09 JAN 2017 by ideonexus
The Machine
Vashanti"s next move was to turn off the isolation switch, and all the accumulations of the last three minutes burst upon her. The room was filled with the noise of bells, and speaking-tubes. What was the new food like? Could she recommend it? Has she had any ideas lately? Might one tell her one"s own ideas? Would she make an engagement to visit the public nurseries at an early date? - say this day month.
To most of these questions she replied with irritation - a growing quality in that acce... 1 
notes
notesA world where everyone lives in isolated rooms underground and communicates through social networking tools. Very prescient for 1909.
09 SEP 2016 by ideonexus
How Insular Media Protects Itself
One of the chief problems, Sykes said, was that it had become impossible to prove to listeners that Trump was telling falsehoods because over the past several decades the conservative news media had “basically eliminated any of the referees, the gatekeepers.”
“There's nobody,” he lamented. “Let's say that Donald Trump basically makes whatever you want to say, whatever claim he wants to make. And everybody knows it's a falsehood. The big question of my audience, it is impossible for...Folksonomies: ideology confirmation bias
Folksonomies: ideology confirmation bias
1 notes
notes19 DEC 2014 by ideonexus
John Cleese on Writing and Performing as Science
DAVIES: You know, and you say many times in the book that you're more a writer than a performer.
CLEESE: It's always hard for people to believe that because of course, anytime they've seen me it's because I've been performing. You know, they don't go to their televisions and switch them on and see me sitting at home writing, you know? So naturally, people's image is of a performer, but the reality is the writing for me has always been the most important thing and the most rewarding thing. An... 1 notes
notes24 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
A Second is Subjective
How many seconds are there in a lifetime? 10^9 sec
A second is an arbitrary time unit, but one that is based on our experience. Our visual system is bombarded by snapshots at a rate of around three per second, caused by rapid eye movements called saccades. Athletes often win or lose a race by a fraction of a second. If you earned a dollar for every second in your life, you would be a billionaire. However, a second can feel like a minute in front of an audience, and a quiet weekend can disap...
1 Terrence Sejnowski on how a moment of time is a subjective experience that grows longer the more novelty is packed into it.
28 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
Presenting Evidence is a Moral Act
Making an evidence presentation is a moral act as well as an intellectual activity. To maintain standards of quality, relevance, and integrity for evidence, consumers of presentations should insist that presenters be held intellectually and ethically responsible for what they show and tell. Thus consuming a presentation is also an intellectual and a moral activity.
Our responsibility as the audience is to hold the presenter accountable.
28 JAN 2013 by ideonexus
"Sagan" as a Unit of Measurement
Carl Sagan was an American cosmologist, astronomer, and absolute tireless champion of the sciences in the public sphere. He was the author, co-editor, or editor of almost two dozen science books, and the host the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos. Sagan was well known for his excitement in talking about science, especially cosmological issues, and would strongly enunciate the M sound in millions and the B sound in billions to emphasize just how big the numbers were and properly diff... 1 notes
notesFrom the trademark "Billions and Billions." "Billions" is plural, meaning greater than two, so billions and billions at minimum equals four.
22 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
How Small are Atoms?
Why are atoms so small? ... Many examples have been devised to bring this fact home to an audience, none of them more impressive than the one used by Lord Kelvin: Suppose that you could mark the molecules in a glass of water, then pour the contents of the glass into the ocean and stir the latter thoroughly so as to distribute the marked molecules uniformly throughout the seven seas; if you then took a glass of water anywhere out of the ocean, you would find in it about a hundred of your marke...So small that, if you were to pour a cup of water into the ocean and let it stir in, you could retrieve a cup of water from anywhere in the ocean that would contain 100 molecules from your cup.
04 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Science Because it is Fulfilling
To prove to an indignant questioner on the spur of the moment that the work I do was useful seemed a thankless task and I gave it up. I turned to him with a smile and finished, 'To tell you the truth we don't do it because it is useful but because it's amusing.' The answer was thought of and given in a moment: it came from deep down in my soul, and the results were as admirable from my point of view as unexpected. My audience was clearly on my side. Prolonged and hearty applause greeted my co... 1 notes
notesQuoting A.V. Hill's anecdote.
28 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
Religion is a Solution to a Non-Problem
At the 2005 World Religions Conference, I was asked to represent atheism, sitting on the stage with a Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Sikh, Hindu, and Native American spiritualist. (I accepted the invitation only after making it clear that atheism is not a religion, and they agreed to include it as a “world philosophy.”) The theme of the conference was “salvation,” and each of us was asked to summarize our respective positions on that topic. After pointing out that “sin” is a re...Folksonomies: atheism
Folksonomies: atheism
1 notes
notesIt's like a doctor going around cutting people in order to heal them.
15 DEC 2011 by ideonexus
Focus When Being Inundated with BS
Langmuir is the most convincing lecturer that I have ever heard. I have heard him talk to an audience of chemists when I knew they did not understand more than one-third of what he was saying; but they thought they did. It's very easy to be swept off one's feet by Langmuir. You remember in [Kipling's novel] Kim that the water jar was broken and Lurgan Sahib was trying to hypnotise Kim into seeing it whole again. Kim saved himself by saying the multiplication table [so] I have heard Langmuir l... 1 notes
notesBancroft describes a Professor who he knew was wrong, but he had to stay focused through the lecture to not be hypnotized by the lecturer's nonsense.
