04 NOV 2018 by ideonexus
Degenerate Strategies and Cheating
Why isn't using a degenerate strategy considered cheating? Degenerate strategies take advantage of weaknesses in the rules of a game, but do not actually violate the rules. What kind of player would play in this way? The answer is both a dedicated player, who is overzealously seeking the perfect strategy, and an unsportsmanlike player, who has found a hole in the rules to exploit, even though he understands that he is not playing the game the way it was intended. These two kinds of players ca... 1 
notes
notesIs the same true of memorizing algorithms to solve the rubiks cube?
07 APR 2015 by ideonexus
Evidence on Creatine
Strong scientific evidence for this use
Enhanced muscle mass / strength: Several high-quality studies have shown an increase in muscle mass with creatine use. However, some weaker studies have reported mixed results. Overall, the available evidence suggests that creatine does increase lean body mass, strength, and total work. Future studies should include the effect of individual differences such as fitness levels, sex, and age.
Unclear scientific evidence for this use
Athletic performance...24 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
The Mediocrity Principle
The reason this principle is so essential to science is that it’s the beginning of understanding how we came to be here and how everything works. We look for general principles that apply to the universe as a whole first, and those explain much of the story; and then we look for the quirks and exceptions that led to the details. It’s a strategy that succeeds and is useful in gaining a deeper knowledge. Starting with a presumption that a subject of interest represents a violation of the pr... 1 notes
notesP. Z. Myers' explanation for how this principle means we cannot look to supernatural explanations for our origins, because there is no reason to think we are an exception to the rules of the universe.
27 SEP 2013 by ideonexus
加油 as a Term of Encouragement
The Chinese characters say 加油 (Jia1 you2).加 is composed of 力 (power) and 口 (mouth). It means 'to add'油 is made out of 水 (氵, water) and 由(from/ due). It means oil.加（to add） 油（oil）= add oil or make an extra effort
加油 is a terribly common phrase in day to day life. If you want to encourage someone to carry on great work, or in a sports competition, you say 加油! A bit like 'go on!' in English.
Of course another literal meaning of 加油 is to refuel.ShaoLan explains how the symbols break down.
16 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
If We Knew the Outcome of a War, There Would be No Need t...
The determining cause of most wars in the past has been, and probably will be of all wars in the future, the uncertainty of the result; war is acknowledged to be a challenge to the Unknown, it is often spoken of as an appeal to the God of Battles. The province of science is to foretell; this is true of every department of science. And the time must come—how soon we do not know—when the real science of war, something quite different from the application of science to the means of war, will...1 
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notesQuote from Sir Michael Foster Times Literary Supplement, 28 Nov 1902, 353-4.
07 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
History of Science and Religion
Some people want to put warning stickers on biology textbooks, saying that the theory of evolution is just one of many theories, take it or leave it. Now, religion long predates science; it'll be here forever. That's not the issue. The problem comes when religion enters the science classroom. There's no tradition of scientists knocking down the Sunday school door, telling preachers what to teach. Scientists don't picket churches. By and arge—though it may not look this way today—science a... 1 notes
notesHow the Middle East was the center of scientific progress until religious fever took over it, the same is seen in Jewish and Christian cultures.
20 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
An Origami Metaphor for Fetal Development
The sheets of tissue that
fold, invaginate and turn inside out in a developing embryo do indeed grow, and it is that very growth that provides part of the motive force which, in origami, is supplied by the human hand. If
you wanted to make an origami model with a sheet of living tissue instead of dead paper, there is at
least a sporting chance that, if the sheet were to grow in just the right way, not uniformly but faster
in some parts of the sheet than in others, this might automatically cau...Cells divide and fold into new forms, just as origami structures become other structures through new folds.
20 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Enjoying Science Requires Effort
When you have reached and entered the gates of science, how are you to use and enjoy this new and beautiful land?
This is a very important question for you may make a twofold use of it. If you are only ambitious to shine in the world, you may use it chiefly to get prizes, to be at the top of your class, or to pass in examinations; but if you also enjoy discovering its secrets, and desire to learn more and more of nature and to revel in dreams of its beauty, then you will study science for it...
1 Many don't love nature and don't fall in love with science as a result.
19 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
The Empty Space in an Atom
A favourite analogy portrays the nucleus as a fly
in the middle of a sports stadium. The nearest neighbouring nucleus is another fly, in the middle of
an adjacent stadium. The electrons of each atom are buzzing about in orbit around their respective flies, smaller than the tiniest gnats, too small to be seen on the same scale as the flies. When we
look at a solid lump of iron or rock, we are 'really' looking at what is almost entirely empty space. It
looks and feels solid and opaque because o...Our senses are not adapted to experience the empty space between atoms.
08 JAN 2011 by ideonexus
The Samurai are Prohibited from Professional Sports
Gentlemen of honour, according to the old standards, rode horses, raced chariots, fought, and played competitive games of skill, and the dull, cowardly and base came in thousands to admire, and howl, and bet. The gentlemen of honour degenerated fast enough into a sort of athletic prostitute, with all the defects, all the vanity, trickery, and self-assertion of the common actor, and with even less intelligence. Our Founders made no peace with this organisation of public sports. They did not sp...Folksonomies: voluntary nobility
Folksonomies: voluntary nobility
A professional athlete is an "athletic prostitute," and the Samurai do not participate.
