27 JUL 2018 by ideonexus
Norman Borlaug, Giga-Lifesaver
In the 1950s and ’60s, another giga-lifesaver, Norman Borlaug, outsmarted evolution to foment the Green Revolution in the developing world.21 Plants in nature invest a lot of energy and nutrients in woody stalks that raise their leaves and blossoms above the shade of neighboring weeds and of each other. Like fans at a rock concert, everyone stands up, but no one gets a better view. That’s the way evolution works: it myopically selects for individual advantage, not the greater good of the ... 1 
notes
notes19 FEB 2015 by ideonexus
Oliver Sacks on Focus in the Last Months of Life
I feel a sudden clear focus and perspective. There is no time for anything inessential. I must focus on myself, my work and my friends. I shall no longer look at “NewsHour” every night. I shall no longer pay any attention to politics or arguments about global warming.
This is not indifference but detachment — I still care deeply about the Middle East, about global warming, about growing inequality, but these are no longer my business; they belong to the future. I rejoice when I meet gi... 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.
21 APR 2014 by ideonexus
Number
Number is a rich, many-sided domain whose simplest forms are compre-
hended by very young children and whose far reaches are still being explored
by mathematicians. Proficiency with numbers and numerical operations is
an important foundation for further education in mathematics and in fields
that use mathematics. Because much of this report attends to the learning
and teaching of number, it is important to emphasize that our perspective is
considerably broader than just computation. First, nu...Folksonomies: education mathematics
Folksonomies: education mathematics
1 notes
notesMathematics summarized.
22 JAN 2014 by ideonexus
Everything is Made of Atoms
Everything is made of atoms. That is the key hypothesis. The most important hypothesis in all of biology, for example, is that everything that animals do, atoms do. In other words, there is nothing that living things do that cannot be understood from the point of view that they are made of atoms acting according to the laws of physics. This was not known from the beginning it took some experimenting and theorizing to suggest this hypothesis, but now it is accepted, and it is the most useful t... 1 notes
notesTherefore all biological and chemical phenomena can be understood from this perspective of physics.
02 JAN 2014 by ideonexus
Ultra-Democracy
Education in democracy must be carried on within the Party so that members can understand the meaning of democratic life, the meaning of the relationship between democracy and centralism, and the way in which democratic centralism should be put into practice. Only in this way can we really extend democracy within the Party and at the same time avoid ultra-democracy and the laissez-faire which destroys discipline.
"The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War" (October 1938), ... 1 notes
notesAn interesting concept from the perspective of Mao's socialism, a democracy that goes too far and becomes corrupt under its own (greed?).
10 SEP 2013 by ideonexus
Think of Everything as Already Broken
In his book Thoughts without a Thinker, psychiatrist
Mark Epstein recounts this teaching
by the Thai meditation master Achaan Chah.
“You see this goblet?” Achaan Chah asks.
“For me this glass is already broken. I enjoy
it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably,
sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to
it. But when I put this glass on the shelf, and the
wind knocks it over or my elbow brushes it off
the table and it fal... 1 notes
notesA liberating perspective.
12 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Individuals VS Species
The assumptions of population thinking are diametrically opposed to those of the typologist. The populationist stresses the uniqueness of everything in the organic world. What is true for the human species,–that no two individuals are alike, is equally true for all other species of animals and plants ... All organisms and organic phenomena are composed of unique features and can be described collectively only in statistical terms. Individuals, or any kind of organic entities, form populatio...Folksonomies: taxonomy perspective
Folksonomies: taxonomy perspective
1 notes
notesSpecies are classified according to a mean, the perspective is to ignore the variation within the species.
29 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
Example of Relativity
Imagine that George, who is wearing a spacesuit with a small, red flashing light, is floating in the absolute darkness of completely
empty space, far away from any planets, stars, or galaxies. From George's perspective, he is completely stationary, engulfed in the
uniform, still blackness of the cosmos. Off in the distance, George catches sight of a tiny, green flashing light that appears to be
coming closer and closer. Finally, it gets close enough for George to see that the light is attache... 1 notes
notesAll motion is relative.
28 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Space Extends Everywhere
That the machine of Heaven is not a hard and impervious body full of various real spheres, as up to now has been believed by most people. It will be proved that it extends everywhere, most fluid and simple, and nowhere presents obstacles as was formerly held, the circuits of the Planets being wholly free and without the labour and whirling round of any real spheres at all, being divinely governed under a given law.Folksonomies: astronomy iconoclasm
Folksonomies: astronomy iconoclasm
1 notes
notesAn assertion from Tycho Brahe that captures the change of perspective of his time on the night skies.
