02 MAR 2019 by ideonexus
Triangles on Earth Exceed 180 Degrees
The idea that space and time can be curved or warped is fairly recent. For more than 2,000 years the axioms of Euclidean geometry were considered to be selfevident. As those of you who were forced to learn geometry at school may remember, one of the consequences of these axioms is that the angles ot a triangle add up to 180 degrees.
However, in the last century people began to realise that other forms of geometry were possible in which the angles of a triangle need not add up to i8o degrees...Folksonomies: perception curved space
Folksonomies: perception curved space
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notes02 MAR 2019 by ideonexus
New Kind of Memory for AI
AI researchers have typically tried to get around the issues posed by by Montezuma’s Revenge and Pitfall! by instructing reinforcement-learning algorithms to explore randomly at times, while adding rewards for exploration—what’s known as “intrinsic motivation.”
But the Uber researchers believe this fails to capture an important aspect of human curiosity. “We hypothesize that a major weakness of current intrinsic motivation algorithms is detachment,” they write. “Wherein the a... 1 notes
notes20 JUN 2014 by ideonexus
Transcription Fluency
When you write something down, either while taking notes or while trying to write your own original thoughts, you’re dealing with what literacy scholars call “transcription fluency”: How quickly and fluidly you can get down — “transcribe” — the stuff that’s in your head. One of the reasons we formally teach handwriting to young children is that you don’t want a bottleneck between the ideas they’re forming and the writing. If you struggle with the act of forming let... 1 notes
notes03 MAR 2014 by ideonexus
Science and Democracy are Synergistic
The values of science and tha values of democracy are
concordant, in many cases indistinguishable. Science confers
power on anyone who takes the trouble to learn it. Science
thrives on the free exchange of ideas; its values are
antithetical to secrecy. Science holds to no special vantage
points or privileged positions. Both science and democracy
encourage unconventional opinions and vigorous debate. Both
demand adeguate reason, coherent argument, rigorous standards of
evidence and hones...
1 The two concepts support one another.
22 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
The Loser in an Argument is Actually the Winner
He explains, “Suppose you and I have an argument. You believe a proposition, P, and I don’t. I’ve objected, I’ve questioned, I’ve raised all sorts of counter-considerations, and in every case you’ve responded to my satisfaction. At the end of the day, I say, ‘You know what? I guess you’re right.’ So I have a new belief. And it’s not just any belief, but it’s a well-articulated, examined and battle-tested belief. Cohen continues, “So who won that argument? Well, the war...The problem with the "war" metaphor for debate is that it defines winning as failing to adjust one's position at the end, while the "loser," the one who has conceded points based on the evidence, comes away from the encounter with a much stronger and tested understanding of the subjectmatter.
22 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
How to Compose a Successful Critical Commentary
How to compose a successful critical commentary:
1. Attempt to re-express your target's position so clearly, vividly and fairly that your target says: "Thanks, I wish I'd thought of putting it that way."
2. List any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
3. Mention anything you have learned from your target.
4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.A great list of criteria. Use this before composing any response in online debate.
16 JUL 2013 by ideonexus
Sleepwalking into the Surveillance State
The historians say that we sleepwalked into a surveillance
state. They meant that the technology for widespread
surveillance progressed and was implemented
in a gradual manner, though quick considering the
actual time scales, and with little in the way of open
discussion about the ramifications, so that before
anyone thought to object it was already ingrained
into society. When the tables turned and the same
technology was used to watch the watchers, there
was a bit more resistance, but by th... 1 notes
notesExerpt from a futurist vision.
28 MAY 2013 by ideonexus
Three Words Used in a List That Provides Examples of Each
When you say exergasia, synathroesmus, and incrementum together in a list, it seems to me that you have thereby given an example of all three devices in that same phrase.”
Swan snorted at this. “How so, Socrates?”
“ ‘Exergasia’ means ‘use of different phrases to express the same idea,’ ‘synathroesmus’ means ‘accumulation by enumeration,’ and ‘incrementum’ means ‘piling up points to make an argument.’ So listing them does all three, yes?”
“And what argume...Folksonomies: grammar
Folksonomies: grammar
1 notes
notesA clever bit of dialogue between an AI and its owner.
21 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Benjamin Franklin Thwarts the Will of God
When Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning-rod, the clergy, both in England and America, with the enthusiastic support of George III, condemned it as an impious attempt to defeat the will of God. For, as all right-thinking people were aware, lightning is sent by God to punish impiety or some other grave sin—the virtuous are never struck by lightning. Therefore if God wants to strike any one, Benjamin Franklin [and his lightning-rod] ought not to defeat His design; indeed, to do so is hel... 1 notes
notesHis lightning rod is condemned by the religious.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
"Net of a Million Lies"
And so it went. Tens of thousands of messages, hundreds of points of view. It was not called the Net of a Million Lies for nothing. 1 notes
notesVinge's galactic internet is a rumor mill, predicting the emotionally-charged falsehoods and tribalism that would appear on today's internet.
