8 Session 3 Summary
In Session 3 you learned to use the Python interactive console as a sort of ‘big calculator’. You used it to find answers to a range of intriguing problems. You also:
- learned about ‘Fermi problems’. These are problems for which you can generate a useful ‘ballpark’ estimate even though you have very little information to go on. This led to the ‘wisdom of crowds’ – the idea that if a large number of people estimate something, the average estimate is likely to converge on the true value.
- saw that individuals as a rule are not very good at estimating facts about society. This is sometimes because they follow instinctive shortcuts, rather than applying the more systematic approach used for Fermi problems.
- met the concepts of fast and slow thinking: intuitive shortcuts contrasted with a more deliberate and analytical approach.
Session 4 is about putting together an argument. Have you ever sat in front of a blank page, desperately trying to pull your ideas together as a deadline hurtles towards you? If so, argument maps may be just what you need!
You can now go to Session 4 [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .