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31 functions to describe a Tale [Propp, 1927] and the relationship to modern Risk Assessment.

As we were discussing the Uncertainty taxonomy I remembered a book by Vladimir JA. Propp (1927). The title was “Tales’ Morphology”. This was certainly not part of my scientific background. But there are people out there that delve with delight in such treaties. We will look below at functions of Tale and the relationship to modern Risk Assessment. Where is the link with Risk Assessment? Well, if you read the book you will see in the Preface a long discussion.…

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3 decision-making truths derived from Uncertainty taxonomy [scheme of classification] and a road sign.

3 decision-making truths derived from Uncertainty taxonomy [scheme of classification] and a road sign. A couple winters ago I saw an interesting road sign: in its own, warped and cynical way it reminded people about The law of attraction (aka the secret), and how we can influence our world, one way or another, with our decisions and, more importantly with the way we take them or what motivates them. Lately I found the image below defining a taxonomy of uncertainty…

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Brazilian Tailings Dam Failure

The short movie  below was uploaded in March 2014 (the course was given in Brazil in the Fall 2013). The course was given to over forty Engineers and Technicians in charge of various mines and tailings dams in Brazil. It was followed by a conference we gave at the university of Minas Gerais. Now the catastrophe has occurred. The physical, reputational and social damages are clear to anyone. Let’s see if the Brazilian legal system will actually follow through with…

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