25 OCT 2017 by ideonexus
Anger isn't Necessary and Gets In the Way
A prominent author who recently disagreed with me on a technical matter quickly labelled me as belonging to a ‘department of bullshit’. Ouch! How is it possible not to get offended by this sort of thing, especially when it’s coming not from an anonymous troll, but from a famous guy with more than 200,000 followers? By implementing the advice of another Stoic philosopher, the second-century slave-turned-teacher Epictetus, who admonished his students in this way: ‘Remember that it is we... 1 
notes
notes20 JUL 2017 by ideonexus
Old CRPGs are Unplayable for Modern Gamers
They had five days to play (Ultima IV), and I asked them to make as much progress as they could in that time. When we gathered to debrief in class, a few students explained how they’d overcome some of their difficulties, but the vast majority was utterly flummoxed by the game. As one of them put it, “I’d say for gamers of our generation, an RPG like Ultima IV is boring and pretty much unplayable.” After removing the arrow from my chest, I asked them to explain why.
It mostly came dow... 1 notes
notes26 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Cognitive Rigidity
Experience may blind us from recognizing obvious solutions to problems. Research shows that physicians and health care professionals are likely to overlook the correct diagnosis in cases which do not match their experience [1]. Similar findings have been reported concerning difficulties in reframing clinical situations as experienced by healthcare professionals [2], [3], and difficulties of managers and decision makers in replacing existing procedures with new, improved and simpler ones [4]. ...Folksonomies: plasticity cognitive rigidity
Folksonomies: plasticity cognitive rigidity
1 When experience blinds us to possibilities it hurts our professional abilities and can even lead to cognitive pathologies.
12 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Each Scientists Adds Their Own to What Came Before
The advancement of science is slow; it is effected only by virtue of hard work and perseverance. And when a result is attained, should we not in recognition connect it with the efforts of those who have preceded us, who have struggled and suffered in advance? Is it not truly a duty to recall the difficulties which they vanquished, the thoughts which guided them; and how men of different nations, ideas, positions, and characters, moved solely by the love of science, have bequeathed to us the u...Folksonomies: shoulders of giants
Folksonomies: shoulders of giants
A search for truth continuing from century to century.
18 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
Averages are Boring
The Charms of Statistics.—It is difficult to understand why statisticians commonly limit their inquiries to Averages, and do not revel in more comprehensive views. Their souls seem as dull to the charm of variety as that of the native of one of our flat English counties, whose retrospect of Switzerland was that, if its mountains could be thrown into its lakes, two nuisances would be got rid of at once. An Average is but a solitary fact, whereas if a single other fact be added to it, an enti...Folksonomies: statistics
Folksonomies: statistics
1 notes
notesStatisticians should be interested in more complex and beautiful things.
26 APR 2012 by ideonexus
Interest in Genetics of "Lesser" Animals Betrays our Conn...
Genetics has enticed a great many explorers during the past two decades. They have labored with fruit-flies and guinea-pigs, with sweet peas and corn, with thousands of animals and plants in fact, and they have made heredity no longer a mystery but an exact science to be ranked close behind physics and chemistry in definiteness of conception. One is inclined to believe, however, that the unique magnetic attraction of genetics lies in the vision of potential good which it holds for mankind rat... 1 notes
notesIf we were not related to them, then there would be little scientific interest in exploring them.
16 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Theory Versus Discovery
Discovery always carries an honorific connotation. It is the stamp of approval on a finding of lasting value. Many laws and theories have come and gone in the history of science, but they are not spoken of as discoveries. Kepler is said to have discovered the laws of planetary motion named after him, but no the many other 'laws' which he formulated. ... Theories are especially precarious, as this century profoundly testifies. World views can and do often change. Despite these difficulties, it... 1 notes
notesTheories come and go in the sciences, but discovery that stays around has a romantic permanence in science history.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
No One Will Join the Military to Fight the Zombies
Even if the coffers hadn’t been empty, if we’d had all the money to make all the uniforms we needed to implement Phase Two, who do you think we could have conned into filling them? This goes to the heart of America’s war weariness. As if the “traditional” horrors weren’t bad enough—the dead, the disfigured, the psychologically destroyed—now you had a whole new breed of difficulties, “The Betrayed.” We were a volunteer army, and look what happened to our volunteers. How man... 1 notes
notesThe volunteer military cannot find personnel after endless wars in the Middle East and the Government betraying soldiers by overextending their commitments prevents volunteers from being willing to sign up.
16 DEC 2011 by ideonexus
Mother Teresa as Campaigner
Mother Teresa has a theory of poverty, which is also a
theory of submission and gratitude. She has also a theory
of power, which derives from St Paul's neglected words
about 'the powers that be', which 'are ordained of God'.
She is, finally, the emissary of a very determined and very
politicized papacy. Her world travels are not the wanderings of a pilgrim but a campaign which accords with the
requirements of power. Mother Teresa has a theory of
morality too. It is not a difficult theory to c... 1 notes
notesHitchens outlines his perspective on the future saint.
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...
1 Why let scientists have all the enjoyment?
