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?
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.
1 ShaoLan explains how the symbols break down.
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.
03 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Why Women Store Fat in their Hips and Breasts
Low was looking to explain why young women have fat on their breasts and buttocks more than on other parts of their bodies. The reason this requires explaining is that young women are different from other human beings in this respect. Older women, young girls, and men of all ages gain fat on their torsos and limbs much more evenly. If a woman of twenty or so gains weight, it largely takes the form of fat on the breasts and buttocks; her waist can remain remarkably narrow.
So much is undispu...Young women deceive men about their sexual fitness with fat to make their hips look wider and their breasts larger.
28 MAR 2011 by ideonexus
John Quincy Adams VS Andrew Jackson, Nerd VS Fighter
John Quincy Adams,
Who can write,
And Andrew Jackson,
Who can fight.Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism
Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism
An American newspaper describes the choice between the two presidential candidates with this slogan.
23 MAR 2011 by ideonexus
Roger Ebert's Response to Clive Barker
Let's turn again to the golden boy. As you meet his haughty gaze, let me read you some of the things Roger Ebert has written about video games and art.
"I believe art is created by an artist. If you change it, you become the artist."
"Art seeks to lead you to an inevitable conclusion, not a smorgasbord of choices."
"Video games represent a loss of those precious hours we have available to make ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic."
At one point, Clive Barker pleaded, "I'm jus... 1 notes
notesBarker argues that video games allow us to escape reality, Ebert retorts that we need to engage reality.
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.
