tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.comments2024-01-13T18:39:02.160+00:00 Strata of the WorldUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-32328466477522923092024-01-13T18:39:02.160+00:002024-01-13T18:39:02.160+00:00There's some difference (in maths especially m...There's some difference (in maths especially maybe fuzzy) between research ideas and execution on research ideas. Would you say that the process of coming up with which directions to explore (e.g. "I will try to prove X", or "I will apply methods of class Y to problem Z"), before trying to actually solve them, mostly involves hours-long focused concentrated thinking sessions?<br /><br />(Also note the word "often" in my claim)LRLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02220529915349936285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-48250580769099649722024-01-11T14:01:11.845+00:002024-01-11T14:01:11.845+00:00"Getting new research ideas is often not a pa..."Getting new research ideas is often not a particularly big-brained process."<br /><br />This feels dependent on the field and direction. For pure math a large fraction of research is focused concentrated thinking sessions for many hours. Fancy ideas [that work] are the major bottleneck. <br /><br />Lee Wanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07996131636554416364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-10597229981583324832023-12-22T10:22:13.947+00:002023-12-22T10:22:13.947+00:00Thanks for your comment! I'm curious what you ...Thanks for your comment! I'm curious what you think the brushed-over difficulties are?LRLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02220529915349936285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-40154317640461725762023-12-21T15:44:31.118+00:002023-12-21T15:44:31.118+00:00This is a very simple but compelling argument. The...This is a very simple but compelling argument. There are some harder difficulties that you brushed over slightly in some of your responses, but I imagine that you are aware of this and intend this piece to be a case for the adoption of the ideal which is itself too hastily dismissed today. A good and thought-provoking read.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-25844941723830839832023-11-08T04:42:30.250+00:002023-11-08T04:42:30.250+00:00Wow best technology bright🔆✨ future with new ide...Wow best technology bright🔆✨ future with new ideas good👍Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-29240456424787092932022-06-28T08:46:50.250+01:002022-06-28T08:46:50.250+01:00Jaaha...Jaaha...Marko Nenonennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-26707772894844564432021-06-07T15:24:18.774+01:002021-06-07T15:24:18.774+01:00Some counterarguments to nuclear are examined here...Some counterarguments to nuclear are examined here: http://strataoftheworld.blogspot.com/2021/03/nuclear-power-is-good.html<br /><br />I think the most immediately strong counterargument might be that nuclear is too expensive compared to current solar/wind prices, but then again this is partly due to regulation, and might not be true if nuclear has less regulatory hurdles.<br /><br />However, since overcoming those hurdles is politically hard, at the margin the greatest good for climate/health might be done by focusing on things where the immediate rate of progress per unit effort is greater, for example solar/wind policy and installation.LRLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02220529915349936285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-18913491962130196162021-06-06T15:10:42.417+01:002021-06-06T15:10:42.417+01:00Excellent Review! Whats the strongest case against...Excellent Review! Whats the strongest case against Nuclear Energy? None of the experts seem to genuinely think that it is deadly and that it should be banned, the scaremongering seems to only come from activists. Unless I'm mistaken of coursesashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04918165755212832122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-48049349680491849492021-01-16T15:10:29.276+00:002021-01-16T15:10:29.276+00:00In physics, there are universal character laws - s...In physics, there are universal character laws - so-called principles or conservation laws. And there are the fundamental laws, which have restricted domains of applicability to describe the corresponding phenomena. Yet, it does not mean that these laws, in some sense, would be incomplete or contradictory. Say, the Newton law describes an object's behavior very well if its motion is non-relativistic and an action value is much more significant than the Planck constant. In the opposite case, we need to apply the laws of relativistic or quantum physics. The same is with Maxwell's equations.<br />However, the great value of fundamental laws resides in the fact that they allow us to deep into the physical processes and events beyond our direct accessibility. For example, the Newtonian laws enable us to look into the far past and far future of the universe. As it were, we are becoming witnesses to phenomena that were never or will never be experienced.<br />The same is true to all the other laws. It follows that physics laws are not just tools for the inquiry of the surrounding world.Janishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02078063135938670953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-22950298704282668932020-06-30T07:21:34.217+01:002020-06-30T07:21:34.217+01:00Thank you for this, btwThank you for this, btwAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-44327227202032375262020-06-30T06:59:15.915+01:002020-06-30T06:59:15.915+01:00I have never laughed this much because of a random...I have never laughed this much because of a random essay I'd stumbled upon the internet. Fantastic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-76325730912699081742020-04-23T22:40:19.811+01:002020-04-23T22:40:19.811+01:00All this makes me think that the Covid-19 pandemia...All this makes me think that the Covid-19 pandemia is just a minor incident... Yet possibly we could still learn something and strengthen the principles of the civic society, i.e. the design of surviving.Marko Nenonenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990571064655034361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-67463931576226849942019-08-01T18:36:03.332+01:002019-08-01T18:36:03.332+01:00Well, they were not similar on purpose.Well, they were not similar on purpose.LRLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02220529915349936285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-14057933376433043512019-07-12T14:50:12.708+01:002019-07-12T14:50:12.708+01:00So you let us understand that those literary essay...So you let us understand that those literary essays written at school were slightly different ...?? (This was fun, indeed.) - M.<br />Marko Nenonenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990571064655034361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-25248790321455019262018-09-15T07:40:40.889+01:002018-09-15T07:40:40.889+01:00Graph theory, specifically finding algorithms for ...Graph theory, specifically finding algorithms for determining which edge should be added to a graph to minimize the probability that the graph is disconnected when edges are removed at random from it (as part of the IB curriculum, everyone has to write a 4000-word "Extended Essay").<br /><br />Accusations that I have resorted to using the above proof techniques in it are entirely baseless ...LRLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02220529915349936285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-51791329903535918792018-09-15T05:10:20.134+01:002018-09-15T05:10:20.134+01:00Well written. I am sure you are familiar with talk...Well written. I am sure you are familiar with talks by the late Hans Rosling as his https://www.gapminder.org/. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02605844654212548204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-58994955099997556692018-09-15T04:36:11.014+01:002018-09-15T04:36:11.014+01:00What is your math paper about? What is your math paper about? Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02605844654212548204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-6906563046777832952018-09-15T04:34:23.166+01:002018-09-15T04:34:23.166+01:00LOL, indeed, so many times in my student days I wa...LOL, indeed, so many times in my student days I was exposed to proofs by authority or by intimidation, but it was such a good lesson to realise that all those "intelectual celebrities" are not much wiser than you! Nullius in verba.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02605844654212548204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-47624936714881008622018-09-09T11:35:32.968+01:002018-09-09T11:35:32.968+01:00As a historian I would say that it’s a magnificent...As a historian I would say that it’s a magnificent book, this ”Quicksilver” – yet don’t know if it’s a good novel, as that is something beyond my competence … In any case, “Quicksilver” is quite a reading, burdened with a massive amount of details, some dug out from a vast amount of historical literature, possibly partly even from the original sources. Mr. Stephenson is a man of letters, really. Much, of course, is created and fabricated in the seemingly productive course of artistic licence …<br /><br />Anyway, I consider it a very good description of the time. Also, I guess the writer’s understanding of the history of science and magic is very deep, indeed.<br /><br />I’m still in a process of wading the book through … So this is an intermediate time review (after a few hundred pages …).<br /><br />PS. I have learned very many new English words like “Leprechaun”, “forecastledeck”, etc. Yet I think they are mostly useless in small talk …<br />Marko Nenonenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990571064655034361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-88733862948618026552018-08-07T10:23:06.480+01:002018-08-07T10:23:06.480+01:00The slow start is definitely the great weakness of...The slow start is definitely the great weakness of the series. The Confusion moves a lot faster, though it focuses less on the main plot. I found The System of the World to be all-around brilliant, and not just because of the sunk-cost fallacy.<br /><br />I read Cryptonomicon more than a year ago, and I doubt I've since laughed as hard at a book as when I read the part where Stephenson satirically describes the art of writing a business plan (the chapter is called "Way").LRLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02220529915349936285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-45164582913302048902018-08-07T10:05:31.491+01:002018-08-07T10:05:31.491+01:00I don't know if the laws of physics relate dir...I don't know if the laws of physics relate directly to the arguments in GEB, though I think that the intuition it provides about higher-level processes arising from lower-level ones can also be applied to how complex physical phenomenon arise from simple, deterministic ones. One of Hofstadter's main points seems to be that a fundamentally reductionist view can turn out to be a lot more holistic than it seems.<br /><br />As I understand it, what you're saying about information processing is that since it must ultimately run on physics, there can't be a fundamental "Platonic ideal" of pure information separate from physical reality. In this view, pure information can only exist as an abstraction in a complicated system, like a brain. I guess the alternative view would be that rather than information converging to physics, physics converges to information and at the most basic level physics - and reality - is a mathematical structure (Max Tegmark is one advocate of this view). For the time being, this seems like a purely philosophical debate, since I can't imagine an empirical test that would give a different result depending on which idea is right.<br /><br />The relation between physics and computation is definitely an interesting topic, both in the philosophical and practical aspects, which I hope to write about someday. Though first I have to understand the relevant physics and CS, which might take a while ...LRLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02220529915349936285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-2448521536569767612018-08-05T06:14:54.903+01:002018-08-05T06:14:54.903+01:00Thanks for this review. You have encouraged me to ...Thanks for this review. You have encouraged me to give the Baroque Cycle another try. I think Stephenson is a brilliant writer (judging by his Cryptonomicon) but I found Quicksilver too slow moving for my taste, a bit of a yarn, and I never finish it. Perhaps, with some perseverance, I will enjoy it on my second attempt. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02605844654212548204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-5006235819282140472018-08-05T05:49:28.108+01:002018-08-05T05:49:28.108+01:00
Very nice. It seems GEB continues to inspire gene...<br />Very nice. It seems GEB continues to inspire generations after generations. How do you think the laws of physics relate to this? Assuming that there is no information without physical representation, and acknowledging that brains and computers are physical objects, we must conclude that all proofs, all computations, all information processing are physical, hence what can and cannot be computed (but not what is true) must depend on the laws of physics.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02605844654212548204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-85174305616232125692018-08-05T05:47:47.678+01:002018-08-05T05:47:47.678+01:00I don’t know Egan but I think he both understands ...I don’t know Egan but I think he both understands and likes quantum theory. Perhaps in this case he wants to avoid some obvious issues (no quantum cloning, quantum simulation on classical computers maybe exponentially slow, etc). Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02605844654212548204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697673368059564013.post-84266010165099917242018-08-05T04:49:12.303+01:002018-08-05T04:49:12.303+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02605844654212548204noreply@blogger.com