Tuesday, April 19, 2005

The Power of Groups; or, How the Hell Did They Know?

The new pope has been selected, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany. Not a big surprise, he was one of the big favorites. But he's selected the name Benedict for himself, and that's the name that was the favorite of the online bookies in Ireland and beyond. How the hell did they figure that out? Benedict has been a popular choice in Papal nomenclature (the new pontiff with be the 16th so named), but still. He could've picked any name in the Universe. And the oddsmakers had it right. Unless Cardinal Ratzinger at one point let slip that he dug the name Benedict, I'm amazed that this was the odds-on favorite.

I still would've like to see the new leader of the Catholic Church decide to call himself "Pope Steve". That'd be so cool.

It's stuff like this that convinces me never to gamble on sports except for entertainment. I think I'm pretty smart, but pitting yourself against the collective and unconscious wisdom of huge populations is an uphill climb. And I don't like heights anyway.

Sorry not much posting lately, not much to write about. Tho I do think I will take up BadBlood's challenge, even though I'm not playing in the WSOP Satellite. Let the mind wander a bit...

posted by Gene @ 1:01 PM   |