10 MAR 2019 by ideonexus
How Computational Review of Chess Games Revealed Narrativ...
Paradoxically, when other top players wrote about games in magazines and newspaper columns they often made more mistakes in their commentary than the players had made at the board. Even when the players themselves published analyses of their own games they were often less accurate than when they were playing the game. Strong moves were called errors, weak moves were praised. It was not only a few cases of journalists who were lousy players failing to comprehend the genius of the champions, or... 1 
notes
notes20 MAR 2018 by ideonexus
Lower Mortality in Moderate Drinkers VS Abstainers Result...
RESULTS: Without adjustment, meta-analysis of all 87 included studies replicated the classic J-shaped curve, with low-volume drinkers (1.3-24.9 g ethanol per day) having reduced mortality risk (RR = 0.86, 95% CI [0.83, 0.90]). Occasional drinkers (<1.3 g per day) had similar mortality risk (RR = 0.84, 95% CI [0.79, 0.89]), and former drinkers had elevated risk (RR = 1.22, 95% CI [1.14, 1.31]). After adjustment for abstainer biases and quality-related study characteristics, no significant r...Folksonomies: longevity alcohol consumption
Folksonomies: longevity alcohol consumption
1 The studies fail to take into account that many abstainers are former alcoholics who are biased toward ill health.
15 JUN 2016 by ideonexus
How Science Resists the Philosophical Concept that Percep...
In the traditional theory, which still is the prevailing one, there were alleged to exist inherent defects in perception and observation as means of knowledge, in reference to the subjectmatter they furnish. This material, in the older notion, is inherently so particular, so contingent and variable, that by no possible means can it contribute to knowledge; it can result only in opinion, mere belief. But in modern science, there are only practical defects in the senses, certain limitations of ...Folksonomies: knowledge perception
Folksonomies: knowledge perception
1 notes
notes17 NOV 2014 by ideonexus
An Eloquent Description of Science and Wonder
As I gathered information for this book, I was continually reminded of the reality that science, rooted as it is in the certainties of the physical world, is a process that necessarily unfolds over time. In school, science classes tend to work according to this linear model; there's a “beginning, middle, and end” to science investigations, no matter how hard teachers may fight the “cookbook” reductionism that threatens true scientific inquiry. Yet, in probing further, I came to unders... 1 notes
notes09 AUG 2014 by ideonexus
The Problem of Inferring Anything about the Star Trek Uni...
The second problem has more to do with using Starfleet as the lens through which we draw conclusions about Federation society. If I were to show some alien society a documentary about the United States, set primarily on a US aircraft carrier, with ~90% of the situations and characters taking place in a military context, my alien viewers would draw some very interesting inferences about the US (or, more broadly, all of human society). They'd think we were a rigidly hierarchical society. They'd... 1 notes
notes21 APR 2014 by ideonexus
The Extended Peer Community
The perspective of Funtowicz and Ravetz on post normal science [59] – characterized by conflicting values and deep uncertainties – is useful in moving forward on messes and wicked problems. When the stakes are high and uncertainties are large, Funtowicz and Ravetz point out that there is demand by the public to participate and assess quality, which they refer to as the extended peer community. The extended peer community consists not only of those with traditional institutional accreditat... 1 notes
notesAn argument for open science that we should bring climate change science to the public to appeal on science not consensus.
11 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
The Meaning of "We" in Science and Mathematical Texts
I request a last indulgence from the reader. The introductory material,
thus far, has been written in the friendly and confiding first person
singular voice. Starting in the next paragraph, I will inhabit the first
person plural for the duration of the mathematical expositions. This
should not be construed as a “royal we.” It has been a construct of the
community of mathematicians for centuries and it traditionally signifies
two ideas: that “we” are all in consultation with each other... 1 notes
notes"We" refers to the collaborative effort of problem solving.
05 APR 2013 by ideonexus
Negative Capability
I had not a dispute but a disquisition with Dilke, upon various subjects; several things dove-tailed in my mind, and at once it struck me what quality went to form a Man of Achievement, especially in Literature, and which Shakespeare possessed so enormously - I mean Negative Capability, that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason - Coleridge, for instance, would let go by a fine isolated verisimilitude caugh...According to wikipedia: "...the capacity of human beings to transcend and revise their contexts." Here is the first use of the term by John Keats, where it sounds more like the ability to remain calm and rational in the face of uncertainty and not jump to conclusions without evidence.
20 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
The Danger of Measurement
Measurement has too often been the leitmotif of many investigations rather than the experimental examination of hypotheses. Mounds of data are collected, which are statistically decorous and methodologically unimpeachable, but conclusions are often trivial and rarely useful in decision making. This results from an overly rigorous control of an insignificant variable and a widespread deficiency in the framing of pertinent questions. Investigators seem to have settled for what is measurable ins... 1 notes
notesIs that it can replace testing hypotheses. We gather data instead of validating exactly what it is we'd like to know.
28 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
Encourage a Child to Think Well
Encourage a child to think well, then trust her to do so. Removing religion by no means guarantees kids will think independently and well. Consider religion itself: Kids growing up in a secular home are at the same risk of making uninformed decisions about religion as are those in deeply religious homes. In order to really think for themselves about religion, kids must learn as much as possible about religion as a human cultural expression while being kept free of the sickening idea that they... 1 notes
notesAnd trust them to do so.
