03 NOV 2015 by ideonexus
Example of Lexical Context
A duct-less split can produce the exact amount of energy needed to temper an
envelope.
When I first read this sentence, my mind started to try to make connections to envelopes and
wondered if tempering had something to do with getting or keeping the glue on the flap. If you
are an engineer, you probably know that the sentence above refers to equipment and its capability
of cooling a room. As with any topic, the more you know about heating and cooling, the easier
it is to learn and understa... 1 
notes
notes24 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
"Infinite in All Directions," Meaning of the Title
The title is now changed so as to focus more sharply upon the message I am preaching. Boiled down to one sentence, my message is the unbounded prodigality of life and the consequent unboundedness of human destiny. As a working hypothesis to explain the riddle of our existence, I propose that our universe is the most interesting of all possible universes, and our fate as human beings is to make it so. 1 notes
notes09 AUG 2014 by ideonexus
König’s paradox: Ordinals
Let’s start by turning back the clock. It is India in the fifth century BCE, the age of the historical Buddha, and a rather peculiar principle of reasoning appears to be in general use. This principle is called the catuskoti, meaning ‘four corners’. It insists that there are four possibilities regarding any statement: it might be true (and true only), false (and false only), both true and false, or neither true nor false.
[...]
To get back to something that the Buddha might recognise,...Folksonomies: mathematics paradox
Folksonomies: mathematics paradox
1 notes
notesAlso Betrand Russel's "Set of All Sets that Do Not Contain Themselves"
24 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
Google Translate as a Broken Telephone
Another delightful pastime is overtransforming an information artifact through digital algorithms—useful, if used sparingly—until it turns into something quite strange. For instance, you can use one of the online machine-translation services to translate a phrase through a ring of languages back to the original and see what you get. The sentence “The edge of knowledge motivates intriguing online discussions” transforms into “Online discussions in order to stimulate an attractive nat...
1 Jaron Lanier describes a game you can play with google translate, transforming a sentence through a variety of languages back to its original to see what is produced.
26 JUN 2013 by ideonexus
Dictionary of Numbers
A dictionary takes words you're unfamiliar with and puts them in terms you're familiar with. Dictionary of Numbers takes numbers you're unfamiliar with and puts them in terms you can understand.
Dictionary of Numbers scans the web pages you visit looking for numbers it can understand. When it finds one, it will give you a human-understandable meaning for that number. For example, Dictionary of Numbers will take this sentence:
"The hurricane displaced over 100,000 people and cost an estimate...Folksonomies: quantification comparison
Folksonomies: quantification comparison
1 notes
notesScans websites for numbers and adds translations/comparisons to make them more comprehensible.
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.
16 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
Elegant, Simple Description of the Electromagnetic Strong...
If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed on to the next generations of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words? I believe it is the atomic hypothesis (or the atomic fact, or whatever you wish to call it) that all things are made of atoms—little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into ... 1 notes
notesPulled together when a little distance apart, but repel one another when squeezed together.
28 APR 2012 by ideonexus
There is No Lying in Science
However, all scientific statements and laws have one characteristic in common: they are “true or false” (adequate or inadequate). Roughly speaking, our reaction to them is “yes” or “no.” The scientific way of thinking has a further characteristic. The concepts which it uses to build up its coherent systems are not expressing emotions. For the scientist, there is only “being,” but no wishing, no valuing, no good, no evil; no goal. As long as we remain within the realm of scienc... 1 notes
notesScience is about right and wrong, the search for truth.
10 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
Watson's Perception of Pauling's Rhetorical Flare in His ...
By the time I was back to Copenhagen, the journal containing Linus' article had arrived from the States. I quickly read it and immediately reread it. Most of the language was above me, and so I could only get a general impression of his argument. I had no way of judging whether it made sense. The only thing I was sure of was that it was written with style. A few days later the next issue of the journal arrived, this time containing seven more Pauling articles. Again the language was dazzling ... 1 notes
notesWatson makes a clever and critical note about Pauling's use of style over substance in his published papers.
27 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
The Wonder of the Fertilized Egg
The opening cast members of the baby-making play are simply a sperm and an egg and a saucy Marvin Gaye song. Once these two cells are joined, they begin producing lots of cells in a small space. The human embryo soon looks like a tiny mulberry. (Indeed, one early development stage is called the morula, Latin for mulberry.) Your mulberry’s first decision is practical: It has to decide what part becomes baby’s body and what part becomes baby’s shelter. This happens quickly. Certain cel...Folksonomies: wonder fetal development
Folksonomies: wonder fetal development
1 notes
notesThe process will produce a human brain from a single cell.
