27 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
The Universe as a Simulation
‘Duh huh! That’s putting it mildly!’ Zinda purses her lips. ‘There are two problems, really. The first is that we can’t solve any hard problems. Not really. Anything that’s NP-complete. The Travelling Salesman. Pac-Man. They are all the same. All too hard. Even if we had a computer the size of the Universe! It drives the Sobornost crazy. We don’t mind it so much: that’s what makes most games fun. And we have quantum shortcuts for some special cases, like coordination. And for ... 1 
notes
notes20 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
Social Fragmentation is Freedom
Urbanism—the city dweller's way of life—has preoccupied sociology since the turn of the
century. Max Weber pointed out the obvious fact that people in cities cannot know all their
neighbors as intimately as it was possible for them to do in small communities. Georg
Simmel carried this idea one step further when he declared, rather quaintly, that if the urban
individual reacted emotionally to each and every person with whom he came into contact, or
cluttered his mind with information about...
1 People lament the watering-down of interpersonal relationships in social networks, but total relationships--with all their faults and positives--restrict our freedoms and overwhelm us.
13 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
Anecdote About the Cuckoo Clock in China
The gaudy watches of indifferent workmanship, fabricated purposely for the China market and once in universal demand, are now scarcely asked for. One gentleman in the Honourable East India Company’s employ took it into his head that cuckoo clocks might prove a saleable article in China, and accordingly laid in a large assortment, which more than answered his most sanguine expectations. But as these wooden machines were constructed for sale only, and not for use, the cuckoo clocks became all... 1 notes
notesA salesman convinces his buyers that his faulty clocks will work once again once the birds come out of hibernation.
29 MAY 2013 by ideonexus
Simple Explanation of Big O Part II
So if you want to find a name in a phone book of a million names you can actually find any name by doing this at most 20 times. In comparing search algorithms we decide that this comparison is our 'n'.
For a phone book of 3 names it takes 2 comparisons (at most).For 7 it takes at most 3.For 15 it takes 4....For 1,000,000 it takes 20.
That is staggeringly good isn't it?
In Big-O terms this is O(log n) or logarithmic complexity. Now the logarithm in question could be ln (base e), log10, l...Folksonomies: computer science algorithms
Folksonomies: computer science algorithms
1 Second part of the explanation.
20 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
How To Enjoy Science
But you do not have to be a scientist to experience this sort of satisfaction. Nor do you have to make a profession of science to develop scientific attitudes, which will make you a better and a happier citizen. Research in the broadest sense is more a habit of mind and a method of approach to problems than a specific technique. Certainly there is nothing esoteric about it (as I hope this book has demonstrated about clinical psychological research, at least). You can develop this sort of atti...Why let scientists have all the enjoyment?
26 DEC 2010 by ideonexus
Watching Cars Merge on the Freeway as an Example of Civil...
Look on the screen. This is where we are. This is who we are. (points to the Jumbotron screen which show traffic merging into a tunnel). These cars—that’s a schoolteacher who probably thinks his taxes are too high. He’s going to work. There’s another car-a woman with two small kids who can’t really think about anything else right now. There’s another car, swinging, I don’t even know if you can see it—the lady’s in the NRA and she loves O...Folksonomies: centrism
Folksonomies: centrism
Jon Stewart uses the example of traffic merging on the freeway as an example of the "we're all in it together" spirit of civilization, and how we all have each other's best interests at heart despite what extreme political pundits may say.
