More than an entire month has passed since I placed my last update on this blog. I took some time strictly off – some human tribes call it ‘vacation’ – and I have been assiduously doing science. Back from vacation, and imbibed with new science, I am blogging again. Actually, this new science is so fresh that I need to blog about it just to put some order in my findings and my ideas.
I have been doing science, and, in the same time, I have been preparing my teaching content for the new academic year. As for science, I have been focusing on two things: the general theory of collective intelligence, on the one hand, and the puzzling data on urban density, on the other hand. I am going to develop on that second issue more exhaustively, as these are facts, and facts have disquieting a tendency to bring new insights into the comfortably established theory.
As regards teaching, I have three big curriculums to prepare for the winter semester: economics, management, and economic policy together with political systems. In this update, I am bringing, as sort of test missiles, my first three educational videos for the next semester. In other words, this update on my blog is actually a long, articulated link to those videos on You Tube. Below, I give the links and a short explanation for each of those three.
The video which I recorded around 2 p.m., on August 22nd, 2020, is pertinent to Business Models in the Film and TV production business. In my teaching of management, I have that special path, addressed to students in the Major ‘Film and TV Production’. I am teaching them the basics of management, with a special edge on show business. In this specific video you will see the beginning of two case studies: Netflix and Discovery Inc. You will see the basic tips for finding and retrieving financial reports of those businesses, as well as the first steps into analysing their business in depth. Here is the link to the You Tube video: Media BM 2020-08-22 13-41-17 (https://youtu.be/lR-jX0–1KQ ).
The video recorded around 2:30 p.m., August 22nd, 2020, regards the Philosophy of Science. It is both extra-curricular content for all those among my students who want to develop their scientific edge, and my auto-reflection on the general issue of collective intelligence, and the possibility to use artificial neural networks for the study thereof. I dive into three readings: ‘Civilisation and Capitalism’ by Fernand Braudel, ‘Philosophical Essay on Probabilities’ by Pierre Simon, marquis de Laplace, and finally ‘Truth and Method’ by Hans Georg Gadamer. I focus on fundamental distinctions between reality such as it is, on the one hand, our perception, and our understanding thereof. The link is here: Phil Science 2020-08-22 14-30-16 (https://youtu.be/Wia0apAOdDQ ).
The video recorded early in the morning of August 23rd, 2020, is devoted to Business Models in the industry of Renewable Energies. The general concept of business models is the overarching common denominator in my teaching of economics and management in the coming academic year (2020/2021). Here, I start with a quick glance on two business cases: FIRST SOLAR and SMA SOLAR. You can see there two different business models, one oriented on big scale in manufacturing, the other one focused on building complex networks and platforms of exchange. Here comes the link to You Tube: Renew BM 2020-08-23 07-52-34 (https://youtu.be/FNOjOMD-OvY ).
