18 MAY 2017 by ideonexus
The Wonder of a Child Learning Their Native Language
Imagine you are
faced with the following challenge: You must discover the underlying
structure of an immense system that contains tens of thousands of
pieces, all generated by combining a small set of elements in various
ways. These pieces, in turn, can be combined in an infinite number of
ways, although only a subset of these combinations is actually correct.
However, the subset that is correct is itself infinite. Somehow you must
rapidly figure out the structure of this system so that you c... 1 
notes
notes26 APR 2016 by ideonexus
Hacking is Playful
Also central to the Hacker Ethic is playfulness. At a 2006 O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, Matt Webb and Ben Cerveny wrote, “Hacking is a playful act. In a primal sense, play is the investigation and experimentation with borders and combinations” (O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, website). Despite early, highly structured approaches to computing in mainframe laboratories in the mid-twentieth century, a computing culture of iterative experimental hacking has evolved th... 1 notes
notes12 MAR 2015 by ideonexus
The Many Ways of Representing Sounds in English Spelling
English spelling, owing to the conditions that gov-
ernd the growth of the English language, now presents
many anomalies. The same letter, or combination of
letters, often represents many different sounds; while
the same sound is often represented by many different
letters, or combinations of letters.
The combination ough, for example, represents at
least 9 different sounds in the words cough, rough,
though, through, plough, hough, thorough, thought,
hiccough; and the sound of e in ...
1 05 MAR 2015 by ideonexus
The Monte Carlo Method and Evolutionary Algorithms
Back then, I thought of one thing: Have you heard of the Monte Carlo method? Ah, it’s a computer algorithm often used for calculating the area of irregular shapes. Specifically, the software puts the figure of interest in a figure of known area, such as a circle, and randomly strikes it with many tiny balls, never targeting the same spot twice. After a large number of balls, the proportion of balls that fall within the irregular shape compared to the total number of balls used to hit the ci...Folksonomies: algorithms evolutionary algorithms
Folksonomies: algorithms evolutionary algorithms
1 notes
notesIs a combinations of the characters for "child" and "palace."
28 JUN 2013 by ideonexus
Combinatory Analysis in the IChing
Combinatory analysis refers to a group of techniques that can be used to determine the number of elements in a particular setwith- out having to count them one-by-one. Theelements in question could be the results froma scientific experiment or the different potential outcomes of a random event.
[...]
Combinatory analysis has interestedmathe- maticians forcenturies.According toTakacs (1982), such analysis dates back to ancient Greece. However, the Hindus, the Per- sians (includingthe poet an... 1 notes
notesAnd in another ancient Chinese text.
16 MAR 2013 by ideonexus
Buckminster Fuller's Advice to a Youth
The things to do are: the things that need doing: that you see need to be done, and that no one else seems to see need to be done. Then you will conceive your own way of doing that which needs to be done—that no one else has told you to do or how to do it. This will bring out the real you that often gets buried inside a character that has acquired a superficial array of behaviors induced or Try making experiments of anything j^
Try making experiments of anything you conceive and are inten...Find things that need doing, but aren't being done, experiment, and understand that words are tools.
06 AUG 2012 by ideonexus
Our Improvement Through Education is Limitless
It has never yet been supposed, that all the facts of nature, and all the means of acquiring precision in the computation and analysis of those facts, and all the connections of objects with each other, and all the possible combinations of ideas, can be exhausted by the human mind. The mere relations of magnitude, the combinations, quantity and extent of this idea alone, form already a system too immense for the mind of man ever to grasp the whole of it; a portion, more vast than that which h...A vision of the future. Although we may never change physically or in our mental capacity, our innovations and amassing of knowledge will provide us with limitless potential for intellectual growth.
22 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
What Might Be VS What Is
It has hitherto been a serious impediment to the progress of knowledge, that is in investigating the origin or causes of natural productions, recourse has generally been had to the examination, both by experiment and reasoning, of what might be rather than what is. The laws or processes of nature we have every reason to believe invariable. Their results from time to time vary, according to the combinations of influential circumstances; but the process remains the same. Like the poet or the pa...Folksonomies: observation
Folksonomies: observation
1 notes
notesLooking for one is less productive than observing the other.
31 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
Taking the Magic out of Natural Selection.
'Planning' is simply the result of experience read backward and projected into the future. To me the 'purposive' action of a beehive is simply the summation and integration of its units, and Natural Selection has put higher and higher premiums on the most 'purposeful' integration. It is the same way (to me) in the evolution of the middle ear, the steps in the Cynodonts (clearly shown by me in 1910 and by you later in Oudenodon) make it easier to see how such a wonderful device as the middle e...Folksonomies: evolution natural selection
Folksonomies: evolution natural selection
1 notes
notesQuoting William King Gregory: "The simple idea that planning is only experience read backward and combined by selection in suitable or successful combinations takes the mystery out of Nature and out of men's minds."
