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But (1) The subprime mortgage crisis could not have been averted by a larger percentage of the population understanding sums and compounding processes. (2) Th

But (1) The subprime mortgage crisis could not have been averted by a larger percentage of the population understanding sums and compounding processes. (2) The advent of civilization was a contributing factor to everything that's happened in the last several thousand years, including the paper cut I just got.

jameshart 13y ago
you understand that interest-bearing loans are a compound process, right - and that an understanding thereof might be of relevance to someone entering into a loan agreement which they probably, if they really understood it, were not going to be able to repay... But let's not only blame the borrowers of subprime loans, let's also ask whether the banks didn't entirely understand the risk models of the derivatives they were compiling out of subprime mortgages because many of their senior managers also didn't understand compounding processes, or, possibly, sums...
- saraid216 13y ago
  > an understanding thereof might be of relevance to someone entering into a loan agreement which they probably, if they really understood it, were not going to be able to repay... Oh, it's relevant. It's sort of like how being able to load and fire a gun is relevant to the decision whether or not to commit suicide. Sure, it can modify one of the many, many details, but some people just make a noose and hang themselves. Keep in mind, this is your argument: if more people in the world understood sums and compounding processes, this would have prevented the subprime mortgage crisis and thus the many deaths that were inspired by the resultant fallout. There is no possibility that anything else caused the crisis, and no possibility that anyone is at fault for these deaths other than parents and teachers. This claim, if true, actually absolves the lenders that you talk about below, because they can be held responsible only for their own understanding of sums and compounding processes. Amusingly, if you accept your argument, you can also make an interesting inverse version. The fact that lenders understood sums and compounding processes led to their employment at unscrupulous institutions which then mandated their sign-off on high-risk mortgages, which then caused the deaths of all those people. Math, apparently, kills.

jameshart 13y ago

you understand that interest-bearing loans are a compound process, right - and that an understanding thereof might be of relevance to someone entering into a loan agreement which they probably, if they really understood it, were not going to be able to repay... But let's not only blame the borrowers of subprime loans, let's also ask whether the banks didn't entirely understand the risk models of the derivatives they were compiling out of subprime mortgages because many of their senior managers also didn't understand compounding processes, or, possibly, sums...

saraid216 13y ago
> an understanding thereof might be of relevance to someone entering into a loan agreement which they probably, if they really understood it, were not going to be able to repay... Oh, it's relevant. It's sort of like how being able to load and fire a gun is relevant to the decision whether or not to commit suicide. Sure, it can modify one of the many, many details, but some people just make a noose and hang themselves. Keep in mind, this is your argument: if more people in the world understood sums and compounding processes, this would have prevented the subprime mortgage crisis and thus the many deaths that were inspired by the resultant fallout. There is no possibility that anything else caused the crisis, and no possibility that anyone is at fault for these deaths other than parents and teachers. This claim, if true, actually absolves the lenders that you talk about below, because they can be held responsible only for their own understanding of sums and compounding processes. Amusingly, if you accept your argument, you can also make an interesting inverse version. The fact that lenders understood sums and compounding processes led to their employment at unscrupulous institutions which then mandated their sign-off on high-risk mortgages, which then caused the deaths of all those people. Math, apparently, kills.