive is permanent. Money must be destroyed, or prevented from circulating, to cancel this incentive, because as soon as money is available, people are encouraged to spend it, and therefore to circulate it. One person's expenses make another person's income, because the goods and services purchased are always sold. So the more people spend money, the more they earn. Money stimulates economic activity by encouraging spending. The income generated by the offer of goods and services leads to demand, and therefore to offer, new goods and services, as if the goods and services already offered could be multiplied, like the multiplication of loaves. We can measure the multiplication of goods and services by money with its speed of circulation. This speed is the number of times during a given period that a unit of currency was used to purchase a service or a new good. When we increase the money supply, the money put into circulation encourages people to spend more. This may lead to an increase in activity, prices, or both. If there is available production capacity, producers can increase quantities without increasing prices. In this case the increase in the money supply immediately leads to an increase in activity, because the money created encourages agents to spend more. This revival by demand has a permanent effect. The increase in demand recurs in each period, as long as the money created is not destroyed, or withdrawn from circulation, and prices do not increase, because the money created always provides an incentive to spend more. The increase in prices can cancel out this revival by demand, because the money created is then used to pay more for the same quantities than before. Cash. Cash is notes and coins put into circulation by a central bank. Even when their notes were convertible into gold, central banks created money by printing them, because they printed more notes than their gold reserves. Central banks put money into circulation when they lend it and when they purchase assets. When the notes were convertible into gold, they were like debts of the central bank, which it had to repay in gold on demand, as if the notes corresponded to gold deposits. This is why banknotes are counted as liabilities of a central bank. As long as the notes were convertible into gold, printing more notes than the gold reserves was risky, because central banks could be exposed to massive demands for gold withdrawals that they could not honor. Gold reserves were therefore a constraint which limited monetary creation. The increase in the money supply was held back by the bridle of gold. Banknotes are no longer convertible into gold. Everything happened as if the central banks had defaulted, as if they had definitively refused to repay their debts. The notes are still counted as their liabilities, but it is a debt that they no longer have to repay. The abandonment of gold convertibility could have led to the abandonment of bank notes, if the agents had decided that this paper currency no longer had any value and if they had chosen another form of money. But this is not what happened, because there was no other currency capable of replacing the one proposed by the central bank. When a central bank sells assets, or when loans are repaid to it, it withdraws money from circulation and reduces its assets and liabilities at the same time . This is why it makes sense to count notes as liabilities of the central bank, even if they are not really repayable debts, because a central bank can choose to repay its liabilities. Proponents of cryptocurrencies claim that they could take the place of centralized currencies. According to them, we could do without central banks and pay for all our transactions in cryptos. But it's a lie. The energy cost of crypto payments is very high. All the energy resources on the entire planet would not be enough to replace currencies with cryptos. Until now we have not found anything better than the central currency and the banking system to produce all the money we need. The miracle of bank money. Bank accounts are money lent to banks. Since current accounts are not paid, banks borrow money without paying interest, while individuals must pay interest when they borrow. Banks make money by the interest of lending money that has been lent to them without interest. One might believe that banks do not create money because they only lend what has been lent to them before: deposits make credits. Banks cannot lend more money than they have been given. But when they grant a new loan, they increase the borrower's current account without reducing the other current accounts: the credits make the deposits. Now the sum of all current accounts is part of the money supply. So this increases with each new bank loan. Every time a bank makes a new loan, an equal amount of money is created. An individual can only lend money he already has. A bank can lend money it doesn't have, and receive interest for that loan, because it creates the money by lending it. The money created by a bank loan has a counterpart: the borrower's obligation to repay. When the bank loan is repaid, the currency initially created is ultimately destroyed. We therefore do not have to fear being drowned under a disproportionate flood of new money. If there are more new bank loans than repaid loans, the money supply increases. If, on the other hand, there are fewer new loans than repaid loans, the money supply decreases. Money creation by banks looks like dishonest privilege, because they create money every time they lend it. But we must rather see this freedom of monetary creation as a blessing. To carry out projects, we generally have to advance money. In the absence of monetary creation, we are limited by the available money supply. Money creation makes it possible to advance money to carry out projects without being limited by the money available at the start. A good banker is on the lookout for companies and good projects that deserve to be financed. Creating money to finance companies and their projects is part of the daily work of banks. This is reality, not a utopia. If money creation leads to an increase in demand without a parallel increase in supply, it leads to inflation, it increases prices without increasing activity. But if money creation is devoted to good investments, it leads to an increase in production capacities, and producers can then increase quantities without increasing prices. It is therefore possible to create money without causing inflation, provided that the money created is used for truly productive investments. The origin of money creation by banks. Money in circulation can exist in several forms: cash C held by individuals or companies other than commercial banks, bank money B and reserves R of commercial banks. Public administrations, except the central bank, are considered companies. B is the sum of all current accounts of individuals and companies in commercial banks. R is the sum of bank cash reserves and current accounts of commercial banks at the central bank. The central bank has no cash, no monetary reserves, because it does not need them. Why keep money in reserve when you can create it whenever you need it? Cash reserves are similar to a bank account at the central bank, but it is the customers who counts their money, not the central bank. M1 = C + B is the sum of monetary reserves of individuals and companies, other than commercial banks. M0 = C + R is central money, the liability of the central bank. M = C + B + R is the sum of all circulating monetary reserves held by individuals and companies, including commercial banks. When an individual deposits 100 in cash in the bank, C decreases by 100 while R and B both increase by 100. M is therefore increased by 100. We create money by depositing cash in the bank, because this deposit is counted twice as a reserve, once as the bank's reserve, and a second time as the customer's reserve. If an individual withdraws 100 in cash from his bank, C increases by 100 while R and B both decrease by 100. M is therefore reduced by 100. We destroy money when we withdraw money in cash, because reserves once present twice are now present only once. If a bank lends 100 in cash to an individual, C increases by 100 and R decreases by 100. M is therefore not changed. Cash lending leads to monetary creation only if it is deposited in a bank. If a bank loan to an individual of 100 is repaid in cash, R increases by 100 and C decreases by 100. M is therefore not changed. If a bank lends 100 in bank money to an individual, B increases by 100, and R is unchanged, because the decrease in the lending bank's reserves is offset by the increase in the borrower's bank's reserves. A bank loan to an individual is a creation of money if it is granted in bank money. The lending bank does not create the money it lends, because it is withdrawn from its reserves. The money created is the additional reserve of the borrower's bank. If a bank loan to an individual of 100 is repaid in bank money, B decreases by 100 and R is not changed, because the increase in the lending bank's reserves is offset by the decrease in the bank's reserves of the borrower. Repaying a bank loan is a destruction of money if it is repaid in bank money. The lending bank does not destroy the repaid money, because it puts it in its reserves. The money destroyed is the decrease in the reserves of the borrower's bank. If a bank buys in cash an asset from an individual at a price of 100, R decreases by 100 and C increases by 100, so M is not changed. If a bank buys in bank money an asset from an individual at a price of 100, B increases by 100 and R is not changed, because the decrease in the purchasing bank's reserves is offset by the increase in the bank's reserves from the seller. So money is created every time a bank buys an asset and pays in bank money. The purchasing bank does not create the money with which it buys the asset, because it is withdrawn from its reserves. The money created is the seller's bank's additional reserve. Banks can increase the money supply by purchasing assets. Why then don't they buy all the assets, since they can collectively create all the money they want to buy them? Banks have capital requirements. When they create money by purchasing assets, they increase their assets and liabilities at the same time. A company's equity is the value of the company, the difference between its assets and its liabilities. Banks therefore cannot create money by purchasing assets unlimitedly if they meet their capital requirements. When a bank sells in cash an asset to an individual at a price of 100, R increases by 100 and C decreases by 100, so M is not changed. When a bank sells in bank money an asset to an individual at a price of 100, B decreases by 100 and R is not changed, because the increase in the selling bank's reserves is offset by the decrease in the bank's reserves of the buyer. So money is destroyed every time a bank sells an asset and is paid in bank money. The bank does not destroy the money it receives because it puts it in its reserves. The money destroyed is the decrease in the reserves of the buyer's bank. Even the current expenses and revenues of commercial banks are accompanied by monetary creation or destruction, when paid in bank money. Money is created every time a bank pays its expenses in bank money. Money is destroyed every time a bank receives revenue in bank money. Banks create money every time they spend. If all they have to do is create money to afford everything they want, why don't they spend more? Like all businesses, they have a budgetary obligation. Costs must be offset by revenues. Since the money they create by paying their costs is destroyed when they receive revenues, they cannot increase the money supply unlimitedly by increasing their spending. If a bank pays a profit of 100 to its shareholders in bank money, B increases by 100 and R is not changed because the decrease in the reserves of the bank paying profits is offset by the increase in the reserves of the banks of the shareholders. M is therefore increased by 100. The bank does not create the money it pays to its shareholders because it is withdrawn from its reserves. The money created is the additional reserve of the shareholders' banks. How is money put into circulation? The central bank puts money into circulation by lending it, buying assets, paying its current expenses and paying its profits to the State or States for the euro zone. It withdraws money from circulation when the loans it has made are repaid, when it sells assets and when it receives interest on its loans. If the central bank lends 100 to a commercial bank, it credits it to its current account at the central bank. R is increased by 100 and therefore M too. The central bank creates the money it lends by lending it. If the central bank buys an asset from an individual at a price of 100 in bank money, B and R are both increased by 100, because the reserves of the seller's bank increase. M is therefore increased by 200. When the central bank buys an asset it creates twice as much money as the price of the asset. The central bank can always create as much money as it wants to lend, to buy assets, to give, or for any other expenditure. Bank money is created when banks lend, purchase assets, pay expenses, and pay profits in bank money. It is destroyed when bank loans are repaid, when banks sell assets and when they receive income, always in bank money. Cash is put into circulation at the request of individuals and businesses as soon as they withdraw cash from their bank. The central bank prints all the notes that are requested. The quantity of banknotes in circulation depends on demand from individuals and businesses. In particular, the central bank prints all the notes with which criminals fill suitcases, for their payments and savings. The momentum of money. How to inject a billion into an economy? There are two ways to do this: In the first case, the money supply has not changed. Only the velocity of circulation of money changes, because the billion previously immobilized is put into circulation. In the second case, the money supply is increased and the velocity of circulation has not changed. In both cases the effect is the same, because what matters for an economy is not the money supply M or the velocity V of circulation of money taken separately, but their product MV, the momentum of money. GDP measures the production of wealth within a country during a given period. Nominal GDP is GDP valued at current prices. The velocity V of money circulation is by definition the nominal GDP divided by the money supply M: V = GDP/M The momentum of money, MV, is equal to the nominal GDP. The paradox of spending restriction. Suppose that on average agents decide to spend less money, because they have less confidence in the future and want more money in their bank account or in cash, for security. The loss of confidence in the future can also lead agents to forgo investment spending, because one must hope to invest in projects that one believes to be profitable. Since the income of some depends on the spending of others, the income of all decreases on average. Spending restriction leads to a reduction in productive activity. Moreover, agents cannot all have more money in reserve, if the money supply is constant, because the latter is the sum of all their reserves. By restricting their spending, they reduce their income and cannot achieve their objective of increasing their reserves. They obtain an effect opposite to the desired effect, an impoverishment instead of an enrichment. This is the paradox of spending restriction. It is generally called the paradox of thrift, but this could be a misleading expression, because investment expenditure can be a kind of careful spending, a good saving, and its increase does not lead to a contraction of productive activity. When agents restrict their spending, they keep their money longer and therefore cause V to decrease. If M is constant, GDP = MV decreases by the same amount. The loss of confidence in the future can lead agents to increase their reserves of real wealth, like a squirrel saving for the winter. This increase in savings is at the same time an increase in investment and does not lead to a contraction of activity. But fear of the future can also lead agents to restrict their spending, because they hope in vain to increase their monetary reserves, and it thus causes a contraction of activity. The paradox of spending restriction shows that the loss of confidence in the future is enough to cause an increase in unemployment. Therefore, an economy can enter a recession for purely psychological reasons. When money does not circulate, it has no direct effect on purchases, sales, and prices, as if it did not exist, as if it were no longer part of the money supply. But this immobile money still has an economic effect, because it influences the decisions of its owner. Agents generally want to have a minimum of monetary reserves. If their reserves decrease, they want to replenish them and are discouraged from spending. This is why even money that does not circulate can stimulate activity. If a recession is caused by spending restrictions, in principle it is sufficient to create money to solve the problem. The money created allows agents to increase their reserves as they wish.

The science of finance/The value of a risk-free project. We calculate the value of a project by anticipating its profit, therefore its costs and revenues. Calculating costs and benefits. Calculating costs and benefits is a general method of evaluating decisions. Market rules require such calculations. A company that does not correctly count its expenses and revenues generally goes bankrupt. But the importance of calculating costs and benefits does not stop with business accounting. For most projects, even non-profit, even with only philanthropic intentions, there is an interest of evaluating the costs and benefits, in order to make the best choices, or at least reasonable ones, choices that are likely to be satisfactory. The calculations do not need to be very precise. Rough assessments can be enough to make good decisions. When it comes to irreplaceable natural resources, the calculation of costs and benefits is rapid: the cost of their disappearance is infinite, so no benefit justifies their sacrifice. In general, companies do not pay, or not much, for their environmental damage. If they were made to pay this cost by evaluating it by the replacement cost of lost wealth, they would have to take it into account in their selling prices. But since market prices largely ignore environmental costs, they encourage us to make bad decisions, to choose products that cost us much more than their purchase price. If we want to correctly evaluate the costs and benefits, we must also take into account the hidden costs or benefits, ignored in the accounts of companies or individuals. The devaluation of the future. If we know the costs and revenues, calculating profit seems easy: profit is the sum of all revenues minus the sum of all costs. If the project is short-term, this is an accurate calculation, but if the project is long-term, costs and revenues are poorly estimated if deadlines are ignored. A revenue of 100 tomorrow does not have the same value as a revenue of 100 in a year. The same goes for costs. An intertemporal exchange rate is needed to convert the value of future payments into present payments. This is called the discount rate. It is estimated using interest rates on risk-free loans. With an interest rate of 2% per year, one receives 102 next year if one invested 100 today. 102 one year from now is therefore worth as much as 100 today. 100x(1.02)^20 = 148 twenty years from now is as much as 100 today. 100x(1.02)^100 = 724 one hundred years from now is as much as 100 today. 100 one hundred years from now is therefore as much as 100/7.24 = 13.8 today. 13.8 is the present value of 100 a hundred years from now. Financial logic leads to the systematic devaluation of future goods. In financial calculations. The interests of future generations are therefore badly taken into account by financial logic. The fundamental financial error, the capital sin from the point of view of finance, is to let wealth lie dormant, not to use it to produce more, to bury one's gold in one's garden, for example, instead of finance a productive enterprise. Financial logic therefore invites us to make the most of all available wealth. But if we apply this logic to non-renewable natural resources, we come to an absurd conclusion: it would be wrong to conserve them, because they are unused wealth. Why leave them to future generations when we can use them right away to earn a lot of money? In our financial accounts, the wealth kept for future generations is worth nothing or almost nothing, it would be much better to exploit it right away. Financial logic underestimates the value of long-lived goods, because it does not take into account their value for those who are not yet born. The demand for goods makes their value, but the absent are always wrong. When we ignore the interests of future generations, it's their fault, because they don't ask for anything, because they aren't born. The present economic system is destroying our future. Every day the planet is more degraded than the day before. Natural wealth is disappearing at breakneck speed. We work to impoverish ourselves. If economic development is left to laissez-faire, to the law of the market, where goods are valued by those who can pay for them, it leads us straight to the precipice, because the market devalues the long-term future. The profit of a risk-free project. Profit is the difference between the final revenue and the initial cost. The initial cost is evaluated on the day the project is launched, and the final revenue on the day the project is closed. The simplest risk-free projects have a single cost and a single revenue, paying 100 today to receive 102 in a year for example. They are equivalent, from an accounting point of view, to a zero-coupon bond. A bond is a debt. The issuer of the bond borrows money. The buyer of the bond lends his money. The issuer of the bond must pay the interest and repay the principal. A bond's coupons represent the interests that must be paid before the principal is repaid. A zero-coupon bond is repaid in one go, principal and interest. For example, we can buy a bond for 100 today which commits the issuer to repay 102 in a year. During a production project, costs precede revenue. Initial costs are costs that are not paid for by past revenues. The duration of a project can always be divided into two periods, one where money must be advanced to cover the costs, because they are not paid from previous revenues, and the next period where it is no longer necessary to advance such money, because the revenues are sufficient to cover the costs. Initial costs are the net costs of the first period. Final revenues are the net revenues of the second period. Initial costs are the money that must be paid upfront to complete the project. Final revenue is the money left in the treasury after initial costs have been paid and the project is completed. Money that is not used is money that is dormant, which does not earn any interest. This is why a company has no interest in keeping a large amount of cash. Rather than leaving the money in the fund, it is better to invest it and earn interest without risk. We can thus manage our cash flow as closely as possible by buying and selling bonds without risk. Treasury costs are the costs we pay if we do not manage our cash flow as accurately as possible, if we let money sleep in the cash register. To ignore them, we can assume that the treasury is always invested with a risk-free interest rate, as if it were always managed as closely as possible. For a small treasury or a short-term project, the treasury costs are very low, and can be ignored, but they can be very significant for large treasuries over a long period. If the treasury costs have been reduced to zero, the final revenue is the sum of the final revenues updated on the closing day of the project. If for example the discount rate is 2% annually, a revenue of 100 in one year is equivalent to a revenue of 102 in two years. With the same discount rate, a cost of 102 in a year is equivalent to a cost of 100 today, because by paying 100 today and placing it at the risk-free rate, we can pay 102 in a year. If we have reduced the treasury costs to zero, the initial cost of a risk-free project is the sum of the initial costs discounted on the day the project is launched. The profit rate is the profit divided by the initial cost. The profit rate must be counted per unit of time. A 21% profit rate for a two-year project is a 10% annual profit rate. The net present value of a risk-free project. The value of a project on the day it closes is its final revenue. The value of a risk-free project on the day it is launched is the discounted value that day of its final revenue. If for example the final revenue is 102 in one year and if the discount rate is 2% annually, then the value of the project today is 100. The net present value of a risk-free project is the difference between the value of the project and its initial cost, therefore the value of the project net of its initial cost. The net present value on the day the project is launched is the difference between the present value of the anticipated final revenue on that day and the initial cost. The net present value is not the profit, because the final revenue must be discounted to the day the project is launched. If its net present value is strictly greater than zero, a risk-free project is a windfall. Its value is greater than its initial cost, its price. If its net present value is zero, it is an optimal project, which pays as much as regular optimal risk-free projects, and its value is equal to its price. If its net present value is strictly less than zero, it is a suboptimal project, earning less than regular optimal risk-free projects, or losing money, and its value is less than its price. This is why one of the rules of finance is to refuse a project if its net present value is negative. When a firm is doing well, it is expected to make the best use of its available resources and to have a net present value of zero, ignoring windfalls, because it is making an optimal surplus profit for its initial cost. Zero net present value therefore means that a firm is worth its initial cost because it is being managed optimally. If the net present value is strictly greater than zero, it is a sum of windfalls. If a company is poorly managed, its net present value falls below zero and is like a sum of all the costs of management errors. The surplus profit of a project is the excess profit compared to the profit of a project which pays at the risk-free interest rate and which has the same initial cost. Theorem: the net present value of a risk-free project is the value on the day the project is launched of the anticipated surplus profit. Proof: the value on the closing day of the project of the initial cost is equal to the initial cost plus the profit that this initial cost would have yielded if it had been invested at the risk-free rate. The surplus profit is therefore the difference between the final revenue and the value of the initial cost on the day the project is closed. The value of the anticipated surplus profit on the day the project is launched is therefore the value on that day of the anticipated final revenue and the initial cost, therefore the net present value. Theorem: the net present value of a project is the sum of all revenues minus the sum of all costs, all discounted on the day the project is launched. Proof: let r be the annual discount rate. This means that a value x on date t1 is worth x(1+r)^(t2-t1) on date t2. a^b is a exponent b. r = 5% means r = 5/100 = 0.05. If r = 5%, 1+r = 1.05. Dates are measured in years. Let 0 be the project launch date, t1, the date of the first day when all initial costs are paid, and t2 the date of the project closing day. The revenues and costs are R(t) and C(t). The initial cost C is the sum over t from 0 to t1, t1 excluded, of (C(t)-R(t))(1+r)^(-t). The final revenue R is the sum over t from t1 to t2 of (R(t)-C(t))^(t2-t). The sum over t from 0 to t2 of (R(t)-C(t))^(-t) is therefore equal to -C + R(1+r)^(-t2) = (R - C(1 +r)^t2)(1+r)^(-t2). This is the desired result because the net present value is the present value of the anticipated surplus profit R - C(1+r)^t2. Theorem: a risk-free project that earns a regular profit has optimal value if and only if its net present value is zero. Proof: if a risk-free project has a surplus profit strictly greater than zero, it is necessarily a windfall that cannot be repeated regularly. If we could, it would be enough to borrow at the risk-free rate to make unlimited profit. But the laws of finance do not allow unlimited profits. A risk-free project which brings in a regular profit therefore necessarily has a surplus profit less than or equal to zero. Therefore a risk-free project which brings in a regular profit is optimal if and only if its surplus profit is zero, hence the theorem. Theorem: the net present value of the sum of risk-free projects is the sum of their net present values. Proof: Let C1 and C2 be the initial costs of two risk-free projects evaluated on the same day. R1 and R2 are the values ​​on that same day of their final revenues. The net present value of project 1 is NPV1 = R1 - C1, that of project 2 is NPV2 = R2 - C2, that of project 1+2 is NPV(1+2) = R1+R2-(C1+C2) = NPV1 + NPV2. The net present value of the sum of two risk-free projects is therefore the sum of the net present values ​​of the two component projects. We can conclude by reasoning by recurrence that the net present value of a sum of n projects is the sum of the n net present values ​​of the components. The composition of projects can create value because the initial cost and final revenue of one project may depend on the existence of another project. To calculate the net present value of a sum of projects, one must count the initial costs and final revenues after taking this composition effect into account. When calculated in this way, the net present value of a sum of projects is always the sum of the net present values ​​of the component projects. The net present value of the sum of two risk-free projects is therefore the sum of the net present values ​​of the two component projects. We can conclude by reasoning by recurrence that the net present value of a sum of n projects is the sum of the n net present values ​​of the components. Leverage. We can benefit from leverage if a project has a higher rate of profit than the rate at which money can be borrowed. Leverage increases the rate of profit to infinity by borrowing all or part of the funds needed for the project. If we can borrow all the funds, there is no money to advance and the rate of profit is infinite. If we only borrow a portion of the funds, we increase the rate of profit, because we gain on the difference between the rate of profit of the project and the rate at which we borrow. An example: if we invest 100 in a company with a profit rate of 20% a year, we make a profit of 20 after one year. If we borrowed 50 at the rate of 2%, we have to pay back 51 after one year, the profit is only 19, but we have advanced only 50. The profit rate is therefore 19/50 = 38%. By borrowing, the rate of profit has been increased by leverage from 20% to 38%. A borrower can always reduce the initial cost of a project by borrowing some of the funds advanced. This reduction in the initial cost is accompanied by a reduction in the final revenue, because interest must be paid on the borrowed money. The value of a project is the value of its final revenue and is therefore reduced by leverage. But if the money is borrowed at the risk-free rate, the reduction in the value of the project is exactly offset by the reduction in the initial cost. Theorem: if a project is financed by borrowing at the risk-free rate, its surplus profit is not modified. Proof: Let C be the initial cost of the project, E the amount borrowed at the risk-free rate r and R the final revenue. r is an annual rate. For simplicity, we assume that R is obtained after one year. If the project is not financed by borrowing, the profit is R - C and the surplus profit is R - C - rC = R - C(1+r). If the project is financed by borrowing, the profit is R - (C-E) - E(1+r) = R - C - rE. rE is the portion of the profit that was given up to repay the loan. The surplus profit is the profit less interest on the initial cost: R - C -rE - r(C-E) = R - C - rC. The surplus profit is therefore not modified by the method of financing. The initial cost of a production project can be varied without varying its surplus profit. The initial cost is therefore not a relevant quantity for assessing the capacity to produce a surplus profit. The same production project creates the same surplus profit regardless of its method of financing, therefore regardless of its initial cost, even if it is zero. If the initial cost is zero, the profit is equal to the surplus profit. Theorem: the net present value of a risk-free project is not modified by its financing method. Proof: this is an immediate corollary of the previous theorem, because the net present value of a risk-free project is the present value of its surplus profit. We will show later that the previous theorem can be generalized to risky projects. Theorem: if we can borrow at the risk-free rate, we can always multiply the surplus profit rate of a project by leverage. Proof: let r be the risk-free rate, p the profit rate of the project. s=p-r is the surplus profit rate. If we finance the project by borrowing a fraction L of the funds advanced, the surplus profit is not modified, but the initial cost is multiplied by 1-L, the surplus profit rate is therefore s/(1-L). Leverage therefore makes it possible to obtain a profit rate as large as desired. If we borrow the entire initial cost of the project, there is no money to advance and the profit rate is infinite. Leverage, when one can benefit from it, looks like a magnificent windfall, since it allows to increase the rate of profit as much as we want. If the project is not risky, there is no reason to deprive oneself of such a windfall. But projects are usually risky. If the realized rate of profit is lower than the rate at which one has borrowed, one must support a loss, which is all the more important that one borrowed more. Leverage increases the risk of a project and can lead to bankruptcy. This is why companies are generally required to have sufficient capital, not be solely financed by loans. These funds are like a sort of cushion, which allows the company to bear possible losses (Admati & Hellwig 2013). If a company is abusing leverage, having low capital compared to what it borrows, it runs the risk of bankruptcy and puts lenders at risk of default. Leverage is therefore a way to increase the expected rate of profit while increasing risks, and by offloading some of these risks on lenders. It is desirable, if only for reasons of social justice, so that even the less fortunate can undertake, that some projects be financed solely by borrowing, without requiring initial capital, so that they benefit from infinite leverage. But in this case the lenders must know that they take on the project risks. Banks are the primary beneficiaries of leverage, because they can borrow at a very low rate, possibly zero, when bank accounts are unpaid. The optimal risk-free rate. The optimal risk-free rate is the smallest rate at which one can borrow under market conditions, if one is a risk-free borrower. It is also the largest rate at which one can lend to a risk-free borrower, under market conditions. Market conditions are regular conditions, which exclude windfalls, and which can be repeated in principle as much as one wants. Borrowing at a rate lower than the optimal risk-free rate is a windfall, because one can lend what one has borrowed at a higher rate and thus benefit from infinite leverage. Similarly, lending at a rate higher than the optimal risk-free rate is a windfall, if the borrower is risk-free, and if one is oneself a risk-free borrower, because one can borrow what one lends at a lower rate and also benefit from infinite leverage. A windfall cannot be repeated as often as one wants, otherwise one could earn an unlimited profit. An infinite rate of profit is not impossible. For a risk-free project, it is a windfall. But an infinite profit, or a profit as large as one wants, is not possible. Since bank accounts are not remunerated, one might think that banks permanently benefit from an infinite rate of profit, since they can borrow at zero interest. But they do not really borrow at zero interest. The distribution of banknotes, checks, and other services are provided free of charge, or almost free of charge, by banks to their customers. For banks, these are costs of borrowing money from their customers, as if they had to pay interest. The optimal risk-free rate is the discount rate that should be chosen to value all costs and revenues of all projects, because it is an intertemporal exchange rate for risk-free borrowers, who can invest money in risky or not risky projects.

The science of finance/Risk calculation. Probabilities in Economics. The mathematical theory of risk is the theory of probability. It was first designed for games of chance. It enables us to calculate their average gains, and their risks, provided that there is no cheating. It can also be applied to physical systems that contain a large number of molecules. Their random motion is brownian and cannot cheat. Probabilities are in Nature. An economy is not a casino. Economic agents are not in brownian motion. What meaning can we then give to probabilities in economics? We can measure a probability when a random experiment is reproducible. The precision of the measurement increases with the number n of repetitions of the experiment. For physical systems, n can be as large as the number of molecules, therefore billions of billions of billions, because the molecules are identical. This is why probabilistic physical measurements can be very precise. The precision of an experiment is measured by the relative margin of error, the margin of error divided by the measured quantity. It can be shown that the relative margin of error is equal to the inverse of the square root of n, when n is large, for a random experiment repeated n times. Economic agents are all different from each other. One is never the reproduction of the other. The conditions in which they are placed are also not reproducible, because times change, because we never go back. It therefore seems that in economics the maximum number of repetitions of an experiment is equal to one. This is not enough to measure a probability. Economic agents are not identical but they are sometimes very similar. The same goes for the conditions in which they are placed. Economic probabilities are therefore sometimes measurable, with a precision that depends on the number of repetitions of the measurement and the greater or lesser resemblance between the various measurements. Often we must be content with very imprecise estimates. Mathematical theory is useful first because it teaches us to reason about risks. When probabilities are measurable, mathematical models can also be good representatives of reality. How to measure risk? The risk of a project is measured by the dispersion of its anticipated final revenue. A random quantity X is defined with probabilities. If there are n possible outcomes X(i) where i varies from 1 to n, we assign to each of them a probability p(X = X(i)) between 0 and 1, both included. A probability equal to 1 means that the outcome is certain, or almost. It is infinitely unlikely that the outcome will not occur. If the probability is zero, the outcome is infinitely unlikely, almost impossible. The sum over all i of the p(X=X(i)) is equal to 1, because it is certain that the outcome is one of the X(i). formula_1 The mean E(X), also called the average or the expected value of X, is the sum over all i of p(X = X(i)) X(i). formula_2 The mean of the absolute value of the deviations from the mean is a measure of dispersion, but the standard deviation, the square root of the mean of the squares of the deviations from the mean, is generally preferred because it is often easier to calculate. The variance var(X) is the mean of the squared deviations from the mean. formula_3 The standard deviation std(X) is the positive square root of the variance. formula_4 The standard deviation measures the dispersion of a random quantity but it is not the only indicator of risk, because deviations from the mean can be dispersed in very different ways for the same standard deviation. The distribution of deviations from the mean, not just their standard deviation, can influence the assessment of risk. But in most cases, the standard deviation is considered a sufficient measure of risk. The risk of a project is the standard deviation of its anticipated final revenue. Profit is the difference between the final revenue and the initial cost. If the initial cost is fixed, the standard deviation of the profit is equal to the standard deviation of the final revenue and is therefore a measure of the same risk. The surplus profit is the difference between the profit of the project and the profit it would have earned if its initial cost had been invested at the risk-free rate. If the initial cost is fixed, the standard deviation on the surplus profit is therefore equal to the standard deviation on the profit and is also a measure of the same risk. We have therefore proven: Theorem: if its initial cost is fixed, the risk of a project is the standard deviation of its anticipated surplus profit. The compensation of risks. The risks of one project may be offset by the risks of one or more other projects. Risk reduction by compensation is an example of value creation by composition of projects or options, because risk must be counted as a cost. Consider a coin toss shooter. One can bet on tails by risking 1 with a 1 in 2 chance of winning 2. Betting on tails means acquiring an option to win 2. The price of this option is 1. The expectation of winning is also 1=0.5x2 . According to financial theory, the value of a project is not equal to its expected gain, the risk must be taken into account. For the same expected gain, a project has less value the more risky it is. We should therefore conclude that the price 1 to bet on tails and hope to win 2 is overvalued, since the project is risky, but this conclusion is false. We can compose the projects. The expected gain of several projects is the sum of the expected gain of each of them. If we bet heads and tails at the same time, we get a risk-free project to win 2. If the options to bet heads and tails cost less than 1, we could compound them and get a risk-free project to win 2 by paying less than 2. In this way, one could obtain without risk an unlimited profit from any initial bet, which is impossible. So the options to bet on heads or tails are correctly evaluated by their expected value. One can ignore their risk because it can be offset. The risk of betting heads can be offset by the risk of betting tails to get a risk-free project. We can compose a risk-free portfolio with very risky options. The return on the risk-free portfolio thus composed is the weighted sum of the returns on the assets that make it up. If these assets had a higher return than the return of the risk-free assets, the risk-free portfolio thus composed would have a higher return than that of the other risk-free portfolios, and one could make an unlimited profit, without risk, simply by selling risk-free portfolios and buying a risk-free portfolio with a higher return. But the financial markets do not allow us to make unlimited profit without risk. So risky assets should be valued as if they were risk-free, as soon as they can be part of a risk-free portfolio. To evaluate a risky asset, one must take into account the risk, but not the risk inherent in the asset, only the minimal risk of a portfolio of which the asset is a component, because one can reduce the risks by composing portfolios, because one risk can be offset by another risk. A risk has a cost only if it cannot be offset. When valuing a financial asset, irreducible risk must be taken into account. It is the risk that cannot be further reduced by building a portfolio. Financial options and other assets should be valued as risk-free assets as soon as they can be part of a risk-free portfolio, because their risk can be reduced to zero. A project, or an option, should not be evaluated as if it were isolated, separated from other projects, because then the cost of the risk could be overestimated. To evaluate a project, we must evaluate the irreducible risk, we must therefore evaluate the contribution of the project to the value of an optimal project, made up of several projects whose risks compensate each other partially or totally, in an optimal way. The same project can contribute to different projects, which have different risks, but if they are optimal projects, the value of its contribution is always the same. We reduce the risks by diversifying them, provided that they are independent, or not very dependent. When a project can be repeated several times, its risk can be reduced if its success each time is independent or little dependent on its success on previous and subsequent occasions. Reducing risks may take time. Present risks can be offset by risks taken at later times. Present risks can be offset by risks taken at later times. Bad years can be offset by good years. The job of an insurance company is to reduce risks by offsetting them. If it does not reduce risks, or does not do so well enough, it is itself a risky business. Being insured by a company that is at risk of failure is about the same as not being insured at all. Independence, covariance and correlation. To calculate risk compensation, we must reason on the independence and covariance between random profits. Two events A and B are independent if and only if the probability of their conjunction is the product of their respective probabilities, p(A and B) = p(A) p(B). Two random quantities X and Y are independent if and only if all events X = X(i) are independent of all events Y = Y(j), p(X=X(i) and Y=Y(j)) = p(X=X(i)) p(Y=Y(j)), for all i and all j. The covariance between two random quantities measures the correlation between the variations of one and the variations of the other. If the variations of one have on average the same sign as the variations of the other, the covariance is positive. If the variations of one have on average an opposite sign, the covariance is negative. Positive covariance means that the quantities vary more often in the same direction than in the opposite direction. Negative covariance means that they vary more often in the opposite direction than in the same direction. Zero covariance means that they vary as often in the same direction as in the opposite direction. The covariance cov(X,Y) of two random quantities is the average of the products of their deviations from the average E( (X-E(X))(Y-E(Y)) ) cov(X,Y) = sum over all i and all j of p(X=X(i) and Y=Y(j))(X(i)-E(X))(Y(j)-E(Y)). Theorems: for all random quantities X, Y, Z and any real number a, Proofs: they follow immediately from the definition of covariance. Proof: var(X+Y) = cov(X+Y,X+Y) = cov(X,X) + 2cov(X,Y) + cov(Y,Y) Theorem: if the random quantities X and Y are independent then their covariance is zero. Proof: formula_5, because formula_6 and formula_7. The correlation coefficient cor(X,Y) of two random quantities X and Y is their covariance divided by the product of their standard deviations, cov(X,Y)/(std(X) std(Y)). Theorem: if the correlation coefficient between two random quantities X and Y is strictly smaller than 1 then the risk of their sum X+Y is strictly smaller than the sum of their risks. Proof: formula_8 if formula_9. formula_10, so formula_11 and formula_12. In particular, if X and Y are risky and independent, the risk of their sum is strictly smaller than the sum of their risks. Theorem: if the correlation coefficient cor(X,Y) between two random quantities X and Y is equal to 1 then there exist two real numbers a and b, a > 0, such that Y = aX +b almost always. A statement is true almost always, or almost everywhere, when its probability is equal to 1. Lemma: if var(X) = 0 then X = E(X) almost always. Proof of the lemma: if the probability that X is different from E(X) is not zero, then the probability that (X - E(X))² > 0 also, and var(X) > 0. Proof of the theorem: let a = std(Y)/std(X). var(Y - aX) = var(Y) - 2a cov(X,Y) + a²var(X) = 0 because cov(X,Y) = std(X)std(Y). So Y - aX = E(Y) - a E(X) almost always. Hence the theorem. When Y = aX +b for two constants a and b, we say that Y is an affine function of X. In the following, we will not distinguish a statement that is almost always true from a statement that is simply true. Optimal projects. If an economy could be divided into many independent projects, such that the success or failure of one project did not depend on the success or failure of the others, then it would be possible to offset all the risks, and to obtain for the economy as a whole a risk almost equal to zero. But projects in the same economy are not generally independent. The prosperity of some depends on the prosperity of others. The ruin of one can lead to the ruin of others. This is why there are risks that cannot be offset. Risks are sometimes irreducible because the agents of the same economic system are interdependent. Irreducible risks are systemic. A project is optimal if and only if it has the smallest risk among all projects that have the same average profit and the same initial cost. The risk of an optimal project is irreducible, in the sense that it cannot be reduced without reducing the average profit. The previous definition of an optimal project is equivalent to the following: a project is optimal if and only if it has the largest average profit among all projects that have the same risk and the same initial cost. Optimal profits should be evaluated with market prices, average prices or ordinary prices. They represent the investment opportunities available to the economy as a whole. If there are bargains, very favorable prices compared to ordinary prices, they should not be counted when evaluating optimal profits, because they are only special conditions of a lucky agent , and they do not represent the economy as a whole. Leverage on an optimal project. Leverage varies the initial cost of a project by varying its final revenue. One might hope that it could transform a suboptimal project into an optimal project, but this hope is vain: Theorem: if a project is optimal, it remains optimal if it is partially or totally financed by a loan at the risk-free rate, therefore taking advantage of the leverage effect. Proof: borrowing reduces the average profit, because the interest must be repaid, but it does not change the dispersion of profits, because the interest is fixed in advance. Therefore, the risk of the project is not changed by borrowing. The surplus profit is not changed by the financing method, and it is optimal for the risk of the project. The project is therefore optimal regardless of its financing method. A risky project is represented by a series of random costs and revenues, all dated, from which we can calculate an initial cost, a final revenue, a profit and a surplus profit, all random. Let X be the random quantity that represents the surplus profit of a risky project. Theorem: if X is the random surplus profit of an optimal project whose initial cost C is not random, then X is also the random surplus profit of an optimal project whose initial cost is D, whatever D. Proof: if D < C, it is sufficient to borrow C - D at the risk-free rate to bring the initial cost back to D without varying the surplus profit. If D > C, it is sufficient to lend D - C at the risk-free rate to increase the initial cost from C to D without varying the surplus profit. If the initial cost is random, it can be set at an arbitrary value, possibly zero, by deciding to borrow all the costs that are not covered either by this initial sum fixed in advance or by revenues. An optimal project is therefore characterized only by its random surplus profit, not by its initial cost: Theorem: a project is optimal if and only if it has the smallest risk among all projects that have the same average surplus profit. Proof: This is an immediate consequence of the previous theorem. The composition of optimal projects. Theorem: if X is the random surplus profit of an optimal project, then aX is also the surplus profit of an optimal project, if a > 0. Proof: if a < 1, it is enough to buy a share a of project X to obtain an optimal surplus profit aX. If a > 1, it is enough to increase the size of project X by a factor a. A project is optimal for market conditions, which are assumed to be unlimitedly reproducible. This is why it is assumed that the size of an optimal project can always be increased. This is a theoretical simplification. In reality, there are always limits to the increase in the size of projects. Theorem: if X and Y are the random surplus profits of two optimal projects, then X + Y is also the random surplus profit of an optimal project. Proof: if we buy X and Y, we obtain a project whose random surplus profit is X + Y. If the risk of X + Y were smaller than the sum of the risks of X and Y, the risks of X and Y could be reduced by pooling them and sharing their common risk and X and Y would not be optimal surplus profits. So the risk of X + Y cannot be smaller than the sum of the risks of X and Y and therefore cannot be reduced. The correlation between all optimal projects. Theorem: two risky optimal projects cannot be independent. Proof: if they were independent, the risks could be reduced by combining them. However, optimal projects have a risk that cannot be reduced. Therefore, they are not independent. In particular, repeating the same risky optimal project does not reduce its risk because successive projects are not independent of each other. The dependence between optimal projects is very strong. All optimal projects are very closely correlated: Theorem: the surplus profits of optimal risky projects are all strictly positive multiples of the same random quantity. Proof: Let X and Y be the surplus profits of two risky optimal projects. The risk std(X+Y) of their sum is equal to the sum std(X) + std(Y) of their risks, otherwise combining them would reduce the risk and they would not be optimal. So cor(X,Y) = 1. So Y = aX + b, where a and b are constants, and a > 0. Y and aX are both optimal surplus profits, so b = 0. The surplus profits of the risky optimal projects are all multiples of each other, so all multiples of only one of them. Hence the theorem. This theorem is very surprising, almost incredible, and one can even be afraid that it could lead to absurdities. Optimal projects can be carried out in different places and at different times. However, it is enough to know the final revenue of a single optimal project to know the final revenue of all optimal projects. For example, the final revenue of an optimal project that ends here and now should be enough to know the final revenues of present or future optimal projects everywhere in the world. Carrying out a single optimal project should therefore be like a crystal ball that would enable one to predict the results of all present and future optimal projects. But then these projects would not be risky any more since their final revenues would be known in advance. Carrying out a single optimal project and observing its result should therefore be enough to reduce all risks to zero, and we would no longer need risk theory and insurance companies. We cannot find this crystal ball because we can never know if a risky project is optimal. We cannot know it before carrying it out, because the probabilities of the final revenues cannot be known precisely. We cannot know it after carrying it out either, for the same reason. When we estimate the risk to identify an optimal project, we cannot conclude that it is really optimal, because our estimates are never precise enough, we can only conclude that it is perhaps not very different from an optimal project. The existence of a single random quantity representative of all risky optimal projects is a consequence of the mathematical model. It assumes that all probabilities of all events are exactly defined in advance, as if all probabilities were written in advance with an infinite number of decimal places. Such exactness of probabilities cannot exist in reality, because nothing is ever exactly reproducible. That is why a single risky optimal project that represents all the others cannot exist in reality. It has only a mathematical existence. Even if it exists only in a mathematical way, the unique random quantity representing all optimal risky projects has a realistic meaning. It means that agents who carry out optimal risky projects are all in the same boat. They all win together or they all lose together, but the losses of some cannot be compensated by the gains of others, otherwise the risk would be reducible. When we bet against irreducible risk, we bet on the success of all those who also bet against irreducible risk, so we are all united, we do not play against each other. We are encouraged to bet if we believe that we will all succeed together. We are discouraged from betting if we believe that we will all lose together. The incentive to carry out risky optimal projects is based on the solidarity between all those who take risks and their hopes. When we bet against an irreducible risk, we acquire a right to a share of the profits of the hoped-for collective success, but we commit at the same time to suffer a share of the losses, if it is a collective failure. Risk takers are those who have the means to advance money, therefore the capitalists. To optimize their investments, they have an interest in all being united, therefore in thinking like socialists or communists. So we have proven: Theorem: to be good financiers, we have to think like communists. Risk and time. Time can have several effects on risk: To assess risks, we must estimate probabilities by taking into account all available information. A project is relatively optimal when it is optimal for given probabilities. A portfolio is managed dynamically when its composition is modified over time. A portfolio is static if its composition is constant. New information arrives at all times and can lead us to improve our probability estimates and reduce uncertainties. Relatively optimal projects can therefore change over time. The more time passes, the better our assessment of optimal projects and the more we are able to reduce risks. If we do not manage a project dynamically, we neglect this possibility of reducing risk and therefore risk losing more money. A portfolio or project must therefore be managed dynamically to remain relatively optimal.

The science of finance/The cost and the benefit of risk. The cost of risk. When a project is risky, investors demand compensation for taking risk, in the form of surplus profit.The surplus profit of a project is the excess of its profit compared to the profit that one would have obtained if one had invested money at the risk-free interest rate. The cost of risk is the optimal average surplus profit that can be obtained for a given risk. The variation in the average surplus profit of an optimal project as a function of risk makes it possible to measure the cost of risk: the cost of risk is the average surplus profit required to compensate for the risk. Theorem: the cost of risk is proportional to the risk. Proof: Suppose that ownership of an optimal project is shared among several shareholders who share the profits. The standard deviation of surplus profit is shared among all shareholders in the same way as surplus profit. The compensation received by each shareholder is therefore proportional to the risk they have taken on themselves, because risk can be measured by the standard deviation of surplus profit. The cost of risk divided by the risk is therefore a constant k. We have therefore proven: Theorem: there exists a risk price constant k such that kR is the cost of a risk R. This risk price constant is dimensionless, because the standard deviation on profit has the same dimension as surplus profit. Risk and the cost of risk are measured in dollars, if the monetary unit is the dollar. We will show later that the risk price constant k is necessarily less than 1. Is it really constant and universal? No, because the attitude towards risk and the compensation required for the same risk can vary over time. Is it the same for all companies and all projects? Not necessarily, because the standard deviation is not the only condition that characterizes a risk. Different projects can have very different distributions of profits and losses while having the same standard deviation of profit. These distributional differences can influence the perception of risk and the requirement for compensation. But the standard deviation of profit can be considered a good measure of risk for most projects. This is why the risk price constant k can be considered the same for all projects and companies. It is enough to know the average profits of an optimal risk-free project and an optimal risky project to calculate the risk price constant k and from there the costs of all risks and therefore the value of all projects. An optimal risk-free project and an optimal risky project are like measuring standards against which we can measure the value of all projects, whether optimal or not. How much is k? The discount rate is the optimal risk-free profit rate. 2 or 3% per year are realistic values, perhaps more, up to 4 or 5%, if the owners are very advantaged, perhaps less, in a recession. An average profit rate of 10% per year with a standard deviation of 15% is representative of a well-managed company that takes risks while remaining prudent. With a discount rate of 2 or 3% per year, this makes a surplus profit rate of 7 or 8%, for a risk of 15%. If we assume that these values ​​represent an irreducible risk for an optimal project, k is about 1/2. Discounting the cost of risk. The cost of risk is kR if the standard deviation of the final revenue is R. This cost is evaluated on the project closing day. To calculate the anticipated value of the project, this cost must be discounted on the launch day. Theorem: the cost of risk must be discounted with the same discount rate as the other costs and revenues. Proof: if we place final revenue at the risk-free rate, we obtain with a delay new final revenues that have simply been multiplied by the same discount factor. The standard deviation on the final revenues is therefore also multiplied by this same discount factor. Since no new risk has been taken, the anticipated cost of risk must not be modified. Hence the theorem. Two common mistakes about the cost of risk. Sometimes the cost of risk is assessed by changing the discount rate used to calculate the value of the project. This way of calculating seems to makes sense to those who use it, because the true discount rate is assessed from risk-free zero-coupon bonds. They conclude that another discount rate should be used for risky projects. But this reasoning is nonsense. The same discount rate is used to value costs and revenues. There is no sense in devaluing losses because they are risky. Risky losses do not cost less but more than risk-free losses equal on average, because they increase the risk of a project. The discount rate depends on the conditions of the whole economy at a given date, not on the projects it is used to assess. All costs and revenues of all projects, whether risky or not, should be assessed with the same discount rate. Risk and its cost are sometimes estimated using the standard deviation of the annual profit rate, because this standard deviation seems like a good measure of risk. But such a calculation of the cost of risk is not exact. For example, consider a two-year project that has a two-year surplus profit rate of 60% or -20% with equal probabilities. The average surplus profit rate is 20% over two years. The standard deviation is 40%, so this project is optimal if k = 1/2. Let r = 2% be the annual discount rate. The two-year profit rate is therefore 64.04% or -15.96%. 64% biannually is 1.64^(1/2) - 1 = 28.1% annually. -16% biannually is (0.84)^(1/2) - 1 = -8.3%.The annual surplus profit rate is therefore 26.1% or -10.3% with equal probabilities The average annual surplus profit rate is (26.1-10.3)/2 = 7.9% and the standard deviation on the annual surplus profit rate is (26.1+10.3)/2 = 18.2%.The profit and surplus profit rates differ only by a constant, so they have the same standard deviation. If we were to evaluate the risk using the standard deviation of the annual profit rate, we would conclude that this project is suboptimal, when it is optimal. The standard deviation of the annual profit rate is therefore not a good measure of risk for a project that lasts for several years. The expected value of random gains and losses. The price of risk makes it possible to calculate the value of random gains or losses whose risk is irreducible. The value of a random gain is the average gain minus the cost of risk. The value of a random loss is the average loss increased by the cost of risk: Consider a gain of 100 with probability 1/2, therefore an average gain of 50. The standard deviation of the gain, therefore the risk, is equal to 50. If the risk price constant is k, the cost of this risk is 50k, since the risk of 50 is assumed to be irreducible. The value of this random gain is therefore equal to 50(1-k) if its risk is irreducible. Consider a loss of 100 with probability 1/2, therefore an average loss of 50. The standard deviation of the loss, therefore the risk, is equal to 50. The cost of this risk is 50k. The value of this random loss is therefore equal to 50(1+k) if its risk is irreducible. If k = 1/2, a one in two chance of winning 100 costs 25 for someone who plays against an irreducible financial risk. In a game of heads or tails, this chance costs 50. In the national lottery, it costs 100. Those who like to take risks therefore have an interest in playing against irreducible financial risks. Theorem: the risk price constant k is always strictly less than 1. Proof: if k were equal to 1, a non-zero average gain without risk of loss would have a zero value, as if a lottery ticket could be free. We could therefore benefit from unlimited profit without taking the risk of losing a single penny. Such profit is not permitted by the laws of finance. If k is strictly greater than 1, a non-zero average gain without risk of loss would have a negative value. This means that we could be paid to accept it, which is impossible. The benefit of risk. Risk is counted as a cost when comparing projects that have the same average profit. But it can also be counted as a profit if we compare optimal projects that have the same initial cost, because then the higher the risk, the higher the average profit. Risk is also a benefit if we consider an optimal project whose initial cost is zero. Such a project is possible when we can borrow at the risk-free rate to fully finance a risky project. We then benefit from infinite leverage. Suppose the discount rate is 2% annually, and the risk price constant k is 0.5. This means that a standard deviation of 1 in profit must be offset by an increase of 0.5 in average profit. Consider a project that costs 100 today and whose only revenue is 126 or 94 in a year, each with the same probability 1/2. The average profit is 10. The standard deviation of the profit is 16. The average surplus profit is 8. This risky project is optimal, because a risk equal to 16 has been compensated by an increase of 16k = 8 in the average profit. Such compensation justifies taking risks. Suppose we can borrow 100 at the risk-free rate to finance the previous risky project. We have to repay 102 in a year. So we have a one in two chance of winning 24 and a one in two chance of losing 8. It's like playing a coin toss 3 against 1. The odds of 3 to 1 depend on the risk price constant k=0.5, but it is always greater than 1 to 1 for an optimal risky project, as soon as the cost of risk is greater than zero. Consider a project that costs 100 today and whose only revenue is 118 + 16k or 86 + 16k in a year, each with the same probability 1/2. The average profit is 2 + 16k. The standard deviation of profit is 16. The average surplus profit is 16k. This project is optimal because we compensated a risk equal to 16 by an increase of 16k in average profit. If we borrow 100 at the risk-free rate to finance the previous project, we have a one in two chance of winning 16 + 16k and a one in two chance of losing 16 - 16k. We therefore play at 1+k against 1-k, therefore at (1+k)/(1-k) against 1, with equal probabilities. These odds only depend on the risk price constant k, not on the discount rate. We therefore proved: Theorem: if the risk price constant is k, we can play (1+k)/(1-k) against 1 with equal probabilities. Only irreducible risk yields such a profit. If the risk can be reduced to zero, as in an ordinary game of heads or tails, the odds of heads or tails must be 1 to 1, otherwise one of the players is harmed. An irreducible risk is taken against fate. There is no other counterpart. When we can play (1+k)/(1-k) against 1 with equal probabilities, we cannot repeat the game several times to increase the profits while decreasing the risks, because then we would reduce the risk. However, it was assumed that the risk was irreducible.

The science of finance/The value of a risky project. Only irreducible risk has a cost. To assess the cost of risk of a project that is not optimal, its intrinsic risk must not be taken into account, because it can be reduced without cost, if it is compensated by other risks. If a risky project were sold while ignoring this possibility of reduction, the buyer would make a gain to the detriment of the seller, simply by compensating for the risk. The cost of risk of a project is the cost of its irreducible risk. If the risk is fully compensable, it can be cancelled and then has no cost. Only irreducible risk has a cost. The cost of risk of a project is the average surplus profit of an optimal project that has the same irreducible risk and the same initial cost. The value of a project on the day of its launch is the present value on that day of its average final revenue reduced by the cost of its irreducible risk. How to measure irreducible risks? If a project is optimal, its irreducible risk is its risk. But if a project is not optimal, its risk is not irreducible. How then to measure its irreducible risk? We reduce the risk by compensating it with other risks, thus by integrating a risky project into a larger project. The projects thus brought together are like the components of a portfolio. We reduce the risks as much as possible by incorporating a project into an optimal portfolio. If a project can be a part of an optimal portfolio that has the same average surplus profit rate, its irreducible risk is its share of the irreducible risk of the optimal portfolio, thus the risk of the optimal portfolio multiplied by the initial cost of the project divided by the initial cost of the portfolio. But a project can also have an average surplus profit rate different from the optimal portfolio of which it is a component. How then to attribute its share of the portfolio risk to it? For the value of the optimal portfolio to be the sum of the values ​​of its components, its risk must be the sum of the irreducible risks attributed to each of its components. Let us consider two projects whose surplus profits are X and Y. We assume that X+Y is the surplus profit of an optimal portfolio and that its risk is R. Since risk is a standard deviation, it is always a positive number. But if we distribute the risk of an optimal project over its various components, they receive a negative share if their average surplus profit is negative. This is why the irreducible risk of a project can be negative. Reducing a negative risk is increasing its absolute value. The cost of a negative risk is negative. This means that it is not a cost but a benefit. Theorem: the irreducible risk of X does not depend on the optimal portfolio X + Y in which it is measured. Proof: Let X + Y and X + Z be two optimal portfolios. X + Z = a(X + Y) where a >= 0. If E(X+Y) > 0, Rx = E(X)/E(X+Y) std(X+Y). If a > 0, Rx = a E(X)/E(X+Z) std(X+Z)/a = E(X)/E(X+Z) std(X+Z). If a = 0, Z = -X and the irreducible risk Rx of X is equal and opposite to that Rz of Z. Rx = - Rz. Let W be such that Z + W is optimal and E(Z + W) > 0. There exists b > 0 such that Z + W = b(X + Y). Rz = E(Z)/E(Z + W) std(Z + W) = -b E(X/E(X+Y) std(X + Y)/b = -E(X)/E(X+Y) std(X + Y), so equal to -Rx when Rx is measured in X + Y, as it should be. If E(X + Y) = 0 and a > 0, the roles of Y and Z are reversed, but the proof is the same. If E(X + Y) = 0 and a = 0, then Y = Z = -X, and Rx = - Ry = -Rz. Hence the theorem. The existence of negative risks poses a difficulty for the definition of optimal projects. Reducing a negative risk can mean reducing its absolute value or, on the contrary, increasing its absolute value. A project whose risk is negative is never optimal in the first sense, because its average surplus profit can be increased by reducing its risk in absolute value, but it can be optimal in the second sense, because its risk cannot be increased in absolute value without reducing its average surplus profit. We can therefore reason on projects with optimal negative risk. A project is with optimal negative risk when its irreducible risk is negative and cannot be increased in absolute value without decreasing the average surplus profit of the project. Projects with optimal negative risk are very paradoxical, very different from optimal projects with positive risk, and they are not optimal if we understand risk reduction in its ordinary sense, where the risk is always positive, because it is a standard deviation. A project cannot be incorporated into an optimal portfolio if its initial cost is too high, because any portfolio that would contain it would be suboptimal. If its initial cost is too low, it is a windfall, and cannot be incorporated into an optimal portfolio, because these exclude windfalls. The risk of a project does not depend on its initial cost, if it is fixed in advance. The irreducible risk does not depend on it either. We can vary the initial cost of a project without varying its risk and thus find an initial cost such that the project can be incorporated into an optimal portfolio. The irreducible risk of a project is the irreducible risk of the project that has the same final revenue and whose initial cost has been adjusted to be part of an optimal portfolio. All projects can be divided into three categories, depending on whether their irreducible risk is positive, zero, or negative. Let X be the surplus profit of a project and X° the surplus profit of the same project when its initial cost has been adjusted to be part of an optimal portfolio. The irreducible risk of X is positive if E(X°) > 0, zero if E(X°) = 0, and negative if E(X°) < 0. Theorem: the absolute value of the irreducible risk of a project whose surplus profit is X is equal to the risk of an optimal project whose average surplus profit is equal to |E(X°)|. Proof: let Y be the surplus profit of a project such that X°+Y is the surplus profit of an optimal project. Let R be the risk of X°+Y. R = ect(X°+Y). Let Rx and Ry be the irreducible risks of X and Y respectively. Theorem: if we increase an irreducible negative risk in absolute value without decreasing the average profit, we increase the value of a project. Proof: the value of a project is the value of its average surplus profit minus the cost of the irreducible risk. If the irreducible risk is negative, the cost of the risk is negative and therefore increases the value of the project. The net present value of a risky project. The net present value of a risky project is its value net of its initial cost. As with risk-free projects, if the net present value of a risky project is less than zero, it seems that the project should be rejected because it is not worth its initial cost. This rule must be applied flexibly, because risks and their costs are often difficult to measure. In such cases, rough estimates must be made. If the net present value of a risky project is zero, the project is correctly valued by its initial cost. If the net present value of a risky project is greater than zero, the project is a windfall, because its value is greater than its initial cost. The net present value of a risky project is not the average surplus profit, because the cost of risk must be taken into account: Theorem: the net present value of a risky project is the average of its surplus profit minus the cost of its irreducible risk. If X is the surplus profit, Rx the irreducible risk of X and k the risk price constant, NPV(X) = E(X) - k Rx. Proof: The net present value of a risky project is the present value of its average final revenue minus the cost of its irreducible risk minus the initial cost. The average surplus profit is the difference between the average final revenue and the value, on the day the project closes, of the initial cost. The present value, on the day the project starts, of the average surplus profit is therefore the difference between the present value of the average final revenue and the initial cost. Hence the theorem. Theorem: the net present value of a project is not modified by its financing method. Proof: when we use leverage, we do not modify the surplus profit of a project, we therefore do not modify either its average surplus profit or its irreducible risk. Theorem: the net present value of a sum of projects is the sum of the net present values ​​of the component projects. Proof: This theorem has already been proven for risk-free projects. Let X and Y be the surplus profits of two projects, risky or not. The irreducible risk of X+Y is the sum of the irreducible risks of X and Y. The average of the net present value of X+Y is the sum of the averages of the net present values ​​of X and Y. Therefore the net present value of X+Y is the sum of the net present values ​​of X and Y. By reasoning by recurrence, we establish this theorem for any number of component projects. To calculate the net present value of a sum of projects, we must first take into account the effect of value creation by composition, because the initial costs and final revenues of the various projects may depend on the existence of the other projects. Theorem: the net present value of an optimal project is zero. Proof: the risk of an optimal project is its irreducible risk and it is exactly compensated by the average surplus profit. The converse is not true for a risky project. A risky project can have a net present value of zero without being optimal, if its risk is not irreducible. Lemma: if a project can be part of an optimal portfolio then its net present value is zero. Proof: Let X and Y be the surplus profits of two risky projects such that X+Y is an optimal project. If the net present value NPV(X) > 0, the average surplus profit E(X) > k Rx, where Rx is the irreducible risk of X, and X would be a windfall. If NPV(X) < 0, E(X) < k Rx. R = Rx + Ry. E(X+Y) = k R = k Rx + k Ry = E(X) + E(Y) so E(Y) > k Ry, and Y would be a windfall. Now an optimal portfolio must not contain any windfall. Therefore the net present value of each of its shares is zero. In particular, if X° is the surplus profit of a project X whose initial cost has been adjusted so that it can be part of an optimal portfolio, the net present value of project X° is zero. Theorem: if X is the surplus profit of a project and X° = X + C the surplus profit of the same project when its initial cost has been adjusted so that it can be part of an optimal portfolio, then the net present value of X is the constant -C. Proof: the net present value of X is that of X° minus C, therefore equal to -C, because the net present value of X° is zero. Theorem: the net present value of a project is zero if and only if it can be part of an optimal project. Proof: If the net present value of a project with surplus profit X is zero, then X = X° and can therefore be part of an optimal project. The converse has already been proven. Short selling. Let a project P be defined by a fixed initial cost C and a random final revenue R. Selling P short is selling it after having borrowed it with the obligation to return it. R is the final value of P, therefore also the amount that must be paid to return it. C is the price that must be paid to acquire P, therefore also the amount that is received if it is sold short. Selling P short is therefore the project that has a fixed initial revenue C and a random final cost R. An initial revenue can be considered as a negative initial cost, and a final cost as a negative final revenue. Selling P short is therefore the project -P whose initial cost is -C and final revenue -R. Theorem: if X is the surplus profit of a project P, -X is the surplus profit of the project -P of selling P short. Proof: X = R - C(1+r)^t where r is the discount rate and t is the duration of the project. -X = -R - (-C)(1+r)^t is therefore the surplus profit of the project whose initial cost is -C and final revenue -R. Theorem: the risk of short selling a project P is equal to the risk of P. Proof: R = std(X) = std(-X) is both the risk of P and the risk of short selling P. Theorem: the net present value of short selling a project P is equal and opposite to the net present value of project P. Proof: let X be the surplus profit of P. NPV(X-X) = NPV(0) = 0 = NPV(X) + NPV(-X). Therefore NPV(X) = -NPV(-X). If we buy P by paying its initial cost at the same time as we sell it short, we realize a risk-free project that has a zero initial cost and a zero surplus profit, so it has a zero net present value. Theorem: the irreducible risk of short selling a project P is equal and opposite to the irreducible risk of project P. Proof: NPV(X) = E(X) - k Rx. NPV(-X) = E(-X) - k Rx-, where Rx- is the irreducible risk of -X. Rx- = ( E(-X) - VAN(-X) )/k = ( -E(X) + VAN(X) )/k = -Rx. Theorem: a project is with optimal negative risk if and only if it is equivalent to short selling an optimal project. Proof: The vector space of projects. Theorem: all projects form a vector space. Proof: a project is identified with the random variable of its surplus profit. The sum of two projects X and Y is the project whose surplus profit is X+Y, so the union of projects X and Y. Project aX is the acquisition of a shares of project X if a is positive or the short sale of |a| shares of project X if a is negative. The space of all projects is therefore a vector space. The surplus profits of all projects, regardless of their dates and durations, must all be evaluated, that is to say discounted, on the same day, so that they can be compared and added together. Theorem: in the vector space of projects, the null vector represents a risk-free project whose profit is that obtained if we had placed the initial cost of the project at the optimal risk-free rate. Proof: std(0) = 0 so a project with surplus profit X = 0 is risk-free. X = R - C(1+r)^t where R is the final revenue, C the initial cost, t the duration of the project and r the optimal risk-free rate. Therefore R = C(1+r)^t. Therefore the profit is R - C = C(1+r)^t - C. Theorem: NPV(aX) = aNPV(X) Proof: NPV(aX) = E(aX) minus the irreducible risk of aX. Whether a is positive or negative, the irreducible risk of aX is a times the irreducible risk of X. Therefore NPV(aX) = aE(X) minus a times the irreducible risk of X = a NPV(X). Theorem: in the vector space of all projects, projects with zero net present value form a vector subspace. Proof: if NPV(X) = 0 and NPV(Y) = 0 then NPV(X+Y) = NPV(X) + NPV(Y) = 0 and NPV(aX) = a NPV(X) = 0. Theorem: a project is optimal if and only if it is optimal in the vector space of projects with zero net present value. Proof: all components of an optimal project have zero net present value, because an optimal project must not contain a windfall, hence no project whose net present value is strictly greater than zero, and because it must not contain the short sale of a windfall, because this would be an error that would reduce the value of the project. Theorem: the space of projects with zero net present value is Euclidean. Proof: it is a vector space with a positive symmetric bilinear form, the covariance between two random variables. We assume that it is of finite dimension, because we reason on the projects that can be carried out with today's means. It remains to show that the covariance is positive definite in the space of projects with zero net present value. If cov(X,X) = var(X) = 0 then std(X) = 0 and X = 0 because NPV(X) = 0. Hence the theorem. Irreducible risk and covariance with an optimal project. X° is the surplus profit of a project with surplus profit X whose initial cost has been adjusted so that it can be part of an optimal portfolio. If the net present value of the project with surplus profit X is zero, X = X°. Theorem: if the irreducible risk of X is strictly positive, so if E(X°) > 0, then this irreducible risk is the positive square root of the covariance of X with an optimal project whose average surplus profit is E( X°). Moreover, the covariance of X with all optimal risky projects is strictly positive. Proof: let Y be the surplus profit of an optimal project that has the same average surplus profit as X°. Let Z = aX° + (1-a)Y be the surplus profit of a portfolio that contains a share a of project X° and a share (1-a) of project Y. The average surplus profit of Z is the same as that of X° and Y. If a is negative, Z contains (1+|a|)Y as an asset and |a|X° as a liability. This means that to constitute Z, we sold |a|X° short. Since Y is an optimal project, d/da var(Z) = 0 at a = 0. var(Z) = a²var(X°) + 2a(1-a)cov(X°,Y) +(1-a)²var(Y). Therefore d/da var(Z) = 2a var(X°) + (2-4a)cov(X°,Y) + (2a - 2)var(Y). At a=0, d/da var(Z) = 2cov(X°,Y) - 2var(Y) = 0. Therefore var(Y) = cov(X°, Y) = cov(X,Y). Hence the first part of the theorem, because var(Y) is the square of the irreducible risk of project X. cov(X,Y) > 0 because var(Y) > 0. All optimal projects are strictly positive multiples of the same random quantity, so their covariance with X is always strictly positive, since cov(X,aY) = a cov(X,Y). If E(X°) < 0, there is no optimal project that has the same average surplus profit as X°, because they all have a profit at least equal to the risk-free profit, so a positive or zero surplus profit. Lemma: if X is the surplus profit of a project, (-X)° = -X°. Proof: NPV((-X)°) = 0 = E((-X)°) - k Rx-, where Rx- is the irreducible risk of -X. NPV(-X°) = 0 = E(-X°) - k Rx-. Therefore E((-X)°) = E(-X°). Now (-X)° = -X° + C where C is a constant. Therefore C = 0 and (-X)° = -X°. Theorem: if the irreducible risk of X is strictly negative, so if E(X°) < 0, then this irreducible risk is the negative square root of the opposite of the covariance of X with an optimal project whose average surplus profit is -E(X°), and the covariance of X with all optimal projects is strictly negative. Proof: if the irreducible risk of X is strictly negative then the irreducible risk Rx- of -X is strictly positive. Rx- is the positive square root of the covariance of -X with an optimal project whose average surplus profit is E((-X)°) = E(-X°) = - E(X°). Now cov(-X,Y) = -cov(X,Y) for all Y. Hence the theorem. Theorem: the irreducible risk of X is zero if and only if the covariance of X with all optimal projects is zero. Proof: We have therefore proven: Theorem: the irreducible risk of a project always has the same sign as its covariance with all optimal risky projects. In other words: How to construct a vector space of projects? With such a vector space, one can prove, due to its construction, all theorems on net present value and irreducible risk. Here are three examples: Proof: E(a(Op + k)) = a E(Op) + k a = k a. std(a(Op + k)) = a std(Op) = a, because a > or = 0. Therefore E(a(Op + k)) = k std(a(Op + k)). Proof: E(X)/k Op + E(X) is such an optimal project. cov(X, E(X)/k Op + E(X)) = E(X)/k cov(X,Op). Or E(X) = k cov(X,Op). So cov(X, E(X)/k Op + E(X)) = cov(X,Op)² and E(X) = k cov(X, E(X)/k Op + E(X))^(1/2). Proof: Let X be an optimal project and Y a zero net present value project that has the same expected value as X. X = a(Op + k), so std(X) = a and E(X) = ka. E(Y) = k cov(Y,Op) = E(X) = ka, so cov(Y,Op) = a = std(X). By the Cauchy Schwarz inequality, cov(Y,Op)² < or = var(Y) var(Op) = var(Y). So std(Y) > or = std(X). X has the smallest risk among all zero net present value projects that have the same average surplus profit and is therefore optimal in the space of zero net present value projects. Such a vector space is the general solution to all problems of financial risk calculation, because one can always reduce the mathematical problem to the study of such a vector space. The Modigliani-Miller theorem. We must distinguish between the initial price and the value of a share of ownership of a project. If P is a project of value V whose initial cost is C, then the initial price of a share x (a number between 0 and 1) of P is xC and its value is xV. The initial price and the value can be different, except if the net present value of the project is zero, because then it is worth its initial cost: V = C. For a project whose value is V and initial cost C, the value of an initial stake of 1 is V/C. Modigliani-Miller theorem: if the net present value of a project is zero, then leverage does not change the value of an initial stake to finance the project. We can give several proofs of this theorem: For the same initial stake, the leverage increases the risk, because we invest in a larger project, financed both by the initial stake and by borrowing. The increase in the average surplus profit by leverage is the compensation for an increase in risk. If the irreducible risk of a company is negative, it must be counted as revenue. Leverage increases the risk in absolute value and therefore increases this revenue, but at the same time it decreases the average surplus profit, because this is negative. The decrease in the average surplus profit is compensated by the increase in absolute value of the negative risk. This is why the value of an initial stake is not changed. The efficient markets hypothesis is that all firms are quoted at their fair value, so their net present value is always zero. This is why Modigliani and Miller used this hypothesis to prove their theorem. The zero value of cryptoassets. Theorem: the value of cryptoassets is always zero. We can give several proofs of this theorem: When you buy a cryptoasset, you buy an asset whose value is certain, because it is zero. It is therefore a sure way to lose all the money you have advanced. If you want to make money, or not lose too much, after buying cryptoassets, You have to find gullible people who are willing to buy assets that are worthless. Cryptoassets are like lottery tickets, where you bet on the existence of people gullible enough to buy them when their value is zero. For cryptoassets to be a currency, you would have to agree to pay hundreds of dollars or more in transaction fees every time you buy a sandwich. So the idea that cryptoassets could be used as a currency is a lie. How can cryptoassets producers make a lot of money when they produce no wealth? They steal from savers by selling at high prices assets that have no value. Cryptoasset producers and promoters are therefore crooks and thieves. They take advantage of the gullibility of savers. Selling cryptoassets is theft, because it is selling assets that are worthless at a high price. Cryptoasset buyers are robbed when they buy and robbers when they resell. Cryptoasset producers are the first thieves in this chain of thieves. “Rob your neighbor as you were robbed” could be the motto of cryptoasset sellers. Cryptoasset buyers become cryptoasset sellers. By encouraging savers to buy cryptoassets, cryptoasset sellers encourage buyers to become thieves, crooks and arsonists. Cryptoasset sellers are therefore criminals who push savers into crime. Being a buyer of cryptoassets is already being a thief, since one buys with the intention of selling, therefore of stealing, and one is a thief when one intends to steal. Cryptoassets do not produce any wealth but they consume a lot of it, enough to provide electricity to an entire country. The dragon Crypto is a glutton. It devours riches that could support millions of people. Even if savers ask those who ruined them to reimburse their wiped out savings, they will not get all their money back, because it is used to pay the gigantic production costs of cryptoassets. The dragon Crypto has already swallowed approximately two trillions of dollars. Finance has always been the open door to all kinds of scams, because those who finance buy wealth that does not yet exist. Scammers sell wealth that does not exist and will never exist. Honest entrepreneurs sell wealth that will really exist. By its scale and its duration, the sale of cryptoassets is the biggest scam in the history of finance. Never before have savers lost so much money due to financial dishonesty. Overconsumption of energy is turning the planet into a desert, due to global warming. We received from our ancestors a temperate planet, where life is good, and we are delivering to our children a burning, desert planet, where life has become almost impossible. Cryptoasset sellers and buyers want to get rich by burning the planet, without producing any wealth that could be useful to our children. They think: "after me the Flood!" They do not care about the future and they have made their greed their God. They are already ruined, because they bought assets that are worth nothing. Cryptoassets sellers and buyers are thieves and arsonists. The trillions of dollars sunk in cryptoassets could have been invested to prepare our future and that of future generations. We would have a better future and savers would not be ruined. But cryptoasset sellers and buyers do not care about future generations. They prefer to ruin savers and burn the planet. If all the savers in the world learn the truth about cryptoassets, if they finally understand that their true value is zero, they will stop buying them because they will know that they will not be able to resell them, or only resell them at a loss. Then the sellers will no longer be able to sell, because there will be no more buyers. The cryptoasset industry will disappear, as it must, because its existence is the perpetuation of crime. Cryptoasset sellers and buyers believe that it is impossible for this industry to disappear. But to know what is possible or not, you need to know the laws. It is impossible for the cryptoasset industry not to disappear. It is a necessary consequence of the laws of finance. Can the price of cryptoassets increase further? It depends on the intelligence of savers. For it to increase, savers must accept losing more money. For example, if the price of bitcoin goes from $60,000 to $200,000, savers will have collectively lost about 20,000,000 x 140,000 = 2.8 trillion dollars more, which they will never be able to recover. The maximum price of bitcoin is a measure of the maximum stupidity of savers. The gullibility of savers is like a deposit that criminals want to exploit. Is this deposit exhausted? If so, the price of cryptoassets will not increase any more. But if there is still stupidity to exploit, the price of cryptoassets can still increase. Who pays the cost of risk? When a risky project is sold, the seller pays the cost of the irreducible risk, because this risk reduces the value of the project, and therefore the price at which the project can be sold. The buyer is paid to take the risk. When a risky project is realized, the value of the project, net of its initial cost, is the surplus profit realized. The average surplus profit realized is the average net present value and it ignores the cost of risk. When a risky project is realized, the cost of risk is therefore not paid on average, as if ultimately no one paid it. Risk takers pay for the risk when they bear losses, but the surplus profit they hope to realize does not take into account the cost of risk. The value of a decision. The theory of the value of durable goods, projects, companies, assets or portfolios is always a theory of the value of a decision: what is the value of the decision to buy it? If this value is higher than the proposed price, then the purchase is a windfall, if it is lower, it is better to give up. Since the purchase price is an initial cost, the theory of the net present value of projects is a general theory of the value of decisions. The gains or losses resulting from a decision depend on subsequent decisions. To know future gains and losses, an agent must anticipate her upcoming decisions and their value. To know the value of a decision, an agent must know the value of the decisions that will follow. How is it ? Isn't there an infinite regress? To know the value of a decision to be made today, I must know the value of the decisions that will have to be made tomorrow, but to know the value of the decisions of tomorrow I must know the value of the decisions the day after tomorrow, and and so on. How then can we know the value of decisions? An optimal agent always chooses the maximum value when making a decision. What is the most valuable possibility of all that one can choose? Which is better, to exercise an option or not to exercise it? Which is the better option, the option to exercise an option or the option not to exercise it? To know her future decisions, an optimal agent must reason about the decisions of an optimal agent. An optimal agent can predict her future decisions or their probabilities, because she knows that she will make optimal decisions. (Bellman). An optimal agent can reason from the end. She must anticipate gains and losses for all possible purposes of the project, at time t. Then she anticipates the gains and losses at the previous stage, at time t-1. Since she knows that she will choose the best decision, she can anticipate her decision at time t-1. Then she can anticipate the gains and losses of a decision at time t-2, and so on. The behavior of an agent can be modeled with a decision tree. If the environment is predictable, a node represents a moment in a possible destiny where the agent makes a decision. The branches that start from the same node represent the possible choices. Each node can be associated with a gain or a loss. These are the gains and losses that immediately result from the decision made at the earlier node. We start by assuming that these gains or losses are predictable and risk-free. We can therefore ignore the costs of risk. A decision tree represents all possible sequences of decisions made by an agent and allows the calculation of the associated gains or losses. Only decisions that are relevant to the value of the project are included, those decisions that may have an effect on the value of the decision to purchase the project. To find a destiny chosen by an optimal agent, we can reason starting from the end, to calculate a function V which assigns a value to each node of the project. Let t be the last instant of the project and z a terminal node at this instant. V(z) is the immediate gain or loss associated with z. Let x be a node at time t-1. V(x) is the sum of the immediate gain or loss associated with x and the present value at time t-1 of the maximum Vmax of V(y) for all nodes y at time t that follow the node x. In this way we can calculate V for all nodes at time t-1, if we already know V for all nodes at time t. One can repeat the process until the initial moment and thus obtain V for all the nodes. We find at the same time the destiny chosen by an optimal agent (or the destinies that she can choose if there are several). An optimal agent always makes a decision that maximizes V at the next node. If an agent's environment is random, we can model her behavior with a two-player decision tree, as if she were playing with her environment. Decisions are made by the agent at even times, and randomly at odd times by the environment. Each even node is associated with an immediate gain or loss and its probability of being reached by the odd node that precedes it. We can define a function V for all the nodes of this tree as before. For an odd node, V is the probability-weighted average of the V(y) for all subsequent even nodes y. An optimal agent must take risk into account when evaluating possible choices. For an even node, it is therefore necessary to seek not the maximum of V for the odd nodes which follow, but the maximum of V less the cost of the risk which follows a decision. Vmax is not the maximum of V but the value of V which maximizes V less the cost of the risk. For an even node, V is the sum of the immediate gain or loss and the present value (at the time of the node) of Vmax associated with that node. The value of a decision is the value of V at the odd nodes, minus the cost of the risk that follows this decision. V is the expectation of the sum of the present values, at the instant the decision is made, of all the gains and losses that follow this decision for an optimal agent. V is an expectation or anticipation of wealth. An optimal agent must take into account the risk to make the best choice, she always chooses the highest value of the expected wealth minus the cost of the risk when she makes a decision. The cost of risk must be counted at the time the decision is made, to evaluate the decision, but it is not counted in the expected wealth, because it is a cost that is ultimately not paid on average. To assess risk, an optimal agent must calculate V by discounting all final revenues or losses to the day she makes the decision, and calculate the standard deviation of V. A well-designed project is optimal. The intrinsic risks of all decisions are always irreducible, because the project was designed to compensate for all the risks that could be. If a project is not so well designed, it is suboptimal, because its risks are not irreducible. When evaluating a suboptimal project, one must take into account the cost of the risk that has not been reduced, one must evaluate all decisions as if their risks were irreducible, to take into account the loss of value caused by these risks that could have been reduced. The cost of risks in the decision tree of a suboptimal project must be counted as if the intrinsic risks of the decisions were irreducible, even if they are not. Formally, an obligation can be considered as an option with only one possible choice, because an option always obliges us to choose one of the possibilities proposed. An obligation to pay has a negative value for the obligor. One asks to be paid to acquire an obligation to pay. Similarly an option can have a negative value if all possible choices are losses. Such an option is a random liability. When an optimal agent has to exercise a negative option, it chooses the minimum loss. A seller of a positive-valued option is paid to acquire a negative-valued option, because he agrees to pay any gains to the buyer of the positive-valued option. The present theory of the value of decisions and options is fully general. It includes all assets and liabilities, whether risky or not, all options with positive or negative value, and all random assets-liabilities. It can be used to reason about all economic decisions, all buying and selling, consumption, saving and investment decisions. This theory of the value of decisions can be generalized to several players to model competition and cooperation between economic agents.

Amazing organisms. This English adaptation of Puthumai Uyirigal is based on the original work by Erkaadu Elango, originally written in Tamil. The original Tamil version is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-BY-SA) license and can be accessed at FreeTamilEbooks.com. This adaptation respects the spirit of the original work while making it accessible to a wider audience.

Amazing organisms/preface. It is estimated that there are about 8 million species on our planet. Only about 2 million of these species have been scientifically described. Many species became extinct before they were discovered. Many species are on the verge of extinction. Many species are at risk of extinction before they are discovered. Scientists are discovering new species every year. Fossils of living and extinct species are also available. It helps to further understand the evolution of organisms. Newly discovered organisms may be new to us. But we must note that they predate the human race. Carl Linnaeus created the modern system of classification of all living things known to man. He is a Swedish biologist and physician. He made several expeditions in 1740 to discover and classify plants and animals. He published Species Plantarum in 1753. It became the starting point for the modern names of plants and animals. Binomial Nomenclature. A plant or an animal species has different names within a state. As many languages ​​as there are in a country, each language has its own name. Likewise globally, it is known by different names. One creature was called by many names. Two-word nomenclature was introduced to avoid the problem of multi-word nomenclature. Gaspard Bauhin, a scholar, first introduced the binomial nomenclature in 1623. A new method of naming an organism by its scientific name appeared in 1623. However, its implementation remained problematic. He created the basis for Scientific Classification and Nomenclature. Hence he is called Father of Modern Taxonomy. The scientific name of the species is indicated by Latin or a translation of Latin. The two word name of rice is Oryza sativa. It is the scientific name of rice. New species. New species are scattered around the world. Every year thousands of new plants and animals are scientifically described and documented by experts around the world. 15,000 to 18,000 new species are identified each year. People who discover new species are experts in a particular field. For example if a person is an expert on monkeys, he knows about all the monkey species living in that region. If he goes into a new forest, he can easily tell by the bone found there which species of monkey it is. If he finds a new monkey he will be actively engaged in research. He will study in comparison with the monkey species already classified and described. If it is different from the monkey species already discovered, he will conclude that it is a new species. He will then give the new species a scientific name. Genetic analysis. There may be some differences in shapes and sizes between the two species. It is also difficult to conclude that it is a new species based on this. Hence genetic analysis test should be done. If there is a difference in the number of genes it can be concluded as a new species. It is hundred percent sure. New technology like this paves the way for identifying even more species. New species are constantly being discovered through DNA analysis. DNA analysis of what is considered to be the same species can reveal differences between them. Now they are classified as separate species. Genetic testing is done on specimens stored in museums. These were collected about 50 to 100 years ago. New species are also being discovered from the samples here. Extinct species can also be found when examining samples of fossils. It helps us understand evolution more.

The science of finance/Thierry against the dragon Crypto. Winter is coming and it will be hard. People are stocking up. They are not consuming all their wealth. They are saving it, because they do not want to starve to death when winter comes. Crypto is a very gluttonous and very thieving dragon. He devours almost all the wealth saved for the winter. So people are afraid. When Thierry learns this, he says to himself that something must be done : "We cannot let this dragon starve us." But Thierry is small. He is not muscular and he has no weapons. So he goes to see the Goddess, the Truth, and he says to her "Madam Truth, I would like a sword." The Goddess answers him in a stern tone: "But why do you want a sword? - It is because of the dragon Crypto. He devours all our wealth and we are afraid of dying this winter." Then the goddess smiles at him and gives him the most beautiful sword of all, very strong, very sharp, and very light, because she sees that Thierry is not muscular. Thierry thanks her and gets ready to go in search of Crypto. But the Goddess stops him: "Wait, you also need a shield. Crypto spits flames and he could burn you. But with this shield you will be protected. He always returns to the sender the projectiles and flames that bounce off it" She gives Thierry the most beautiful, the lightest and most powerful shield. When Thierry arrives in front of Crypto, he tells him: "Dragon Crypto, if you don't stop devouring our wealth, I will kill you." Crypto laughs: "But Thierry, did you see yourself? You are very small, so small that I don't even want to eat you. Your sword and shield are ridiculous. You can't do anything against me. Go away quickly before I get angry, because if I get angry you will be burned by my flames." Thierry stays straight in front of the dragon. He is not afraid because he knows that the Truth protects him. He insists: "Dragon Crypto, if you do not promise to stop devouring our wealth, I will kill you now." Crypto gets angry at this affront: "Little insolent, you will receive the punishment you deserve." And he spits his flames. Thierry brandishes his shield, the flames bounce and Crypto has his eyes burned by his own flames. Then it is easy for Thierry to thrust his sword into the throat of Crypto, who has become blind. And the dragon dies.

King and Pawn vs. King. This endgame is often considered to be an essential one for beginners to learn. Many games can be saved by simply knowing the proper techniques. The way for the winning side to convert this game is by promoting the pawn, Thus, the objective of the drawing side is to: The winning side aims to: Now that our objectives are evident, we can begin to study the methods to accomplish these. This gives way to 4 scenarios. Rule of the Square. If the stronger king is unable to defend the pawn, or the weak king is faster than the strong king to the pawn (it will capture the pawn before the strong king can defend it), then the rule of the square can be used to determine if the weaker king can catch and stop the pawn on time before the pawn reaches the promotion square.In the above position, a square can be drawn from the current position of the a-pawn all the way to the 8th rank, and from there to the e-file. The rule is: if the king can enter the square, the king will capture the pawn and it is a draw. Otherwise, white wins. Here we can see that the black king is unable to enter the square of the pawn even on his turn, and white promotes. Here, it is evident that the king will catch the pawn. Shouldering. But what if the strong king is faster? In this case, the winning technique is relatively easy. The stronger side needs to shoulder the weaker side, or prevent the weaker side from blockading/capturing the pawn.

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bb5/3...Bb4. = 3...Bb4!? - Alapin Defence = 3...Bb4!? 3...Bb4!? is a very odd response to the Ruy Lopez, named the Alapin Defence. This move copies White's move 3. Bb5 and has no clear idea. Everything that it attacks is defended, and white has two major options against this dubious defence: Therefore, the Alapin Defence is a very dubious defence against the Ruy Lopez, and should not be played without proper planning. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bb4!?

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Nc3/3...g6/4. d4/4...exd4/5. Nd5. 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5 - Three Knights, Steinitz, Steinitz-Rosenthal Variation. The move order 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5 after 3...g6 is the Steinitz-Rosenthal Variation and is a line for White which sacrifices a pawn for aggressive play in the center and active development. 5...Bg7 line. The move 5...Bg7 by black ignores White's aggressive knight on d5 and decides to fianchetto their bishop on the kingside, just as planned by Black's third move, g6. 5...Nf6 line. With black's fifth move 5...Nf6 black aims to trade White's strong knight for black's normal knight. It also attacks the e4 pawn, which forces white to trade the knights now or a couple of moves later. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5

In-Depth General Biology/1. The Inorganic Chemistry of Life. Everything in the universe consists of atoms, which are the fundamental components of matter, though not the smallest. Matter possesses mass, which is the amount of matter contained within, and volume, which is the space it occupies. Matter can be categorized into pure substances and mixtures. Pure substances are the foundational building blocks of matter, including elements and compounds, while mixtures are combinations of different types of compounds. Life is organized using these building blocks as a starting point. ATOMS AND ELEMENTS. Universe is made of atoms. Atoms are the building blocks of matter and the universe. Atoms of the same kind conform elements, the smallest substances of all which cannot be separated in smaller components by any chemical or physical means. We currently know 118 chemical elements, but only around 90 are natural, and the rest are synthesized artifically. Living beings on Earth are made of six basic elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. Other elements like iron, calcium, potassium, molibdene, and magnese are called trace elements and are only present in small quantities in comparison with the most abundant elements (Table 1). We order them in a grpahic representation called Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, organized in eighteen columns and seven rows which indicate some of the atom properties. Elements have trends we can follow and predict on the table. Some of these trends we'll study later. Atomic structure. Atom comes from greek, meaning "undivisable", coming from the original idea proposed by Democritus, who speculated in a sort of mental experiment that cutting in subsequent halves a grain of sand would require aroun 90 cuts to reach the atom level, a particle which cannot be torn apart. John Dalton took the idea in the 19th centruy and postulated his atomic theory. Atoms, basically are composed of three subatomic particles, particles smaller than an atom, called electron (with negative electric charge), proton (with positive electric charge) and neutron (no charge at all). Protons and neutrons stick together in the center of the atom, in a small region called atomic nucleus. Given protons have the same electric charge, they would repel each other, so they stick next to neutrons, who are uncharged, using strong nuclear force. Electrons circle the nucleus at high velocities forming some kind of electron cloud. Electrons do not follow a predetermined orbit or trajectory, a phenomena called Heissenberg Uncertainty Principle: is not possible to predict fully the state in which a particle finds itself without altering, modifying or unknowing some results, like speed and position. We can only predict where they might be most of time. Atoms usually exist in three-dimensional spaces inside the electron cloud, called orbitals, each one, can be filled up with eight electrons. There are four kinds of orbital: s (like a sphere), p (like a dumbell), d and f (like flowers). Electrons have certain energy level, and can occupy orbitals with the same level of energy. Orbitals with the seme energy level make electronic shells, each with a limit in electron quantity, and represented by a letter ranging from K to Q (Table 2). Electrons in the most outermost shells are called valence electrons, and they're the most energetic of them all, something necessary as it allows to form chemical bonds and create molecules.

Open and Distance Education/AI in Open and Distance Education. Introduction. In today’s world, we can hear the word “AI” many times a day through different kinds of media. The term “AI” refers to Artificial Intelligence, which generally can be considered as a technology that can think or solve problems just like a human does. And “AI” can achieve this progress by studying the information they gained from the surroundings. Nowadays, AI has been used in many fields to create convenience for human lives. Such as healthcare, economics, art, video games, etc. And there is no doubt that the field of education is also a field in which AI has been applied. In the previous studies, AI applications in education can be found in different subjects, such as nursing education (Shorey et al., 2019), medical science(Liang et al. 2020), marketing (Sterne, 2017), etc. And the research can also be divided by level of education such as child education (Fang & Zhang, 2019; Jin, 2019), and the higher education (Zawacki-Richter et al.,  2019). Furthermore, recently, AI is also becoming a vogue in e-learning and mobile learning (Goda et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2019). As Kose (2014) mentioned, “ the e-learning technique and more generally distance education approach are highly associated with the applications of Artificial Intelligence.” Likewise, the field of Open and Distance Education is also considered to be a field which relies heavily on human- machine interactions (Fadzil & Munira, 2008). Such as Open Universities and MOOC. As AI is becoming a bigger part of our life, the interaction between humans and machines can be imagined to be more important. Thus, it is necessary to review the application of AI in the Open and Distance Education field to explore how it helped or will help to assist teaching and learning. Therefore, we organized this chapter as follows: First, we found out some cases about the application of  AI in Open and Distance Education. Second, we discussed the merits and demerits of the use of AI in the field of Open and Distance Education. And finally, we proposed some possible further research topics as a conclusion of this chapter based on the findings. Examples of AI use in Open and Distance Education. The application of AI in Open and Distance Education can be considered as a support for both teachers and students to enhance the effectiveness and efficiencies of teaching and learning (Kose,2014). And the support can from different ways, for example, to apply AI in the educational tools,  materials, or assessment, etc. In this part, we reviewed some papers of Open and Distance Education and chose some cases of AI application. Advantages and Disadvantages. There are both advantages and disadvantages to AI. In this section, the advantages and the disadvantages of AI will be discussed in comparison with those of natural intelligence (NI). In particular, 10 advantages and 2 disadvantages of AI will be discussed. First of all, according to Putra & Triastuti (as cited in Kusumadewi 2003), AI has many advantages when compared to intelligence possessed by humans (=natural intelligence/NI). Specifically, they explain six advantages of AI. This suggests that permanency, shareability, consistency, recordability, efficiency, and cheapness are six major advantages of using AI. As for consistency and efficiency out of the six major advantages of using AI, Teng (2019) also argues that AI would outcompete human beings by its accuracy and efficiency when the task is highly repetitive and is not very complex. Moreover, from a different perspective, Karal et al. (2014) conducted an interesting research regarding students’ opinions on artificial intelligence based distance education system. The purpose of the research was to evaluate an AI system called ARTIMAT, which was developed to increase students' problem solving skills. In order to evaluate the AI system, 59 students in 10th grade in an Anatolian High School in Trabzon participated in the research. Anatolian High Schools are public high schools in Turkey that admit their students according to high nationwide standardized test (TEOG) scores. The students were divided into two groups, and the two groups experienced the AI for two hours for three weeks (six weeks in total). All the students experienced the AI system either in a computer lab or in a way that each student used their computer alone. Also in order to obtain further opinions and thoughts from the students regarding the AI system they experienced, written interview forms were used. In the data collection, the students' opinions and thoughts about the AI system were compiled regardless of the students' grade or gender. Although there were a total of seven questions asked to the students who participated in the interview, two questions will be retrieved in this current section. The two questions and the answers from the students are as follows. As can be seen from the students' answers to the interview questions, it appears that there are not only advantages but also some disadvantages from the learners' (actual users') point of view. In particular, individuality, easiness, visuality, and communicativity seem to be four major advantages which were elicited from the interviews. On the other hand, Fixity of learning process and time-consuming seem to be two major disadvantages if using AI which were elicited from the interviews. Considering the disadvantage of time-consuming, Teng (2019) also argues it as the disadvantage of using AI in comparison with natural intelligence (NI). Teng (2019) even provides an example to understand how AI is sometimes time-consuming compared to NI. Teng (2019) explains that although most people can recognize a movie star, even if they have only had a glance at his or her new movie on TV, thousands of pictures from different perspectives of that star are needed if you want to train an AI to recognize him or her. Teng (2019) also describes that this function of the human brain is known as one-shot learning, whereas the function of AI is known as deep learning. Teng (2019) concludes that it appears that our brains work in a more flexible way which has something to do with the origin of natural intelligence. As this paper has discussed so far, it seems that there are both advantages and disadvantages of using AI in the context of distance education. The following two tables (Table 1 and Table 2) shows the integration of all ideas of advantages and disadvantages which were argued by different researchers. Table 1 Advantages of Using AI in Distance Education Table 2 Disadvantages of Using AI in Distance Education As the two tables show, it is not an exaggeration to say that there are many advantages of using AI in distance education. However, it is important to recognize that there are also some disadvantages of using AI in distance education. What we think is the most important thing is that educational institutions and developers should consider the disadvantages of using AI, and make improvements or plan additional support to solve those disadvantages. For example, as for the disadvantage, time consuming, creating a big platform which any developers or educational institution can access and obtain useful data to create an AI system which suits their context would be a possible solution. In other words, if it takes time to make the AI system learn the pattern, accumulating many cases and using the big data would support the AI system learn many patterns before being integrated to educational institutions. As for the disadvantage, fixity, it was actually interesting that some students answered during the interview which was conducted by Karal et al. (2014) that are some features that the students did not like about the AI system they experienced. These comments imply that Therefore, what these students’ answers mean is that the AI system provides students with not only results but also knowledge of how to solve questions. Moreover, the students’ answers also suggest that the AI system provides students with well-organized small-steps for them to learn step by step, and to prevent students from getting off track. What these students’ comments about disadvantages infer is that some positive features might be mistaken by students in contrast to the original intention of developers. Further research and topics. According to the research and analysis above, we can have an overview about the recent findings of the application in Open and Distance Education. First, in the light of the cases we found, we could know that in the field of Open and Distance Education, an insertion of AI in the tutor system seems to be a vogue. Moreover, the AI tutor systems are designed not only for the better performance of the students, but may also be for an efficient assessment progress. And we can also learn that for some step- oriented subject, like math, and AI itself, AI tutor system may also play a role as a guide to support the understanding of the certain skills. On the other hand, we could imagine that scholars also pay attention to the assistant for students with special needs. Furthermore, we could know that in addition to how to design, the researchers also focus on how to design effectively. The so called “readiness” are mentioned, which we considered to be the environment of a certain region or background. As for the further research, according to the previous studies about both the AI application and the pros and cons of using AI, we suppose that there may be some future topic or trend about the following field. First, in view of the disadvantages of the use of AI mentioned above, a more effective model of AI application design may be a potential topic. Moreover, as the application progress goes on, more research from a students’ perspectives is needed. Secondly, inserting AI in the interaction part also seems important, which is also mentioned in the previous study above as the key word “communicate”. Lastly, we also gain some idea from the research of Fadzil & Munira (2008), who tried to explore some field whereby AI may be potentially used in an open and distance learning institution by using the case of Open University Malaysia (OUM), except the field of tutor for assessment, they also mentioned some ideas, such as: to help the students choose the most suitable course, to scheduling the classes they chose, to help with the plagiarism detection, and to help to retain learners and adapt to their diverse needs and backgrounds. It seems that in this paper, the security of the university, learner diversity, and infrastructure construction may also be a potential topic of the application of AI. Bibliography. Chakrabarti, C., Luger, G.F.: Artifcial conversations for customer service chatter bots: architecture, algorithms, and evaluation metrics. Expert Syst. Appl. 42(20), 6878–6897 (2015). https://doi. org/10.1016/j.eswa.2015.04.067 Drigas, A., & Dourou, A. (2013). A review on ICTs, E-learning and artificial intelligence for Dyslexic’s assistance. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 8(4), 63. doi:10.3991/ijet.v8i4.2980 Fadzil, M., & Munira, T. A. (2008, August). Applications of Artificial Intelligence in an Open and Distance Learning institution. In 2008 International Symposium on Information Technology (Vol. 1, pp. 1-7). IEEE. Fang, L., & Zhang, J. (2019). Thoughts on the application of artificial intelligence in exceptional child education. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1325, 12104. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1325/1/012104 Fernoagă, V., Stelea, G., Gavrilă, C., & Sandu, F. (2018). Intelligent education assistant powered by chatbots. The International Scientific Conference eLearning and Software for Education, 2, 376-383. doi:10.12753/2066-026X-18-122 Goda, Y., Yamada, M., Matsukawa, H., Hata, K., & Yasunami, S. (2014). Conversation with a chatbot before an online EFL group discussion and the effects on critical thinking. The Journal of Information and Systems in Education, 13(1), 1-7. doi:10.12937/ejsise.13.1 Goel, A. K., & Joyner, D. A. (2017). Using AI to teach AI: Lessons from an online AI class. AI Magazine, 38(2), 48. doi:10.1609/aimag.v38i2.2732 Goksel Canbek, N., & Mutlu, M. E. (2016). On the track of artificial intelligence: Learning with intelligent personal assistants. International Journal of Human Sciences, 13(1), 592. doi:10.14687/ijhs.v13i1.3549 Hedayati, M., Kamali, S. H., & Shakerian, R. (2012). Comparison and evaluation of intelligence methods for distance education platform. International Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science, 4(4), 21-27. doi:10.5815/ijmecs.2012.04.03 Jin, L. (2019). Investigation on potential application of artificial intelligence in preschool Children’s education. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1288, 12072. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1288/1/012072 Karal, H., Nabiyev, V., Erümit, A. K., Arslan, S., & Çebi, A. (2014). Students’ opinions on artificial intelligence based distance education system (artimat). Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 136, 549-553. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.05.374 Kose, U. (Ed.). (2014). Artificial Intelligence Applications in Distance Education. IGI Global. Kusumadewi, Sri. (2003). Artificial Intelligence (Teknik dan Aplikasinya). Graha Ilmu. Liang, X., Yang, X., Yin, S., Malay, S., Chung, K. C., Ma, J., & Wang, K. (2020). Artificial intelligence in plastic surgery: Applications and challenges. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, doi:10.1007/s00266-019-01592-2 Liu, Q., Huang, J., Wu, L., Zhu, K., & Ba, S. (2019). CBET: Design and evaluation of a domain-specific chatbot for mobile learning. Universal Access in the Information Society, doi:10.1007/s10209-019-00666-x Pereira, J., Fernández-Raga, M., Osuna-Acedo, S., Roura-Redondo, M., Almazán-López, O., & Buldón-Olalla, A. (2019). Promoting Learners’ Voice Productions Using Chatbots as a Tool for Improving the Learning Process in a MOOC. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 24(4), 545-565. Putra, D., & Triastuti, E. (2019). Application of E-learning and artificial intelligence in education systems in indonesia. International Journal of Computer Applications, 177(27), 16-22. doi:10.5120/ijca2019919739 Teng, X. (2019). Discussion about artificial Intelligence’s advantages and disadvantages compete with natural intelligence. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1187(3), 32083. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1187/3/032083 Shorey, S., Ang, E., Yap, J., Ng, E. D., Lau, S. T., & Chui, C. K. (2019). A virtual counseling application using artificial intelligence for communication skills training in nursing education: Development study. 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Open and Distance Education/Examples of AI use in Open and Distance Education. ARTIMAT. Karal et al. (2019) assessed an artificial intelligence-based distance education system called ARTIMAT, which was designed to develop mathematical problem-solving skills, in terms of the conceptual competence, the ease of use and students’ contribution to the problem-solving process (Karal et al., 2019). The ARTIMAT was experienced by 59 students in 10th grade in an Anatolian High School in Trabzon. In the following section (3. Advantages and Disadvantages), more features of the AI system will be discussed. However, to explain briefly, the AI system was found to be very effective and satisfying according to the student interviews. AGENT-DYSL. There are also some contexts where AI is used especially for students with special needs (e.g., dyslexia). As Drigas & Dourou (2013) argue, children with dyslexia have special learning skills, and thus most of the time only specialized institutions know better and are able to support their reading difficulties. Then, a software called the AGENT-DYSL was developed by researchers. According to Drigas & Dourou (2013), the main features of the AI system are: Also, the unique features of the AI software program are: Thus, it appears that AGENT-DYSL is able to support such particular students in many aspects. We believe this can be applied to more broad contexts where not only students with special needs but also any students are learning. For example, in Japanese public schools, there are usually some students with special needs in classes. Moreover, there are also some students who do not need specific support, but still face some difficulty in learning. Therefore, integration of such AI systems into the school environment would provide students with personalized assistance with taking into account the context of their school environments. Repeated Reading Adaptive Fluency Tutor (R2 aft). Similar to the previous AI system, there seems to be a lot of AI systems which particularly focus on reading assistance. The R2 aft tutor (Repeated Reading Adaptive Fluency Tutor) was developed to improve reading fluency among students with dyslexia. Since this AI system is still in the process of evaluation, it is not very used worldwide yet. Therefore, not much information was provided on the Internet. However, according to Drigas & Dourou (2013), an important part of the R2 aft tutor is that it generates a text to be read through a story assembly engine called TASA (Text And Story Assembler). Spatial Math Tutor. There is also a cognitive tool for better performance on mathematical tasks. The AI system is called Spatial Math Tutor which was developed, tested, and incorporated into an online tutoring environment (Drigas & Dourou, 2013). Through graphical representation and the manipulation of CG objects, the AI system is considered a beneficial tool for learners taking into account all the assistive 3D graphic technology and interaction tutoring (Drigas & Dourou, 2013). Chatbot for peer-assessment. A chatbot , as an Artificial Intelligence technology, is known as a conversational agent, which refers to a computer program engaging in conversation or simulating informal chat communication between a human and a computer program in natural language (Chak & LugChatter, 2015). And as it was mentioned by Liu et al., (2019), “In the field of education, the role of chatbots has been highlighted in the context of e-learning and has received considerable attention.” In Pereira et al., (2019) ’s research, mobile based chatbots were used to record the voices of the MOOC students, so they can do the peer- assessment with more motivation and participation. According to the research of Pereira et al., (2019), we can imagine that since today’s students tend to rely on their personal device like mobile phone, or social media application, scholars too are beginning to insert AI to Open and Distance Education through a mobile phone assisted learning system. Thus, when talking about AI applications, we should not only think about a computer, but devices like mobile phones should also be considered. Using AI tutoring agent to teach. In Goel & Joyner (2017) ’s study, they set a foundation online AI course for an online program of an institution to solve the problem of the rapidly growing need for AI courses. And the courses are delivered by the MOOC provider Udacity. In the research, AI was used in two ways: One is intelligent tutoring of AI concept; and another is Authentic engagement in AI research. For the former, exercise were set in the video lesson, “nanotutors” are set to support the exercises. As Goel & Joyner (2017) mentioned, the role of the “nanotutors” is to “ guide students’ understanding of one narrowly defined skill such as completing a semantic network for a particular problem or simulating an agent’s planning in the blocks world”. According to the students satisfaction survey, they found that most of the students agree about the function of the “ nanotutors ” in helping them to understand the material. As for the latter, the AI course can allow students to re-create the AI agents as an authentic engagement. And it helped the students to know the dynamic and emerging theories of AI. Although, this study seems to be a specific one, since it use AI to teach AI. However, we can also gain some enlightenment from the practice that AI may us to teaching itself. Moreover, what we found interesting in this paper is that, it mentioned that the video lesson itself may not be interactive as a general course in a school situation, the discussion part like a forum may play an important role on that part. Therefore, inserting AI to facilitate interaction seems to be an interesting topic in the future study. Application of AI in distance education in Indonesia. According to Putra & Triastuti (2019), when assessing whether a country has a more positive image on integration of AI into distance educational contexts, “readiness” will be a useful criteria. Specifically, they argue that readiness for the application of AI in distance education must consider the specific influence on each situation, institution or learning program (Putra & Triastuti, 2019). They strongly argue that although various factors have an influence on implementation and effectiveness of AI, “readiness” will be a critical success factor. From this perspective, Putra & Triastuti (2019) analyzed the implementation of AI in distance education in Indonesia. Then, they state that the following points are some issues Indonesia has to deal with at this time.

A-level Computing/AQA/Paper 1/Skeleton program/2025. Section D Predictions. Current questions are speculation by contributors to this page. 1) Using each number more than once but no repeats within the 5 given? C# - DM - Riddlesdown In CheckNumbersUsedAreAllInNumbersAllowed you can remove the line Temp.Remove(Convert.ToInt32(Item)) around line 150 ________________________________________________________________ static bool CheckNumbersUsedAreAllInNumbersAllowed(List<int> NumbersAllowed, List<string> UserInputInRPN, int MaxNumber) List<int> Temp = new List<int>(); foreach (int Item in NumbersAllowed) Temp.Add(Item); foreach (string Item in UserInputInRPN) if (CheckValidNumber(Item, MaxNumber)) if (Temp.Contains(Convert.ToInt32(Item))) // CHANGE START (line removed) // CHANGE END else return false; return true; C# KN - Riddlesdown In FillNumbers in the while (NumbersAllowed < 5) loop, you should add a ChosenNumber int variable and check it’s not already in the allowed numbers so there are no duplicates (near line 370): ________________________________________________________________ static List<int> FillNumbers(List<int> NumbersAllowed, bool TrainingGame, int MaxNumber) if (TrainingGame) return new List<int> { 2, 3, 2, 8, 512 }; else while (NumbersAllowed.Count < 5) // CHANGE START int ChosenNumber = GetNumber(MaxNumber); while (NumbersAllowed.Contains(ChosenNumber)) ChosenNumber = GetNumber(MaxNumber); NumbersAllowed.Add(ChosenNumber); // CHANGE END return NumbersAllowed; 2) Update program so expressions with whitespace are validated Riddlesdown - KH At the moment if you put spaces between your numbers or operators it doesn't work so you will have to fix that Put remove spaces under user input static string RemoveSpaces(string UserInput) char[] temp = new char[UserInput.Length]; string bufferstring = ""; bool isSpaces = true; for (int i = 0; i < UserInput.Length; i++) temp[i] = UserInput[i]; while (isSpaces) int spaceCounter = 0; for (int i = 0; i < temp.Length-1 ; i++) if(temp[i]==' ') spaceCounter++; temp = shiftChars(temp, i); if (spaceCounter == 0) isSpaces = false; else temp[(temp.Length - 1)] = '¬'; for (int i = 0; i < temp.Length; i++) if(temp[i] != ' ' && temp[i] != '¬') bufferstring += temp[i]; return (bufferstring); static char[] shiftChars(char[] Input, int startInt) for (int i = startInt; i < Input.Length; i++) if(i != Input.Length - 1) Input[i] = Input[i + 1]; else Input[i] = ' '; return (Input); 3) Add exponentials (using ^ or similar) Riddlesdown - Unknown static bool CheckIfUserInputValid(string UserInput) // CHANGE START return Regex.IsMatch(UserInput, @"^([0-9]+[\+\-\*\/\^])+[0-9]+$"); // CHANGE END In ConvertToRPN() add the ^ to the list of operators and give it the highest precedence Riddlesdown - Unknown static List<string> ConvertToRPN(string UserInput) int Position = 0; Dictionary<string, int> Precedence = new Dictionary<string, int> // CHANGE START // CHANGE END List<string> Operators = new List<string>(); In EvaluateRPN() add the check to see if the current user input contains the ^, and make it evaluate the exponential if it does Riddlesdown - Unknown static int EvaluateRPN(List<string> UserInputInRPN) List<string> S = new List<string>(); while (UserInputInRPN.Count > 0) // CHANGE START while (!"+-*/^".Contains(UserInputInRPN[0])) // CHANGE END S.Add(UserInputInRPN[0]); UserInputInRPN.RemoveAt(0); double Num2 = Convert.ToDouble(S[S.Count - 1]); S.RemoveAt(S.Count - 1); double Num1 = Convert.ToDouble(S[S.Count - 1]); S.RemoveAt(S.Count - 1); double Result = 0; switch (UserInputInRPN[0]) case "+": Result = Num1 + Num2; break; case "-": Result = Num1 - Num2; break; case "*": Result = Num1 * Num2; break; case "/": Result = Num1 / Num2; break; // CHANGE START case "^": Result = Math.Pow(Num1, Num2); break; // CHANGE END UserInputInRPN.RemoveAt(0); S.Add(Convert.ToString(Result)); 4) Allow the user to include brackets for their own order of operations. 5)Implement a Postfix game mode which takes the user's input in RPN instead of infix. 6) Do not advance the target list forward for invalid entries, instead inform the user the entry was invalid and prompt them for a new one. 7) Implement a menu where the user can start a new game or quit their current game. 8) The program does not end even when 'Game Over' message is displayed. Ensure the program ends when the game is over. 9) Program does not stop after 'Game Over!' with no way for the user to exit. 10) Practice game - only generates 119 as new targets. 11) Give the user a single-use ability to generate a new set of allowable numbers 12) Allow the user to input and work with negative numbers 13) Allow the user to quit the game. 14) Increase the score with a bonus equal to the quantity of allowable numbers used in a qualifying expression. 15) Implement a multiplicative score bonus for each priority (first number in the target list) number completed sequentially. 16) If the user creates a qualifying expression which uses all the allowable numbers, grant the user a special reward ability (one use until unlocked again) to allow the user to enter any number of choice and this value will be removed from the target list.

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...Nf6/2. Bc4/2...Nxe4/3. Bxf7/3...Kxf7/4. Qh5/4...Ke6. = Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation = 4...Ke6?! This odd move tries to avoid the knight fork, however white can still win the knight back with 5. Qg4+!, while black's king is in the center and exposed to big danger. 1.e4 Nf6 2. Bc4 Nxe4 3. Bxf7+ Kxf7 4. Qh5+ Ke6?!

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...Nf6/2. Bc4/2...Nxe4/3. Bxf7/3...Kxf7/4. Qh5/4...Ke6/5. Qg4. = Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation = 5. Qg4+! White still manages to win the piece back and will be able to attack Black's incredibly unsafe king on E6. 1.e4 Nf6 2. Bc4 Nxe4 3. Bxf7+ Kxf7 4. Qh5+ Ke6?! 5. Qg4+!

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...Nf6/2. Bc4/2...Nxe4/3. Bxf7/3...Kxf7/4. Qh5/4...Kf6. = Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation = 4...Kf6?! This odd move tries to avoid the knight fork, however white can still win the knight back with 5. Qf3+!, while black's king is in the center and exposed to big danger. 1.e4 Nf6 2. Bc4 Nxe4 3. Bxf7+ Kxf7 4. Qh5+ Kf6?!

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...Nf6/2. Bc4/2...Nxe4/3. Bxf7/3...Kxf7/4. Qh5/4...Kf6/5. Qf3. = Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation = 5. Qf3+! White still manages to win the piece back and will be able to attack Black's incredibly unsafe king on F6. A humiliating checkmate. If black chooses the insanely off-the-table move 5...Ke5??, attempting to defend the Ne4, white can force black to let loose of the knight or embarrassingly checkmate the wandering king with 6. d4+ Kxd4 7. Ne2+ Ke5 8. Bf4+ Kd5? 9. Qb3+ Kd5 10. Nbc3 (or Nec3) Nxc3 11. Nxc3 c6 12. Na4+ Kd4 Qd3# if black insists on defending the knight. 1.e4 Nf6 2. Bc4 Nxe4 3. Bxf7+ Kxf7 4. Qh5+ Kf6?! 5. Qf3+!

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bc4/3...Nf6/4. Ng5/4...d5/5. exd5/5...Nb4. = Two Knights Defence: Kloss Gambit = 5...Nb4!? A rarely seen gambit, named the Kloss Gambit. The point of 5...Nb4 is to attack the d5 pawn which is now is attacked twice and is only defended once. However, this move sacrifices a pawn for no clear compensation. This very crazy gambit can either lead to a bad position for black or sheer madness and craziness where sacrifices are everywhere and the moves are near unexplainable by an average chess player. Maybe a trick is involved in this interesting, unknown gambit? 6. c3 line. With white's sixth move c3, white attacks black's knight but leaves the pawn on d5 undefended and free to take. These are some ways the game can go: 6. d6 line. With white's sixth move d6, white renews the threat on f7 and moves away from the attack of the Nb4. The game can continue with: 6. O-O line. With white's sixth move O-O, white chooses to ignore the Nb4 and play normally. There are a couple of ways the game can go: 6. d4 line. With white's sixth move d4, white chooses to attack the center and try to get a clear position without wild sacrifices flying everywhere. Will it end up to be a clear and typical gambit position or a crazy up and down unclear, extremely irregular position with minor piece sacrifices floating in the middle of the board like most of the other lines we saw? Let's find out! The game can go like this: 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nb4!?

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bc4/3...Bc5/4. b4/4...d5. = Evans Gambit: Hein Countergambit = 4...d5. This very fun counterattacking option against the Evans Gambit is called the Hein Countergambit. Here black attacks both the Bc4 and the pawn e4. White has a couple of moves: 5.exd5 removes the attacker of the c4 bishop, and counterattacks the knight. Black has two pieces hanging in the middle of the board - however, black can escape with 5...Nxb4, saving the knight and remove the attacker of the C5 bishop. 5. bxc5 opts for a bishop trade, but after the trade, the c4 and C5 pawns are both double and weak, and can be attacked easily. 5. Bxd5 captures a pawn - however black can also capture a pawn like with 5...Bxb4 and material is even. 5. c3!? is a dubious choice against the Hein Countergambit as it doesn't deal with most threats, however it defends the pawn B4 that could have been captured by the Bc5. 5. Bb3!? is another dubious choice against the Hein Countergambit that retreats the bishop to a safe square but it leaves a pawn hanging, but material is eventually equal (5...Bxb4 6. exd5 (6...Qxd5?? is not possible due to 7. Bxd5) or 5...dxe4 6. bxc5 exf3 7. Qxf3). 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 d5

Chess Opening Theory/1. Nf3/1...e5. = Zukertort Opening: Ross Gambit = 1...e5? The move 1...e5? by black, also known as the Ross Gambit, is a dubious pawn sacrifice for black to try and kick the knight as much as possible and potentially even trap it if white's not careful. This gambit can be accepted by playing the move 2. Nxe5, however white can also decline the gambit with 2. e4 transposing to the King's Knight Opening, 2. d3 stopping ...e4, or 2. d4 attacking the pawn on e5, however allowing ...e4. 1. Nf3 e5?

Chess Opening Theory/1. f4/1...Nh6. = Bird's Opening: Horsefly Defence = 1...Nh6!? This move looks odd, as it develops a knight to a really odd square and to the edge, but it has some benefits: Psychological Advantage. This move puts opponents off their comfort zone and they may get confused and make a mistake and a blunder and fall into a trap. Controls the f5, g4, and f7 squares. This move controls the f5 square, which white may use to start a kingside attack with the f-pawn, the g4 square, also if white is going for a kingside attack or an aggressive plan (such as putting the queen on g4 to attack the g7 pawn which attacks the rook that might be trapped), and the f7 squares, where white uses to fork the queen and rook with the knight, sacrifices the bishop to get an insane kingside attack, and to checkmate the uncastled (or sometimes when the king short castled) king. "Develops" a piece. It doesn't look like 1...Nh6 actually develops a piece, however it can get closer to the center with Nf7, Nf5, NG4, and sometimes even Ng8 to reroute the knight to f6 or e7. 1.f4 Nh6!?

Chess Opening Theory/1. h4/1...a5. = Kádas Opening: Koola-Koola Variation = This opening is a little-known but strong response to 1.h4. After 2. h5 a4 3. h6 a3 4. hxg7 Bxg7 Black puts pressure on White's queenside. White's responses. White has many decent replies. = Statistics = No statistics as 1. h4 a5 is rarely played.

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...f5/2.h4/2...Nf6/3.h5/3...h6. = Dutch Defense: Beaver claw Declined = 3...h6. This move is a mistake. The white squares on the black kingside are weakened. White gets a good square g6 for his knight.

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...f5/2.h4. = Dutch Defense: Beaver claw Variantion = interesting move. With this move, white intends to weaken black's position on the kingside. = Statistics = White win 22%, Draw 56%, Black win 22%

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...c5/2. d4/2...cxd4/3. Qxd4. = Smith-Morra Gambit = This move is not the best. Even though it regains the pawn, black can simply harass White's queen with 3...Nc6.

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Qf6/3. Bc4. = Greco Defence (to) La Bourdonnais Gambit = 3.Bc4. This move is good as it develops a new piece and prepares a couple of traps after black plays 3...Qg6, and white simply ignores it and castles, entering a variation named the La Bourdonnais Gambit, which is a tricky gambit played by white to punish black's early queen attack of 2...Qf6: Therefore, 3...Qg6 is not a good option and black should instead play 3...c6, 3...h6, or 3...Nc6.

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bb5/3...g5. Ruy Lopez: Brentano Gambit. intresting move. The idea behind this move is to push back the knight by pushing the pawn to g4, and also to start a pawn assault if White castles. White's responses. = Statistics = No statistics as 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g5 is rarely played.

Chess Opening Theory/1. g3/1...h5/2. Nf3/2...h4. Hungarian Opening: Van Kuijk Gambit. risky move. Black sacrifices a pawn to open the h-file.

Chess Opening Theory/1. g3/1...h5. Lasker Simul Special. intresting move. Black wants to advance the pawn to h4 to open the h-file.

Chess Opening Theory/1. g3/1...h5/2. Nf3. 2.Nf3. White took control of the h4 square.

Chess Opening Theory/1. g3/1...h5/2. Nf3/2...h4/3. Nxh4. 3.Nxh4. White took the pawn.

Chess Opening Theory/1. g3/1...h5/2. Nf3/2...h4/3. Nxh4/3...Rxh4. 3...Rxh4!! Black sacrifices an exchange. This sacrifice is incorrect, but requires precise play from White.

Algebra/Chapter 8/Absolute Value Functions. Introduction. You might have learned about absolute value before. Absolute value is defined such that: More simply, it can be defined as the distance between a number and zero on the real number line. Absolute value is written as |"a"|. So, |-3| is the absolute value of -3, which is 3. Variables, however, are unknown, so absolute value equations should have two possible solutions. In an equation such as |x + 4| = 25, the equation would hold if x + 4 was positive, negative or zero, so to solve that equation, two should be written down first; x + 4 = 25 "or" x + 4 = -25, with one equation turning the side of the equation without the absolute value into its opposite. From there, you should solve the two equations as you would any equation with variables. You only need to subtract 4 from both equations to get the solution: x = 21 "or" x = -29. In absolute value equations, the absolute value must be isolated, like you would a variable. In an equation such as 4|x - 7| + 9 = 21, first subtract 9 and divide by 4.

Geometry/Chapter 1/Exercises. Practice Problems. Conceptual Questions. Q1.1 (Geometry in Real Life) Give the geometric term(s) that is best modeled by each. a. The location of San Francisco, California<br> b. The surface of a chalkboard<br> c. The tip of a pencil<br> d. A piano chord<br> e. The edge of a desk<br> f. A knot in a rope<br> g. A telephone pole<br> h. Two connected walls<br> i. A partially opened folder<br> Q1.2 (Name the Plane) Use the appropriate notation to name the following plane in two different ways. Q1.3 (Name the Line) Use the appropriate notation to name the following line in five different ways.

Algebra/Chapter 25/Exercises. Exercises. 25.1 Let formula_1 be a group. Prove that the identity element formula_2 is unique. Also prove that every element formula_3 has a unique inverse, indicated by formula_4.

Algebra/TODO. Ongoing merging work. TO DO Fix algebra for Q & R in Proportions or Ratios section Add word problems to multiplication Add word problems to division Add word problems to exponents Add word problems to roots Add word problems for possible relationships part of inequalities Add graphics for multiplying by 1 and -1 to description of special case multiply by -1 Add description for special case Going back to equality Fill in example of half area function Fix contents, Clarify Explanation Move Todos here ... or fill 'em in Why use standard form vs. Slope Intercept form? Need more context. Continue Creating Links between pages. Continue Creating Standard Algebra Heading ... Continue through Table of Contents Leap in sophistication ... End of the conversational tone. Need to make friendlier, simpler To be merged/unsorted

Algebra/Chapter 1/Introduction. Many of the most important aspects of modern day mathematics have their roots in the world of arithmetic, including algebra. This chapter is meant to re-visit, or for some introduce, those roots that are often overlooked, and review of all of the prerequisites that are necessary for understanding algebra.

Algebra/Chapter 0/Introduction. Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures. You've been asked to buy peanuts for you and your friends at a football game. You've collected $12.50. One bag is $2.75. You want to know how many bags you can buy. This is an algebra problem! Related problems are how much money will be left over, and what should you buy or in what proportions should you return the extra money to your friends. Algebra helps us to predict things that we don't yet know and to determine the relationships between the things we do. Algebra is a powerful and rich branch of mathematics that is useful in everyday life as well as business, engineering, and other technical fields.

Syngapore Education System. Introduction:. Singapore's education system has been consistently ranked as one of the highest in the world by the OECD. It is believed that this comes from the style of teaching that is implemented in Singapore. Teachers focus on making sure that each of their students thoroughly move through the syllabus before moving on. The Singaporean education system is known for its emphasis on academic excellence, meritocracy, and holistic development. It places a strong focus on core subjects such as mathematics and science, as well as character development and lifelong learning. OVERVIEW OF SINGAPORE’S EDUCATION SYSTEM Singapore's education system is designed to help every child reach their full potential. We focus on nurturing all aspects of a child’s development to prepare them for lifelong learning and success in the modern world. Our diverse educational options are tailored to match each student's strengths and interests. Schools offer a wide range of learning experiences, building strong skills in reading, writing, and math, while also supporting physical, artistic, moral, social, and emotional growth. Besides academics, students can explore music, arts, and sports through extracurricular activities and outdoor programs. These experiences also help them develop leadership, social, and emotional skills. Students can also get involved in community service through Values-in-Action programs and gain real-world knowledge through Applied Learning experiences. Additionally, career guidance is provided to help students identify their interests and choose the best paths for their future. Teachers are central to Singapore’s education system. It focus on helping them grow and achieve their best, both personally and professionally. Teachers go through thorough training at the National Institute of Education and have plenty of chances to develop their skills further. Various teacher academies and institutes support a strong culture of professional excellence, emphasizing the importance of teacher leadership and responsibility. Implementing the Singapore education system in Uzbekistan. It would be a complex but potentially rewarding endeavor. The Singapore model is known for its rigorous standards, strong focus on academic excellence, and holistic development of students. Here are some key considerations for adapting this system to Uzbekistan: While adapting the Singapore education system in Uzbekistan presents challenges, it also offers opportunities to enhance educational quality and outcomes. By carefully planning and customizing the approach, Uzbekistan could potentially benefit from adopting elements of the Singapore model. Here are some key innovations from Singapore’s education system that Uzbekistan might consider adapting:. By adapting these innovations to fit local needs, Uzbekistan could enhance its education system and better support student success. Positive Impact for Uzbekistan Bringing aspects of Singapore’s education model, such as "a strong focus on teacher quality, flexibility in educational pathways, and an emphasis on character development," can significantly contribute to Uzbekistan’s reform efforts. Implementing these features could help Uzbekistan align its education system with global standards while also tailoring it to meet the country’s unique needs. Conclusion:. Singapore’s education system offers valuable lessons for countries like Uzbekistan that are eager to reform and improve their education sector. By adopting Singapore's emphasis on teacher quality, flexibility in education pathways, and holistic student development, Uzbekistan can make significant strides toward creating an education system that meets the needs of both its people and the global economy

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nc6/2. d5. 2.d5. White attacks the knight.

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nc6/2. d5/2...Ne5. 2...Ne5. This move provokes White to play 3.f4.

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nc6/2. d5/2...Ne5/3.f4. 3.f4. white attacks the knight.

1. d4/1...Nc6/2. d5/2...Ne5/3. f4/3...Ng6/4. e4/4...e5/5. f5. 5.f5?? This move is the most popular in the Lichess Database, but this move is a blunder. After 5...Qh4+ Black has a winning position.

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nc6/2. d5/2...Ne5/3. f4. 3.f4. white attacks the knight.

1. d4/1...Nc6/2. d5/2...Ne5/3. f4/3...Ng6/4. e4. 4.e4. With this move white captures the center.

1. d4/1...Nc6/2. d5/2...Ne5/3. f4/3...Ng6/4. e4/4...e5. 4...e5! Strong move.Blacks undermine whites' center.

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nc6/2. d5/2...Ne5/3. f4/3...Ng6/4. e4. 4. e4. With this move, White captures the center.

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nc6/2. d5/2...Ne5/3. f4/3...Ng6/4. e4/4...e5. 4...e5! Strong move.Black undermines White's center.

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nc6/2. d5/2...Ne5/3. f4/3...Ng6/4. e4/4...e5/5. f5. 5. f5?? This move is the most popular in the Lichess Database, but it is a blunder. After 5...Qh4 Black has a winning position.

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nc6/2. d5/2...Ne5/3. f4/3...Ng6/4. e4/4...e5/5. fxe5. 5. fxe5?? This move is the 4th most popular in the Lichess Database, but it is a blunder. After 5...Qh4+ Black has a winning position.

Common Human Weakness and Mistake Enumeration. Introduction. Welcome to the “Common Human Weakness and Mistake Enumeration” (CHWME) wikibook, a comprehensive catalog of common human weaknesses and mistakes. Inspired by the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) system used in software and hardware analysis, CHWME aims to provide a structured framework for identifying, understanding, and addressing the inherent fallibilities of human behavior. As humans, we possess unique strengths, but we also have our weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Recognizing and understanding these weaknesses is the first step towards self-improvement, error prevention, and personal growth. CHWME is designed to be a valuable resource for individuals seeking to enhance their self-awareness, make better decisions, and improve their overall well-being. CHWME is a catalog of common human weaknesses and mistakes, organized in a hierarchical structure and assigned unique identifiers (IDs) for easy reference. Each entry in the catalog provides a detailed description of a specific weakness or mistake, along with relevant information such as patterns, triggers, potential consequences, and strategies for remediation or mitigation. The weaknesses and mistakes included in CHWME encompass a wide range of domains, including cognitive, emotional, behavioral, interpersonal, and moral aspects of human functioning. By identifying and categorizing these fallibilities, CHWME offers a systematic approach to understanding and addressing the challenges we face in our daily lives. Purpose. The CHWME serves as a standardized reference for identifying, understanding, and addressing common human vulnerabilities and errors. By assigning unique IDs to each weakness or mistake, we create a framework for: CHWME is designed for a broad audience, including individuals seeking self-improvement, professionals working in personal development or coaching, researchers in the fields of psychology and human behavior, and developers of automated software solutions aimed at recognizing and addressing human weaknesses. Structure of the CHWME. Each entry in the CHWME will include: How to Use This Book. This book is organized into categories of human weaknesses and mistakes, such as: Readers can navigate through these categories or use the unique identifiers to reference specific weaknesses or mistakes. Contribution and Updates. The CHWME is a living document, open to contributions and updates from experts in psychology, human factors, and related fields. We encourage readers to submit new entries or suggest improvements to existing ones. If you have identified a human weakness or mistake that is not currently included in the catalog, or if you have insights or strategies to share, we invite you to contribute. Contributions can take various forms, such as suggesting new entries, providing additional information or examples for existing entries, or offering feedback on the structure and organization of the catalog. All contributions will be reviewed and considered for inclusion, ensuring the content remains accurate, relevant, and beneficial to users. Disclaimer. While the CHWME aims to be comprehensive, it's important to note that human behavior is complex and context-dependent. This enumeration should be used as a guide rather than a definitive classification of human capabilities and limitations. Table Of Contents. In the following chapters, we will delve into each category of human weaknesses and mistakes, providing detailed entries and analysis. Let's begin our exploration of the fascinating world of human vulnerabilities and how we can work to understand and mitigate them.

Microsoft Office/Things to Know When Saving. There are a menagerie of ways you can save a file in Microsoft Office, each with their own features and limitations. However, on a default windows installation, you might not be able to necessarily see the difference. This necessitates the enabling of "file extensions", which represent the different types of file formats a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document can be saved as. Think of these as a form of "language" your computer's word processor reads to spit out English back to you. Macros. In the past, it used to be a roll of the die whether a document received had viruses or not. Starting with Office 2000, Microsoft restricted running macros by default, but they were still easily enabled. With the release of Office 2007, Microsoft further locked down macro access; the new .docx, .pptx, and .xlsx files do not support macros. Instead, the corresponding macro-enabled OOXML-transitional Office document files now end in .docm, .pptm, and .xlsm. But wait: What's "OOXML"? For that, we have to walk through the history of the standardization of word processor documents. A brief history. For the sake of simplicity, we won't be covering obsolete, or uncommon file formats like those from or . However, Microsoft Word and Excel should be able to read and convert "most" of these files. No promises that there won't be errors though; these old, proprietary formats are not standardized whatsoever. XML extensions for Office 2003. Prior to Office 2003, the only way to save a document with readable markup would have been to save the document as an HTML file. However, since HTML was mainly designed for the web, this was a huge annoyance to book writers, who wanted an easy way to change their book's markup, via Microsoft Word, without having to write the "whole" book in raw XML markup. Enter Office 2003. Microsoft introduced the readable, albeit proprietary, WordML and SpreadsheetML to the .doc and .xls file formats of the day. This replaced the unreadable, proprietary .doc and .xls file format from Office 2000 and prior. OASIS OpenDocument. Sun Microsystems had purchased a relatively obscure alternative Office suite called "StarOffice". However, in an effort to stay competitive with Microsoft Office, Sun Microsystems opened up the "StarOffice" formats for use by everyone. Hence the rise of .odt and the standardization of OpenDoucment as an ISO format. Currently, the most up-to-date Office suite using OpenDocument as its primary file format is LibreOffice. OOXML Office 2007 "transitional". Back to Office 2003. So Microsoft had this XML format that they shoehorned in to the .doc and .xls format. Now that OpenDocument was competing with Microsoft to become the world's standard document format, Microsoft responded with "Office Open XML", also known as "OOXML". However, since Microsoft had "just" introduced XML support to Office 2003, they had to find some way to allow WordML and SpreadsheetML users to use the new OOXML format. Instead of leaving out Office 2003 users, Microsoft integrated WordML and SpreadsheetML in Office 2007's new Word and Excel file formats (.docx, .xlsx), along with parts of OOXML, creating a new file format, technically incompatible with the official ISO spec. This spec is called OOXML "Transitional" (ISO/IEC 29500 Transitional). However, due to the fact that Microsoft was unable to release a version of Office compatible with the official ISO spec, to the disapproval of governments involved in the ISO, Microsoft added OpenDocument support with the release of Service Pack 2 for Office 2007. OOXML Office 2013 "strict". Office 2013 was the first version of Office to support the official ISO OOXML specification, here called "OOXML-strict". However, due to the proliferation of "OOXML-transitional" documents, as well as the need to maintain comparability with Office 2007 and Office 2010, it isn't chosen as the default file format whenever an Office document is saved. Too complicated? Just follow this checklist for what to ask before sending a document. If something doesn't apply to you, cross it out. Stop when a point applies to you.

Short guide to the use of laser cutting machines/Tool making with laser cutting machines. Tool making with laser cutting machines. In this tutorial we will learn how to make tools for emergent tasks that require new tools for unique situations. In this situation we need to extract an object that felt inside a bigger object and can only be reached through a slit. First we will do the measures of the object: Height: 25 inches including the object depth and the holding area of the tool to maneuver. Thickness: The thickness of the material, in this case plywood. After measure the thickness with the caliper: 0.119 inches. This will not be part of the .ai or svg file. Challenges: The maximum length of the laser cutting machine: 23 inches. We will use a 23 length that still will allow us to pick the object. Width: Due the lack of material we will use a with of 1 inch, this will also allow us to have a tool easier to maneuver. We can change the canvas size with the shortcut: Control + Shift + D, and the tool will be 21 inches long. In Illustrator, new and create canvas with 23 inches wide, 23 inches height. Picking tool. Sketching: Draw a tool to pick the object. In dis case will be a L shaped object. First section of the object. This will be the section that is in contact with the soil. Initial drawing of the object. Use the pen tool and draw a few points to make an L shaped object, connecting the first dot with the last dot. First dot: Initial dot (lower left). Second dot: Lower right dot. Third dot: Upper right dot. Four dot: Upper left dot. Fifth dot: Goes closer to the fist dot but does not reach it. Six dot: Connect or seal the initial dot. Adjustment of the dots. Since we are using inches, change the measures to inches. Then select the node tool and Correct the dots position in base to the 25 inches of the too, this will be the new values, clicking in each dot and modifying its value: First dot: X 1 Y 22 Second dot: Lower right dot. X 2 Y 22 Third dot: Upper right dot: X 2 Y 1 Four dot: Upper left dot. X 1 Y 1 Fifth dot: Goes closer to the fist dot but does not reach it. X 1 Y 27.7 Six dot: Connect or seal the initial dot. In order to get more grip, a few dots can be added to have one of the both part of the tools with a male square and a female square, in 2 or three sections of the tool. Adjustments of the object. In case of need, we can change the object from vertical to horizontal: Control + Shift + D: Change size of canvas: In this case from 23x5 inches to 5x23 inches. We rotate the object 90 grades in order to fit it in the canvas. Resize object: Object, transform, scale. We can choose 50 % or 75 %, etc. If we want the object wider, narrow, taller, smaller, etc. We can move the object, in this case the upper left dot will be 1, 1. Print the image and be sure that fits in the plywood area. The cutting time could be around 20 minutes. Second section of the object. This will be the section that will complement with the first section, it will be use to grip or hold the object. It will be similar, the difference will be that instead of having an inner part it will have a part that goes out and holds the object. We will leave the lower part of the object as it is, we will only change the upper dots, this will allow us to have a complementary part for the object. Adjustments. If we need to change the object from vertical to horizontal: Control + Shift + D: Change size of canvas: In this case from 23x5 inches to 5x23 inches. Resize object: Object, transform, scale.

Epicurus/On Matter - β (Περὶ φύσεως). Excerpts of Epicurus' mostly untranslated works "Περὶ φύσεως" / "On Matter" and a new translation of "Doxa" ("Κύριαι Δόξαι") (c. 300 BC), with the introduction of the editor/translator Tolga Theo Yalur. The open-access papyrus sources are Pap. Herculaneum 11493, 993, 1010, available at papyri.info. The codex numbers are the indices of the pages in the transcribed papyrus. <br> <br> <br> <br> Materialism in Epicurus’ Thought. <br> <br> Materialism demonstrates itself in Epicurus’ (c. 300 BC) "On Matter - β" ("Περὶ φύσεως - β") through the approach to the universe that is nothing more than a sum of atoms and void, and that the deities do not intervene in the universe and human affairs. In the epicurean philosophy, deities did not create the world and the visible forms constitute ideas, doxa. For Epicurus, the material earth and the universe inform thinking. In response, Karl Marx underlined in a doctorate introduction note that philosophy makes no secrets. The commentaries from historical philosophers like Cicero, Plutarch and Gassendi, notably comparing with Lucretius Carus’ De Rerum Natura (c. 99 BC – c. 55 BC), have been repeatedly echoed up to the present day, some attempting to reconcile the monotheist beliefs with Epicurus' atheist philosophy, which is ultimately as futile as trying to drape a Fleur-de-Lis, a nun's habit, over the bright, sensual form of the Greek Lais: “Spirit for the spiritless”. Prometheus, for instance, responded to the servants of the gods, declaring in a quote that human consciousness is the utmost divine, rejecting all the heavenly and earthly deities who do not acknowledge this. Those who rejoice at philosophy's apparently worsened civil standing are mistaken. Epicurean cultivation of simple, adequate lifestyles is a form of resisting the governing, dominant systems around the ideas of deities that characterized the ancient Greco-Roman civilization. The true wellness in life, the blissful joy or pleasure, unlike the eudaemonic views, derives from the material conditions and does not symbolize the unbridled excess. Epicurus’ "Doxa" ("Κύριαι Δόξαι") illustrates the practical ways to find wellness (ἡδύνω / hēdúnō) in life, sometimes countering oppressive spirits of the world, and sometimes anxiety-inducing ideas. Epicurean wellness is the state of ataraxia (ἀταραξία) - the tranquil, untroubled happiness and freedom from disturbance. This aligns closely with the psychoanalytic notion of “joy”. Jacques Lacan's concept of jouissance, for instance, marks a profound sense of fulfillment that transcends the mundane pleasures of the material world. Sigmund Freud, too, grappled with the notion of pleasure as an instinctual drive that motivates human behavior and shapes human desires, the psyche’s underlying force. For Epicurus, the doxa of true wellness is the praxis in cultivating the inner ἀταραξία that is the doctrine of balanced wellness, not fully determined by what Lacan described as the cultural symbolic order replete with dominant fictions, traditional wisdoms and spirits, and ideas. Epicurus' mostly untranslated "Περὶ φύσεως" / "On Matter" (c. 300 BC - c. 270 BC) coin the contentious word "eidolon" (εἴδωλον) for the ideas formed in the material reality of the world and the universe. The dialectics in Marx's notion of praxis and the philosophical framework of Epicurean doxa, the former meaning practice and the latter thought, is central to the materialist philosophy, for which the material conditions of production are the primary driver of change. Materialism of Epicurus in Doxa reveals a profound and overturning challenge to the status quo, one that continues to resonate with those trying to liberate themselves from the oppression and alienation. Doxa is the means for the material praxis in life for Epicurus, which refers to the commonly-held beliefs, opinions and assumptions. Coupled with other epicurean works that prioritize wellness over sorrow, this is a challenge of the dominant and decisively repressive ideologies of the time and even modern times of progress. Epicurus’ mechanistic comprehension of reality manifests itself in Κύριαι, a praxis serving to demystify and desacralize the governing political and religious ideologies, paving the way for a more egalitarian, conscious philosophy inclusive of all: Κύριαι Δόξαι would unconventionally be translated into English as “the praxis of doxa”. Unlike the governing laws and spirits, for instance, The Epicurean Garden School in ancient Athens deployed a boldly egalitarian approach that included women and slaves, transcending the traditional barriers of class and sex in the dominant economic system of production. The slaves had unprecedented opportunities to expand their minds, unshackled from the chains that elsewhere confined them. Among the women who joined the Garden was Leontion who actively contributed to the Epicurean philosophical discourse with her sharp pen on the contentious debates about marriage, patriarchy in Athens and ancient Greece, sexuality, female fashion and beauty, with her own perspective and interpretation of epicurean teachings (“Η Λεόντιον και ο Επίκουρος,” Εθνικόν Ημερολόγιον, 1892). This progressive, enlightened atmosphere cultivated by Epicurus represented a radical departure from the male-dominated, hierarchical nature of most other philosophical and religious strands and cults in the ancient world, making it a realm of open inclusion and the pursuit of wisdom. Ή τῶν ὅλων φύσις σώματά εστί καί κενόν. Ή τῶν ὅντων φύσις σώματά εστί καί τόπος. All the reality of matter is bodies and void. All the existence in matter is bodies and places. <br> <br> From a psychoanalytic materialist approach to all of Epicurus’ work, I translated "On Matter - β" ("Περὶ φύσεως - β") and "Doxa" ("Κύριαι Δόξαι") with the praxis of doxa in mind. Though virtually all Marxist interpretations touch upon the practical sights of Epicurean philosophy, no translation of the book "β"  and the forty "Doxa" touch even slightly upon the praxis already included in the almighty Κύριαι, the critique. From a psychoanalytic materialist approach to all of Epicurus’ work, I translated "On Matter - β" ("Περὶ φύσεως - β") and "Doxa" ("Κύριαι Δόξαι") with the praxis of doxa in mind. Though virtually all Marxist interpretations touch upon the practical sights of Epicurean philosophy, no translation of the book "β"  and the forty "Doxa" touch even slightly upon the praxis already included in the almighty Κύριαι, the critique. <br> Tolga Theo Yalur <br> <br> Επίκουρος/Epicurus - "Περὶ φύσεως - β"/"On Matter - β". 1 ...in the universes such as the following... there is no other one of the sort in which atoms are not infinite… 2 … the universes… are not likely to be dissimilar… 3 … they feature the same magnitude as that… 4 … that was not born out of this world. 5 Singularly… 6 It would end the same way if divided into an infinite number of small particles… 7 The epicenter… is as in the infinity… towards now. 8 Equivalently reaches deeper in small particles, where there are no forms - to refuse. For the atoms are finite. 9 … but if not... it's the other way around… 10 … if not… caused… confused… in such a wise way. 11 The matter disintegrates here. I have, as I express, in these tropes of sets… 12 … compare… the proximities. that's… the trope. 13 … hold the spin… evenly on the visage… and turn if it moves… 14 There is no form, as I say; no. Because only in these tropes, I say what is premeditated. Distances among the bodies, as I spoke. 15 … that understood… 16 … Conceive that it originates cohesively… from the photon… 17 (Not readable, interpretable or missing.) 18 Because… in the beginning… the universe up there does not matter [of atoms] anywhere in the world. 19-20 (Not readable, interpretable or missing.) 21 Proximate to a lot of solid phenomena… the variations are theorized… as one… when they subvert each other. 22 (Not readable, interpretable or missing.) 23 … as the only cause of… the matter of bodies… 24 … stand up somewhere… because they are… 25 Not matter… it flows through… as of the excessive minutes. 26 (Not readable, interpretable or missing.) 27 … hear the animals staying countlessly… they exceed the count… they flow. 28-36 (Not readable, interpretable or missing.) 37 Let’s say stream... if everyone is flowing towards the solid forms of bodies... Let’s say it was premeditated... for her... the forms... And from her... they reflect… 38 On the visage, they maintain the uniformity of the body while they would reflect on what twists and turns the disintegration into another form. 39-66 (Not readable, interpretable or missing.) 67 What is body? A lot [of atoms] in one place… either from above or from below in infinite power… if such an anarchian power… exists anywhere… 68-71 (Not readable, interpretable or missing.) 72 It seizes all the symmetry of all powers and does not demand growth... 73-75 (Not readable, interpretable or missing.) 76 According to the origin... in the first place is the flow... for this promptly occurring form matters in mind… Magnitude. 77-79 (Not readable, interpretable or missing.) 80 Where else another confluence is, the flow matters there as well, in any setting wherever... such a similar mass otherwise formulates the magnitude... literally and if not otherwise… 81-87 (Not readable, interpretable or missing.) 88 In place… Forms are said to originate from the solids. 89 … because of the solid… their formation and origin concern something else… 90 In the surroundings... there are a lot of solid settings, infinitely, and, as the custom, forms are infinite… 91 … or else if there is no form… solids are towards the flow of forms… 92 In passing, we look at the flow. It is also up to the local trope of the source of solids, obviously - but the infinite, the premeditated originate merely in mind. They set up the form, for it is likely in their eternity… In their light… it is strung together… 93 For the speed of the ongoing flow of time, let's now set to work. First, because of the time distance, the light is absent from the senses. The speed of the flowing solids of the forms at the unsurpassable time is marked... that’s my thought... The infinite number of atoms... travel in the universe, everywhere. 94 Too light to weigh. Excessively light and too fast to see for the time. If all the atoms were of the same speed, informing each other, then one particle would be conveyed continuously to the fore, and not often to the opposite particles and… compose fractures from the particles… 95-97 (Not readable, interpretable or missing.) 98 Forcefully... compare with the origin of the solid while seeing in mind… how the tropes pass and end. 99 Enclosures are fast in the passing... Powerfully see the truth of the affect from this... the opposite to the parts of the [form]... to affirming what I say. 100 Out of the force of the symmetry... about the forms of this... matter. Since… in the first place, it is not constrained to space and [time]... 101 ... in doing so, the particles do not pass too fast and they prepare some of their positions... their marks of the symmetry on the phenomena or the infinity are away from each other. 102 Their flow is continuous... in order for the atoms of the continuous film to be the same as those that are opposite from within. 103 I do not say infinite, for the atoms do not practice according to the constitution of the form out of convergence as such. They convey the divergences in order to collide with solids… Otherwise from distance…not to interrupt or instantly interrupt the opposite places or whatever departs from the arche to diverge. 104 Now saying the cause of this…The opposite places are not the same. One is to depart from a place in time and the other is not, which is about the excessive… … since I'm not making any further method of this now, I have no approximate solutions. None. They are diverging from each other. 105 Thesis and setting, for only the advanced atoms which had interval spaces before. And those of the catenation have the form in the appropriate matter even when they collide with the merging solids to seize their substance. And when the atoms are the same, they obstruct the solid… … the seizure emerged for which could travel fast to distances. That said, the same applies to the forms. 106 … it is not the solids that is the greatest epipolar continuity that is symmetrical, but what I describe as integral forms. They are never few in number. 107 … it is not possible that the form is the one that makes theses and settings towards the infinity more than the solid, because such numerous forms respond to the greatest number… 108 … it's a machine that collides with the logic that strings together, and if not, then - An outline of form that has such corresponding. 109 … premaditated speeds merge together. For they have given statuses and orders, according to which they function. 110 Obviously, this does not hinder the in-depth variation. For the forms therefore have nothing to declare otherwise. 111 Witness the visible phenomena. If it happens backwards, then the fast forms are insurmountably obtained according to the conveyor, and in that. No matter what the trope of the speed of forms may be, they illustrate themselves. It's not only fast but also light… Let the air cast away powerfully. Obviously, even the forms produce this power. For only if the solid is strong enough. 112 Evacuation makes so, the form does not. According to the evacuative trope, solids, not forms, could float fast. In the evacuation, according to the particles contained straightforwardly out of the prepared void due to the merge in the narrowness and thinness and smalness. and then… … the solids pass this through. How, then? It contains the trope of the speed too, which also is hypothesized to be. 113 Collisions of such violent smallness are evacuated as strongly as possible and prepared. That’s to say how they prepare. 114 For they are formations in nature, they have symmetrical solid powers. They have shelter on land. Their evolution from the archaic floating shape, and their evacuations dissolve into compounds, even if big. Extensively, they are included in the evacuations and have no power in the trope of the small collisions. 115 All the tropes are theorized as the speed of the governing bodies. Therefore, see that forms have the power to quickly pass to far places. Look how the form is in sight according to all the tropes of infection within the radius. 116 For the solid and the three dimensions in depth of the seizure, not that of the numerous made-up corporations but inside the void space have the same duration accordingly, as if the radius of all the light atoms they pass through disappears, not discerned… … passing through the strong concord of the void and the rest of the collisions… 117 This is how the senses witness the ways of solids. If they had rather put something into the void, that would not be void. Passing throughout the void, they could maintain the former theses and settings towards the solids. They are not cohesive… All the otherwise, I mean one atom and the air and of the likes. In this way and in other tropes. 118 The consistencies of particles that have outwardly independent but inwardly void matters, are able to evacuate through the solid matters; which, in truth, seeing that the woke particles form a wrong consistency, converge up to the equivalency of the light or not… This is not a display of cognition. The particle shifts could instead make evacuation through the solid matters, which coincide with the noises. 119 Because of the collisions of the branches, if not the strung trope of shifts, the existing entities could be illustrated. Therefore, see the economy in this formation. Because it's fast for the cognition and the varieties… In the trope… that they are viewed… 120 It appears that there are ideals with events of birth in the thinking mind. Time is insurmountable for the ideals to be won with speed. The appropriate ideals stay among others after this thought. Epicurus / On Matter - β (Περὶ φύσεως) <br> "Doxa" ("Κύριαι Δόξαι"). <br> I Τὸ μακάριον καὶ ἄφθαρτον οὔτε αὐτὸ πράγματα ἔχει οὔτε ἄλλῳ παρέχει· ὥστε οὔτε ὀργαῖς οὔτε χάρισι συνέχεται· ἐν ἀσθενεῖ γὰρ πᾶν τὸ τοιοῦτον. The blessed and indestructible benefits and transfers no unfit beauty and frivolous rage. All these are the marks of weakness. II Ὁ θάνατος οὐδὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶς· τὸ γὰρ διαλυθὲν ἀναισθητεῖ͵ τὸ δ΄ ἀναισθητοῦν οὐδὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶς. Death means nothing to us. Thanatos is not in sight. What was once dissolved is senseless. III Ὅρος τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν ἡδονῶν ἡ παντὸς τοῦ ἀλγοῦντος ὑπεξαίρεσις. ὅπου δ΄ ἂν τὸ ἡδόμενον ἐνῇ͵ καθ΄ ὃν ἂν χρόνον ᾖ͵ οὐκ ἔστι τὸ ἀλγοῦν ἢ λυπούμενον ἢ τὸ συναμφότερον. All that is infinitely the most well is nothing but the relief of pain and sorrow. No pain in the body, nor in the mind, nor both. IV Οὐ χρονίζει τὸ ἀλγοῦν συνεχῶς ἐν τῇ σαρκί͵ ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἄκρον τὸν ἐλάχιστον χρόνον πάρεστι͵ τὸ δὲ μόνον ὑπερτεῖνον τὸ ἡδόμενον κατὰ σάρκα οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας συμβαίνει· αἱ δὲ πολυχρόνιοι τῶν ἀῤῥωστιῶν πλεονάζον ἔχουσι τὸ ἡδόμενον ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ ἤπερ τὸ ἀλγοῦν. The constant pain does not endure in the body. The most extreme, in contrast, stays the least compared to the well's duration in the body. The constant pain that exceeds wellness does not endure, and the joy makes the enduring pain redundant. V Οὐκ ἔστιν ἡδέως ζῆν ἄνευ τοῦ φρονίμως καὶ καλῶς καὶ δικαίως οὐδὲ φρονίμως καὶ καλῶς καὶ δικαίως ἄνευ τοῦ ἡδέως· ὅτῳ δὲ τοῦτο μὴ ὑπάρχει͵ οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτον ἡδέως ζῆν. It is not possible to live a well life that is not wise, beautiful and right. Whoever lacks these virtues is deprived of the wellness to live. VI Ἕνεκα τοῦ θαρρεῖν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἦν κατὰ φύσιν ἀρχῆς καὶ βασιλείας ἀγαθόν͵ ἐξ ὧν ἄν ποτε τοῦτο οἷός τ΄ ᾖ παρασκευάζεσθαι. Leadership that protects from the evil originates from the good, no matter how obtained. VII Ἔνδοξοι καὶ περίβλεπτοί τινες ἐβουλήθησαν γενέσθαι͵ τὴν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀσφάλειαν οὕτω νομίζοντες περιποιήσεσθαι ὥστε͵ εἰ μὲν ἀσφαλὴς ὁ τῶν τοιούτων βίος͵ ἀπέλαβον τὸ τῆς φύσεως ἀγαθόν· εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀσφαλής͵ οὐκ ἔχουσιν οὗ ἕνεκα ἐξ ἀρχῆς κατὰ τὸ τῆς φύσεως οἰκεῖον ὠρέχθησαν. Some wish to be assured from external threats with admiration and privilege. If they are assured in their lives, then they have undoubtedly realized the true wellness. If not, then they have fallen from the comfort of their initial expectations. VIII Οὐδεμία ἡδονὴ καθ΄ ἑαυτὴν κακόν· ἀλλὰ τὰ τινῶν ἡδονῶν ποιητικὰ πολλαπλασίους ἐπιφέρει τὰς ὀχλήσεις τῶν ἡδονῶν. No wellness is evil in itself, but poetic magnitudes of some wellness' bear more trouble than wellness' themselves. IX Εἰ κατεπυκνοῦτο πᾶσα ἡδονὴ τῷ αὐτῷ καὶ χρόνῳ καὶ περὶ ὅλον τὸ ἄθροισμα ὑπῆρχεν ἢ τὰ κυριώτατα μέρη τῆς φύσεως͵ οὐκ ἄν ποτε διέφερον ἀλλήλων αἱ ἡδοναί. τῷ αὐτῷ. If the whole wellness contained in itself, encompassing the space and time in its sumtotal, no wellness would differ from each other. X Εἰ τὰ ποιητικὰ τῶν περὶ τοὺς ἀσώτους ἡδονῶν ἔλυε τοὺς φόβους τῆς διανοίας τούς τε περὶ μετεώρων καὶ θανάτου καὶ ἀλγηδόνων͵ ἔτι τε τὸ πέρας τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν (καὶ τῶν ἀλγηδόνων) ἐδίδασκεν͵ οὐκ ἄν ποτε εἴχομεν ὅ τι μεμψαίμεθα αὐτοῖς πανταχόθεν ἐκπληρουμένοις τῶν ἡδονῶν καὶ οὐδαμόθεν οὔτε τὸ ἀλγοῦν οὔτε τὸ λυπούμενον ἔχουσιν͵ ὅπερ ἐστὶ τὸ κακόν. If, in the poetics of dissolute wellness, what relieves the desire at the same solves the conceived terror in the mind, the fear from meteors and death and pain, it teaches what and how to desire to live well. I would be wrong to criticize what’s beyond wellness, free from pain and evil. XI Εἰ μηθὲν ἡμᾶς αἱ τῶν μετεώρων ὑποψίαι ἠνώχλουν καὶ αἱ περὶ θανάτου͵ μήποτε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ᾖ τι͵ ἔτι τε τὸ μὴ κατανοεῖν τοὺς ὅρους τῶν ἀλγηδόνων καὶ τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν͵ οὐκ ἂν προσεδεόμεθα φυσιολογίας. If suspicions concerning meteorical and death were nothing, as well as pain and wellness, we could not observe physiology, and learn the true constraints of the evil and the good. XII Οὐκ ἦν τὸ φοβούμενον λύειν ὑπὲρ τῶν κυριωτάτων μὴ κατειδότα τίς ἡ τοῦ σύμπαντος φύσις͵ ἀλλ΄ ὑποπτεύοντά τι τῶν κατὰ τοὺς μύθους· ὥστε οὐκ ἦν ἄνευ φυσιολογίας ἀκεραίους τὰς ἡδονὰς ἀπολαμβάνειν. Whoever ignores the origin of laws of the universe, awakened by all the events of life, would never be free from fear and suspect the discourses of myths. Without physiology, no one enjoys real wellness. XIII Οὐθὲν ὄφελος ἦν τὴν κατὰ ἀνθρώπους ἀσφάλειαν παρασκευάζεσθαι τῶν ἄνωθεν ὑπόπτων καθεστώτων καὶ τῶν ὑπὸ γῆς καὶ ἁπλῶς τῶν ἐν τῷ ἀπείρῳ. Nowhere is safe while furthering the suspicions of the eternity of the unknown, of what is the earth and what is the universe. XIV Τῆς ἀσφαλείας τῆς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων γενομένης μέχρι τινὸς δυνάμει τε ἐξερειστικῇ καὶ εὐπορίᾳ͵ εἰλικρινεστάτη γίνεται ἡ ἐκ τῆς ἡσυχίας καὶ ἐκχωρήσεως τῶν πολλῶν ἀσφάλεια. While human safeties have a tolerance of strength and wealth, what yields the real soundness is the quiet solitude, isolating from the herd. XV Ὁ τῆς φύσεως πλοῦτος καὶ ὥρισται καὶ εὐπόριστός ἐστιν͵ ὁ δὲ τῶν κενῶν δοξῶν εἰς ἄπειρον ἐκπίπτει. The wellness in nature is few and easy to reach, but the wealth of the vain victories falls into eternity. XVI Βραχέα σοφῷ τύχη παρεμπίπτει͵ τὰ δὲ μέγιστα καὶ κυριώτατα ὁ λογισμὸς διῴκηκε καὶ κατὰ τὸν συνεχῆ χρόνον τοῦ βίου διοικεῖ καὶ διοικήσει. Wealth is transient for the wise. The best matters in life are managed by the vigor of mind and the soundness of logic. XVII Ὁ δίκαιος ἀταρακτότατος͵ ὁ δ΄ ἄδικος πλείστης ταραχῆς γέμων. The right lives without confusion; while the wrong is full of trouble. XVIII Οὐκ ἀπαύξεται ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ ἡ ἡδονή͵ ἐπειδὰν ἅπαξ τὸ κατ΄ ἔνδειαν ἀλγοῦν ἐξαιρεθῇ͵ ἀλλὰ μόνον ποικίλλεται. τῆς δὲ διανοίας τὸ πέρας τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἡδονὴν ἀπεγέννησεν ἥ τε τούτων αὐτῶν ἐκλόγισις καὶ τῶν ὁμογενῶν τούτοις͵ ὅσα τοὺς μεγίστους φόβους παρεσκεύαζε τῇ διανοίᾳ. The corporeal wellness does not increase when the pain of lack is relieved. Variations of the same sort of ecclesiastic thoughts set the intelligent capacities for wellness, and simultaneously prepare the intellect for the big terrors in mind. XIX Ὁ ἄπειρος χρόνος ἴσην ἔχει τὴν ἡδονὴν καὶ ὁ πεπερασμένος͵ ἐάν τις αὐτῆς τὰ πέρατα καταμετρήσῃ τῷ λογισμῷ. Eternity has the same wellness with the limited time, if the contours of it are estimated with logic. XX Ἡ μὲν σὰρξ ἀπέλαβε τὰ πέρατα τῆς ἡδονῆς ἄπειρα καὶ ἄπειρος αὐτὴν χρόνος παρεσκεύασεν· ἡ δὲ διάνοια τοῦ τῆς σαρκὸς τέλους καὶ πέρατος λαβοῦσα τὸν ἐπιλογισμὸν καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ τοῦ αἰῶνος φόβους ἐκλύσασα τὸν παντελῆ βίον παρεσκεύασε͵ καὶ οὐθὲν ἔτι τοῦ ἀπείρου χρόνου προσεδεήθη· ἀλλ΄ οὔτε ἔφυγε τὴν ἡδονὴν οὐδ΄ ἡνίκα τὴν ἐξαγωγὴν ἐκ τοῦ ζῆν τὰ πράγματα παρεσκεύαζεν͵ ὡς ἐλλείπουσά τι τοῦ ἀρίστου βίου κατέστρεψεν. For the body, wellness is infinite. Eternity prepares infinite wellness. The corporeal mind contemplates through limited spaces of life that dissolve the fears and wants from eternity. It does not leave the wellness when human affairs extradite it from the spaces of life. When the wonderful life is destroyed, the corporeal mind does not look back to see if there’s anything left. XXI Ὁ τὰ πέρατα τοῦ βίου κατειδὼς οἶδεν ὡς εὐπόριστόν ἐστι τὸ (τὸ) ἀλγοῦν κατ΄ ἔνδειαν ἐξαιροῦν καὶ τὸ τὸν ὅλον βίον παντελῆ καθιστάν· ὥστε οὐδὲν προσδεῖται πραγμάτων ἀγῶνας κεκτημένων. Whoever sees the ends of the corporeal wellness in life frees oneself from fears of the pain of lacking things to make life complete. There is no need for what is acquired through struggle. XXII Τὸ ὑφεστηκὸς δεῖ τέλος ἐπιλογίζεσθαι καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἐνάργειαν͵ ἐφ΄ ἣν τὰ δοξαζόμενα ἀνάγομεν· εἰ δὲ μὴ πάντα ἀκρισίας καὶ ταραχῆς ἔσται μεστά. The end of meditation and corporeal power is the moment of retreat to the exalted opinions. If not, life would be full of turmoil and confusion. XXIII Εἰ μαχῇ πάσαις ταῖς αἰσθήσεσιν͵ οὐχ ἕξεις οὐδ΄ ἃς ἂν φῇς αὐτῶν διεψεῦσθαι πρὸς τί ποιούμενος τὴν ἀγωγὴν κρίνῃς. Refusing the senses would make nothing heard, but hearing the senses leads to judging the false poetry. XXIV Εἰ τιν΄ ἐκβαλεῖς ἁπλῶς αἴσθησιν καὶ μὴ διαιρήσεις τὸ δοξαζόμενον καὶ τὸ προσμένον καὶ τὸ παρὸν ἤδη κατὰ τὴν αἴσθησιν καὶ τὰ πάθη καὶ πᾶσαν φανταστικὴν ἐπιβολὴν τῆς διανοίας͵συνταράξεις καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς αἰσθήσεις τῇ ματαίῳ δόξῃ͵ ὥστε τὸ κριτήριον ἅπαν ἐκβαλεῖς· εἰ δὲ βεβαιώσεις καὶ τὸ προσμένον ἅπαν ἐν ταῖς δοξαστικαῖς ἐννοίαις καὶ τὸ μὴ τὴν ἐπιμαρτύρησιν ἔχον͵ οὐκ ἐκλείψεις τὸ διεψευσμένον͵ ὡς τετηρηκὼς ἔσῃ πᾶσαν ἀμφισβήτησιν κατὰ πᾶσαν κρίσιν τοῦ ὀρθῶς ἢ μὴ ὀρθῶς. Rejecting a sense, and not discerning the belief from doubt, what is real to the senses, and the fluctuations of mind and the opinions, would lead to leaving the criteria for truth and confuse the other senses. Confirming the opinions as truth that could not be witnessed would retain the doubtful opinion and lead to leaving the discussion and criteria of judging and discerning the truth from lies. XXV Εἰ μὴ παρὰ πάντα καιρὸν ἐπανοίσεις ἕκαστον τῶν πραττομένων ἐπὶ τὸ τέλος τῆς φύσεως͵ ἀλλὰ προκαταστρέψεις εἴτε φυγὴν εἴτε δίωξιν ποιούμενος εἰς ἄλλο τι͵ οὐκ ἔσονταί σοι τοῖς λόγοις αἱ πράξεις ἀκόλουθοι. Not connecting the time spent for each doings to the end of nature would contradict the logic. Spending time in confirming the doubtful as given and not refusing the false would lead to a vicious circle. XXVI Τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν ὅσαι μὴ ἐπ΄ ἀλγοῦν ἐπανάγουσιν ἐὰν μὴ συμπληρωθῶσιν͵ οὐκ εἰσὶν ἀναγκαῖαι͵ ἀλλ΄ εὐδιάχυτον τὴν ὄρεξιν ἔχουσιν͵ ὅταν δυσπορίστων ἢ βλάβης ἀπεργαστικαὶ δόξωσιν εἶναι. Unquenchable desires that leave no pain and do not repeat are not natural. They are easy to dissolve if they are harmful and difficult to obtain. XXVII Ὧν ἡ σοφία παρασκευάζεται εἰς τὴν τοῦ ὅλου βίου μακαριότητα πολὺ μέγιστόν ἐστιν ἡ τῆς φιλίας κτῆσις. When wisdom is prepared for the whole of life's wellness, it is the most meaningful friendship. XXVIII Ἡ αὐτὴ γνώμη θαῤῥεῖν τε ἐποίησεν ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηθὲν αἰώνιον εἶναι δεινὸν μηδὲ πολυχρόνιον καὶ τὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς ὡρισμένοις ἀσφάλειαν φιλίας μάλιστα κατεῖδε συντελουμένην. For the same opinion, whoever is boldly convinced that no pain is everlasting and that limited fears would be dismissed with friendship has sensed the art of mind at ease. XXIX Τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν αἱ μέν εἰσι φυσικαὶ καὶ ἀναγκαῖαι͵ αἱ δὲ φυσικαὶ καὶ οὐκ ἀναγκαῖαι͵ αἱ δὲ οὔτε φυσικαὶ οὔτε ἀναγκαῖαι͵ ἀλλὰ παρὰ κενὴν δόξαν γινόμεναι. There is wellness that nature inspires, and there is the superfluous wellness. Some wellness in nature is nevertheless unfit, pleasing only the illusions formed by opinions. XXX Ἐν αἷς τῶν φυσικῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν μὴ ἐπ΄ ἀλγοῦν δὲ ἐπαναγουσῶν ἐὰν μὴ συντελεσθῶσιν͵ ὑπάρχει ἡ σπουδὴ σύντονος͵ παρὰ κενὴν δόξαν αὗται γίνονται͵ καὶ οὐ παρὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν φύσιν οὐ διαχέονται ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κενοδοξίαν. There is unfulfilled natural wellness that is painless not because of their nature. They are vainly opinionated by humankind. They cost trouble to obtain and do not disappear. XXXI Τὸ τῆς φύσεως δίκαιόν ἐστι σύμβολον τοῦ συμφέροντος εἰς τὸ μὴ βλάπτειν ἀλλήλους μηδὲ βλάπτεσθαι. The nature of law is a symbol of the treaty of not harming one another. XXXII Ὅσα τῶν ζῴων μὴ ἐδύνατο συνθήκας ποιεῖσθαι τὰς ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ βλάπτειν ἄλληλα μηδὲ βλάπτεσθαι͵ πρὸς ταῦτα οὐθὲν ἦν δίκαιον οὐδὲ ἄδικον· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν ὅσα μὴ ἐδύνατο ἢ μὴ ἐβούλετο τὰς συνθήκας ποιεῖσθαι τὰς ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ βλάπτειν μηδὲ βλάπτεσθαι. For the animals who do not have the will to make a symbol of the treaty of not harming one another, there is no just or unjust. Similarly, for the nations that are either unwilling to make a treaty of not harming one another or unable to make one, there is no just or unjust. XXXIII Οὐκ ἦν τι καθ΄ ἑαυτὸ δικαιοσύνη͵ ἀλλ΄ ἐν ταῖς μετ΄ ἀλλήλων συστροφαῖς καθ΄ ὁπηλίκους δήποτε ἀεὶ τόπους συνθήκη τις ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ βλάπτειν ἢ βλάπτεσθαι. Law is nothing in itself but the condition for rights, however big. Humans live together in some place and time, and decide on the conditions of not harming one another. XXXIV Ἡ ἀδικία οὐ καθ΄ ἑαυτὴν κακόν͵ ἀλλ΄ ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὴν ὑποψίαν φόβῳ͵ εἰ μὴ λήσει τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῶν τοιούτων ἐφεστηκότας κολαστάς. Injustice is not an evil in itself. The only evil is the fear caused by the doubted conscience that leads to the righteous chastiser. XXXV Οὐκ ἔστι τὸν λάθρα τι ποιοῦντα ὧν συνέθεντο πρὸς ἀλλήλους εἰς τὸ μὴ βλάπτειν μηδὲ βλάπτεσθαι πιστεύειν ὅτι λήσει͵ κἂν μυριάκις ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος λανθάνῃ· μέχρι γὰρ καταστροφῆς ἄδηλον εἰ καὶ λήσει. Secretly violating the treaty that was made to avoid harm does not ensure that the crime will remain secret. Even when it is not disclosed for countless occasions, it is unknown if it would disappear. XXXVI Κατὰ μὲν (τὸ) κοινὸν πᾶσι τὸ δίκαιον τὸ αὐτό· συμφέρον γάρ τι ἦν ἐν τῇ πρὸς ἀλλήλους κοινωνίᾳ· κατὰ δὲ τὸ ἴδιον χώρας καὶ ὅσων δήποτε αἰτίων οὐ πᾶσι συνέπεται τὸ αὐτὸ δίκαιον εἶναι. Law is the same and equally advantageous for everyone, though there are specific places where the same advantage does not pass for right. XXXVII Τὸ μὲν ἐπιμαρτυρούμενον ὅτι συμφέρει ἐν ταῖς χρείαις τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους κοινωνίας τῶν νομισθέντων εἶναι δικαίων ἔχειν τοῦ δικαίου χώραν (δ)εῖ͵ ἐάν τε τὸ αὐτὸ πᾶσι γένηται ἐάν τε μὴ τὸ αὐτό· ἐὰν δὲ (νόμον) μόνον θῆταί τις͵ μὴ ἀποβαίνῃ δὲ κατὰ τὸ συμφέρον τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους κοινωνίας͵ οὐκέτι τοῦτο τὴν τοῦ δικαίου φύσιν ἔχει· κἂν μεταπίπτῃ τὸ κατὰ τὸ δίκαιον συμφέρον͵ χρόνον δέ τινα εἰς τὴν πρόληψιν ἐναρμόττῃ͵ οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον ἦν δίκαιον τοῖς μὴ φωναῖς κεναῖς ἑαυτοὺς συνταράττουσιν ἀλλ΄ εἰς τὰ πράγματα βλέπουσιν. All that experience demonstrates to be equally advantageous for everyone is righteous. Whoever makes a law which brings no advantage to the public is not just in nature. If what is advantageous equally to everyone varies in time and place, and ceases to be righteous, for its time of advantage to everyone, it passes as righteous for whoever is not confused by the senseless voices but sees the facts. XXXVIII Ἔνθα μὴ καινῶν γενομένων τῶν περιεστώτων πραγμάτων ἀνεφάνη μὴ ἁρμόττοντα εἰς τὴν πρόληψιν τὰ νομισθέντα δίκαια ἐπ΄ αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων͵ οὐκ ἦν ταῦτα δίκαια· ἔνθα δὲ καινῶν γενομένων τῶν πραγμάτων οὐκέτι συνέφερε τὰ αὐτὰ δίκαια κείμενα͵ ἐνταῦθα δὴ τότε μὲν ἦν δίκαια ὅτε συνέφερεν εἰς τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους κοινωνίαν τῶν συμπολιτευομένων͵ ὕστερον δ΄ οὐκ ἦν ἔτι δίκαια ὅτε μὴ συνέφερεν. If the existing law is of no use sometimes but advantageous to the public on other occasions, it will nevertheless be considered just by whoever judges for the greater advantage, and whoever does not like to confuse anything with vain voices. If something believed to be just is not equally just any more, it ceases to be advantageous to everyone. IXL Ὁ (τὰ ἑαυτοῦ πρὸς) τὸ μὴ θαῤῥοῦν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἄριστα συστησάμενος͵ οὗτος τὰ μὲν δυνατὰ ὁμόφυλα κατεσκευάσατο͵ τὰ δὲ μὴ δυνατὰ οὐκ ἀλλόφυλά γε· ὅσα δὲ μηδὲ τοῦτο δυνατὸς ἦν͵ ἀνεπίμεικτος ἐγένετο καὶ ἐξηρείσατο ὅσα πρὸς τοῦτ΄ ἐλυσιτέλει πράττειν. Whoever has brought together the means to deal with external threats makes the life of all the creatures as familiar. This would make life well with friendship without regarding their difference as deplorable. If not, any deal must be avoided for the advantage. XL Ὅσοι τὴν δύναμιν ἔσχον τοῦ τὸ θαῤῥεῖν μάλιστα ἐκ τῶν ὁμοῤῥούντων παρασκευάσασθαι͵ οὗτοι καὶ ἐβίωσαν μετ΄ ἀλλήλων ἥδιστα τὸ βεβαιότατον πίστωμα ἔχοντες͵ καὶ πληρεστάτην οἰκειότητα ἀπολαβόντες οὐκ ὠδύραντο ὡς πρὸς ἔλεον τὴν τοῦ τελευτήσαντος προκαταστροφήν. Whoever has the tools to deal with external threats lives without fear and with wellness safely with the familiar others. They never piteously lament for the predecease of one another. Epicurus / Doxa (Κύριαι Δόξαι) <br> About the Translator. Tolga Theo Yalur, PhD Cognitive Philosopher. Born in Izmir, Turkey, Tolga Theo Yalur studied Economics at METU (Ankara) and Cultural Studies at GMU (Fairfax, VA), and taught media and culture courses in Turkey and the USA, at GMU, Bosphorus University (Istanbul), and the New School (NYC). He publishes openly at the Psychoanalyσto Library on the advances of and the troubles with cognitive sciences, ideologies and religions.

The Sight and Sound of the Greek Genocide Around the Kültürpark in Izmir. The Sight and Sound of the Greek Genocide Around the Kültürpark in Izmir Tolga Theo Yalur Kültürpark in the modern Izmir is the site that was built on part of the neighborhoods that went on fire in Smyrna in the final stage of ethnic cleansing that decimated the ancient Anatolian Greek communities in 1913-1922. The object of my research, Kültürpark, is not far from my academic interests and published research on cognitive philosophy, specialized with the psychoanalysis in cultural practices, visual studies and irreligion. Though the word “genocide” has been treated as an interdisciplinary reflection in the humanities and cultural sciences, the psychoanalytic contribution to the symptoms of the Real in genocides would be unavoidable in my research. The Greek Genocide has been shrouded in silence and denial in the hegemonic, official and media narratives in Turkey and Greece, with the traumatic experiences of the Greek dismissed or minimized, or transferred to other questions or the others’ questions at best. As is well known, psychoanalytic method goes beyond the sphere of material praxis in medicine and into all that concerns the unconscious of the double-coincidence of the Real, the one that denies part of reality and the other that is the mad component of all belief and ideology, has led to the elucidation of the functions and avatars of these constructions both on the subjective and trans-subjective plans. Kültürpark in Izmir was built on part of the neighborhoods that went on fire in Smyrna in the final stage of ethnic cleansing that decimated the ancient Anatolian Greek communities, where hundreds of thousands lost their lives, and mostly the Turkish migrants from Greece and Balkans repopulated the city. Formally acknowledging the Greek Genocide, would preserve the memory of the victims, ensuring the stories are told, and paving the way for a more comprehensive history that does not whitewash or distort the truth. The Freudian Wit of the Kültürpark When representation is seen "as translation work rather than mere reportage," says the communication scholar Barbie Zelizer in Visual Culture and the Holocaust (2000), it would work metaphorically incomprehensive rather than a complete index. This is "the frailty of representational codes into our own expectations" of what each of these code should do. In other words, Zelizer is underlining the fact that representational codes of any economy of culture and wisdom would tend to assimilate the represented into its own nomoi (νόμος), and that the debate needs to go beyond these "preferred" plans that privilege "the factual over the the represented, and silence the alarm bells that tend to ring when representation tugs at reality." These warning signs divide the visual representation into maintaining the visual's underprivilege compared to the verbal or into elevating the visual forms beyond representations. While revealing the question of the indestructibility of the unconscious desire to mark its essential character in representation, reiteration and reproduction that cause the unrest in civilization, Freud was not walking down a spiritualist path but questioning the structure of discursive determining the economies of these representational codes, the cultures of reality and the symptoms of these disturbances. In psychoanalytic theory, discourses structure reality, functioning where the specular report to the media and culture is pressing. This psychoanalytic notion of discourse would help rationalize the symptom on the web of reality around Kültürpark in the modern Izmir, the site of the final stage of the Greek Genocide that was built on part of the neighborhoods that went on fire in Smyrna in the final stage of ethnic cleansing that decimated the ancient Anatolian Greek communities in 1913-1922. The object of my research, Kültürpark, is not far from my academic interests and published research on cognitive philosophy, specialized with the psychoanalysis in cultural practices, visual studies and irreligion. Though the word “genocide” has been treated as an interdisciplinary reflection in the humanities and cultural sciences, the psychoanalytic contribution to the symptoms of the Real in genocides would be unavoidable in my research. The Greek Genocide has been shrouded in silence and denial in the hegemonic, official and media narratives in Turkey and Greece, with the traumatic experiences of the Greek dismissed or minimized, or transferred to other questions or the others’ questions at best. As is well known, psychoanalytic method goes beyond the sphere of material praxis in medicine and into all that concerns the unconscious of the double-coincidence of the Real, the one that denies part of reality and the other that is the mad component of all belief and ideology, has led to the elucidation of the functions and avatars of these constructions both on the subjective and trans-subjective plans. Hundreds of thousands lost their lives or went missing, and mostly the Turkish migrants from Greece and Balkans repopulated the city. Formally acknowledging the Greek Genocide, would not merely be a symbolic act, in preserving the memory of the victims, ensuring their stories are told, and paving the way for a more comprehensive history that does not whitewash or distort the truth. The Greek Genocide involved a multi-pronged strategy of mass deportations, forced labor, systematic massacres, and other brutal acts targeting Greek civilians on a massive scale in the Ottoman, ending with the early republican Greek-Turkish War in the early Republic of Turkey. The Greek state waited until the 1990s to recognize the Greek Genocide, which remains in question internationally. The final stage of a decade of systematic campaigns of ethnic cleansing that decimated the ancient Anatolian Greek communities took place in Izmir, also known as the Smyrna Fire: an event that unfolded in 1922 during the wars. Trapping terrified civilians, the fires raged for days, spreading to the neighborhoods in the city center, followed by the fires in other neighboring districts. Mostly Greeks and Armenians lost their lives or went missing. The unconscious psycho-cultural approaches contribute to the construction of fictions and beliefs within human groups. In psychoanalytic concepts of psychic truth, construction and belief, these problematize the comprehension of the real. The word “post-truth”, for instance, is incompatible with both democratic debate and anticipation, reaction and adaptation to a physically changing reality. Psychoanalytic conceptions of delusional constructions, illusions, the explanation of religious beliefs and constructions in reality analyses lead to understanding the discursive regimes relating to the concealed and veiled as the Real, the collective productions of the unconscious capable of shaping cores of psychic truth which are not publicized. These “reality fictions” solicit the unconscious dynamics for those who adhere to them would represent a distorted and displaced way of expressing what does not find a representation in shared fictions. Politics necessitates interpreting differently and wanting to change common prior descriptions and prescribed fictions of the world. No change is the reproduction of the illusion and status-quo, when reality is what the extreme right-wing discourse always wants to describe in the collective unconscious. (How) does the information on the web of reality (local, global, international) inform the conscious and unconscious symptoms around the park? Is the available information enough to have an answer about the reality of the site? Are the logics in what I describe as the informative discourse predetermined before it informs about the Real? The informative discourse of the sight and sound; visuals, texts and sound is one of the areas to see the formulation of the fictions of the Greek Genocide, predominantly constructed through pre-learned and pre-coded affects, genres and stereotypes. The sight and the sound, the heareable and the visible concern the affect of the symptoms reveal themselves in the informative fictions from Greece, Turkish and international communities. When Freud questioned the affect in his description of the unheimlich, the unusual, the feeling of otherness that differs from the most common, the most ordinary, the most familiar sights and sounds – excursive and not repressed at all, closely connected to the verbal symbolism (J. Lacan “Du Discours Psychanalytique” 1972). The question for informative discourses would be if there are any ideologies and economy-politics involved in these constructs of the truths of the genocide. Affect plays a crucial role in these constructs, especially in fiction and music, such as the era films about the Greek and Turkish communities in Izmir, shared realities through music. The affect of the sight and sound would be verbalized in the symbolism that represents, for example, labels and moods chosen in constructing realities around the genocide in general and the Smyrnan Fire in particular. The web of reality concerns the context of Turkey and how discourses situates the Greek Genocide internationally. Even the Greek state could censure a film on the fire of Smyrna in the 1970s. What I describe as "the informative discourse" has the symbolizing mechanism to register, diagnose, detect, decode the patterns or patternize how the Smyrna Fire was informed and represented in visual, textual, official and media. The information is both conditioning and conditioned by the hegemonically prescribed information. The Real condition is a symptom, questioning the forms of post-truth fiasco in the work of culture and the crises of shared structures of meaning, underlining the necessity to conceive human constructs and mindsets critically. A founding myth of the occidental episteme, psychoanalysis posed the spiny question of how living in the illusion of beliefs linked to the human condition would be free by knowing what silences, expanding and extending this reflection with the tools from psychoanalytic experience, with regards to the construction of belief and alternative truths that unfold in the psychic life of the individuals and groups. In the USA of the 1960s, more of a multitude of news channels and social networks could, say, spread the news of "the Entry of Soviet cats into Cuba". How would that have been perceived? Of course, there were no Soviet cats entering Cuba for real. What is necessary for a democracy is common-sense, a shared world dealing with what is sacred in a number of statistical data. Similarly, in Turkey of the 1950s, mainstream news media could spread the fake-news "The birth-house of Ataturk in Salonika in Greece is bombed." And in a matter of days, the poor leftovers of the Turkish-Greeks who had been dispossessed via the Wealth Tax and the like, following the genocides, would be forced to leave the land they were living for millennia after their houses and shops were demolished and looted in the pogrom. Doubt is in the method to reformulate or formulate a new truth or another truth. That is to say, adjusting the truth. In these informative fictions, there is a democratic incompatibility. There are numerous other possible ineffability that are no less important, all of which have the same sources. The exposure of inequalities in the Ottoman and Turkey obviously concerns very different statuses that render it extremely difficult for the public interest in the Greek Genocide. What does it mean to be “Turkish”? Were the Turks the last ethnic group of the Ottoman to build a nation-state? Are there any Greekness or other ethnic traits hidden and assimilated in the construction of the national identity of Turkishness? That’s where Freudian critical mind, his wit would make the doubt work. He pointed out the inextricable connection of illusion to belief. Psychoanalysis is the Freudian genius, denouncing that the need for belief and religion is a powerful means of mobilizing the unconscious, provoking and manipulating the subject. As such, the Ottoman conceived muslim Greeks as Turks, which was a reason why a lot of non-muslims converted especially during the war to count as “Turk,” and avoid death. The need for belief is the human difficulty in renouncing the idealized and confirming to disillusioning the world. The concept is closely linked to the ideas of secularization and modernity. Driven from their ancestral homelands, millions of Greeks were forced to flee westward, enduring harrowing journeys of displacement and death marches that claimed countless lives, hundreds of thousands. Those who remained behind were subjected to horrific atrocities – mass killings, forced labor, sexual violence, and the destruction of Greek cultural and religious sites. Convert Greeks remained on the mainland Anatolia as a part of the Turkish identity construction in Turkey, and quite a number of greco-turks ended up in Turkey via exchange programs. None of these are recognized in the official language of the Turkish state, assimilated into a unitary and fantasmagorical idea of “Turk”, the mythical visage of Ataturk, “the father of Turks”, who was from a predominantly Turco-Balkan, and watched the major Greek city of Izmir burning at the end of the Greek-Turkish War. For there to be a real published debate, factuality like no otherwise, there should not be fiction. The official recognition of the Greek Genocide would have been a pivotal milestone in the long and arduous journey. The Greek Genocide has been shrouded in silence and denial in the hegemonic, official and media narratives, with the traumatic experiences of the Greek dismissed or minimized, or transferred to other questions at best. Formally acknowledging the Greek Genocide would lay the groundwork for reparations, restitution, and educational initiatives that can help heal the deep wounds inflicted by this genocide, empowering the descendants to reclaim their heritage at the site of the Kültürpark with a museum dedicated to the Greek Genocide in general and its final stage of the Smyrna fire in particular. Tolga Theo Yalur, PhD

Algebra/Chapter 5/Exercises. A set of exercises related to concepts from Chapter 5. This set contains 3 exercises (including the Conceptual Questions) Exercises. Section 5.1. 5.1 (Identifying Quadrants) Look at the diagram below, and identify the quadrant each point is located on. 5.2 (Determining Quadrants) Determine the quadrant that each point is located on. 1. (-95, 200) 5.3 (Plotting Coordinates) Draw a coordinate plane, and then graph the following points.

Algebra/Chapter 8/Exercises. Exercises. Section 8.1. 8.1 (Evaluating a Piecewise Function I) For the function f(x), find the following values. 8.2 (Evaluating a Piecewise Function II) For the function g(x), find the following values. 8.3 (Evaluating a Piecewise Function III) For the function h(x), find the following values. 8.4 (Evaluating a Piecewise Function IV) For the function i(x), find the following values. 8.5 (Evaluating a Piecewise Function V) For the function j(x), find the following values. 8.6 (Evaluating a Piecewise Function VI) For the function k(x), find the following values. 8.7 (Graphing Piecewise Functions) Graph the following piecewise functions. 8.8 (Domain and Range) Write the domain and range of the functions from Problem 8.7 in interval notation. 8.9 (Continuity) Determine if the following piecewise functions are continuous. 8.10 (Cell Phones) A cellphone company offers two plans.

Spain at the Beginning of 21st Century. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of Spain as it was when it entered 21st century (decade 2000-2010, approximately), in its different aspects. Table of contents. Historical and political context Territory and demographics Culture Education and health Economy Spain by autonomous communities Main events by year

Spain at the Beginning of 21st Century/Historical and political context. Following the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 and the subsequent dictatorship of General Francisco Franco until his death in 1975, Spain underwent a transition to democracy, which resulted in the 1978 Constitution. This Constitution, which establishes a parliamentary monarchy as the form of government and structures the Spanish territory into a series of autonomous communities, with their own self-government, was the one in force in Spain at the beginning of the 21st century (and is still today, as of 2024). The king of Spain in the first decade of the 21st century was Juan Carlos I, while 2 prime ministers or "presidents of the government" (José María Aznar, of the People's Party, and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) succeeded each other. Other important political parties during this period were United Left, and the various nationalist parties in several autonomous communities (Convergència i Unió and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya in Catalonia, Basque Nationalist Party in the Basque Country, or Bloque Nacionalista Galego in Galicia). From 2008 onwards, Spain was affected by a severe economic crisis and a series of political corruption cases, which marked the final part of this period.

Spain at the Beginning of 21st Century/Culture. Languages ​​and religions. The official language common to all of Spain was Castilian or Spanish, while in some autonomous communities there was also a second co-official language: Catalan in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, Valencian in the Valencian Community, Basque in the Basque Country and part of Navarre, and Galician in Galicia. From 2006, Aranese became a co-official language in part of Catalonia. Other languages ​​(Aragonese, Asturian and Leonese) were not official at all, although they did have some kind of protection. As for religions, the majority was Catholic Christianity, although the number of non-believers (atheists and agnostics) was increasing. The number of believers of other religions was also increasing, such as Muslims and Protestant and Orthodox Christians, mainly due to immigration. There was also a presence of believers of many other religions, such as Buddhists, Jews or Hindus. Music, cinema and literature. During the first decade of the 21st century, singers and groups such as David Bisbal, Alejandro Sanz, La Oreja de Van Gogh, Amaral, Estopa, Melendi, La Quinta Estación, Maldita Nerea or Macaco, among many others, stood out in Spanish music. Regarding cinema, actors such as Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, José Coronado, Maribel Verdú, Luis Tosar, Eduardo Noriega, Blanca Suárez, Santiago Segura or Antonio de la Torre, and directors such as Pedro Almodóvar, Alejandro Amenábar or Álex de la Iglesia stood out. Finally, in terms of literature, writers such as Javier Marías, Juan José Millás, Rosa Montero, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Enrique Vila-Matas, Almudena Grandes, Eduardo Mendoza, Manuel Rivas and Javier Cercas stood out. Media. The national newspapers with the largest circulation were "El País", "ABC", "El Mundo" and "La Vanguardia", as well as "AS" and "Marca", in the sports press, and numerous local and regional newspapers. The main radio stations were "SER", "COPE", "Radio Nacional de España" ("Radio 1" and "Radio 5") and "Onda Cero", as well as music stations such as "40 Principales", "Cadena Dial", "M80", "Cadena 100", and the music stations of Radio Nacional de España ("Radio 3" and "Radio Clásica"). As for television, at the beginning of the 21st century there were the following national channels: "Televisión Española" ("TVE-1" and "La 2"), "Antena 3", "Telecinco" and "Canal +" (replaced in 2006 by the new channel "Cuatro"). In 2006, "La Sexta" appeared as a new channel, and with the arrival of Digital Terrestrial Television the available channels multiplied. Many autonomous communities had one or more regional television channels. There were also numerous local channels. Sports. The most popular sport in Spain in the first decade of the 21st century was football, especially the First Division of La Liga, and the Copa del Rey, with high-level teams such as Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. In 2010, the Spanish national team won the World Cup held in South Africa. During this period, world titles were also won in other sports, such as basketball in 2006. The decade also saw several successful Spanish cyclists, winners of the Tour de France or the Vuelta a España (Roberto Heras, Óscar Pereiro, Alberto Contador, Carlos Sastre) and the women's Tour de France or "Grande Boucle" (Joane Somarriba), and saw the emergence of two great figures of Spanish sport: the Majorcan tennis player Rafa Nadal, and the Asturian Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso (the first Spaniard to win the Formula 1 world championship). Other notable Spanish sportspeople of this period were the swimmer Mireia Belmonte, the tennis player Virginia Ruano, the rally driver Carlos Sainz, the motorcyclists Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, and athletes such as Marta Domínguez, Ruth Beitia and Jesús España. Statistical data (year 2000). All shown data come from the 2000 edition of "Statistical Yearbook of Spain".

Spain at the Beginning of 21st Century/Spain by autonomous communities. Below are sections for each of the different Spanish autonomous communities, in which their respective populations are shown, and those of their provinces, according to the Statistical Yearbook of Spain, in its 2000 edition. The beginning of the 21st century coincides approximately with the first digital edition of the National Topographic Map of Spain at a scale of 1:50,000, also known as "MTN50" (its publication took place between 1999 and 2011, with a special sheet for Madrid and its surroundings published in 2012). The sheets corresponding to the main cities are shown, for which their population is indicated (always according to the 2000 edition of the Statistical Yearbook of Spain), following the following criteria: Andalusia (in Spanish: Andalucía). "Text and flag to be added here" Aragón. "Text and flag to be added here" Asturias. "Text and flag to be added here" Balearic Islands (in Spanish: Islas Baleares; in Catalan: Illes Balears). "Text and flag to be added here" Basque Country (in Spanish: País Vasco; in Basque: Euskadi). "Text and flag to be added here" Canary Islands. "Text and flag to be added here" Cantabria. "Text and flag to be added here" Castile and Leon (in Spanish: Castilla y León). "Text and flag to be added here" Castilla-La Mancha. "Text and flag to be added here" Catalonia (in Spanish: Cataluña; in Catalan: Catalunya). "Text and flag to be added here" Ceuta and Melilla. "Text and flags to be added here" Galicia. "Text and flag to be added here" Community of Madrid (in Spanish: Comunidad de Madrid). "Text and flag to be added here" Region of Murcia (in Spanish: Región de Murcia). "Text and flag to be added here" Navarre (in Spanish: Navarra; in Basque: Nafarroa). "Text and flag to be added here" La Rioja. "Text and flag to be added here" Valencian Community (in Spanish: Comunidad Valenciana; in Valencian: Comunitat Valenciana). "Text and flag to be added here"