Philadelphia Future Salon: "How long will I live?" May 3, 2007

FUTURE SALON SPEAKER:
Our speaker will be Professor Dean Foster of the Statistics Department
of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Professor
Foster has published work in a variety of areas in statistics and is
also a supporter of open access to science and prediction markets.
http://gosset.wharton.upenn.edu/

FUTURE SALON TOPIC:
Most calculations about how long you will live make the assumption
that you are planning on doing all of your living during this year. In
other words, it assumes you will live it over and over again in the
static conditions of today. Of course, we will actually be inhabiting
the future. But we don't know as much about that as we do about this
year. So the assumption makes the calculation easier. For example,
if you ask Google.com, "How long will I live?" it will refer you to
Professor Foster's Life Calculator Test which makes this assumption.

This talk will discuss the difficulties of forecasts of this nature
and include a bit of philosophy, a bit of statistics, a bit of science
and end with a guess at the answer.

SHORT ACTIVITY: THE LIFE CALCULATOR TEST
You can take Professor Foster's life calculator test by Googling "How
long will I live?" or by going to this URL:
http://gosset.wharton.upenn.edu/~foster/mortality/form.html
He will discuss the test during his talk.

REGISTRATION: Please email [email protected] with your name to be added
to the building security list. Please note that you MUST be on the list to enter the building.

COST: Free and open to the public.

THE SALON:
The Philadelphia Future Salon is part of a nationwide network of
future salons discussing cutting edge science and technology
innovations and their implications http://accelerating.org/futuresalon.html

Official Website: http://groups.google.com/group/PhiladelphiaFutureSalon