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\r\n \"\"<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n Talking to “Them”: The Dialectic<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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What if I was wearing a MAGA hat right now? You know, those red hats worn by the supporters of Donald Trump as part of his campaign to “Make America Great Again”. Maybe you would feel like I was a patriot who cared deeply about restoring the US to our best and most prosperous days. Maybe you would wonder if I was a rioter or supporter of the people who wore those hats to assault the United States Capital on January 6, 2021. Whatever ran through your head would say a lot about what you believe and would set up…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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\r\n \"elephant,<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n When There’s No Synthesis<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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I had a conversation with my Dad about politics. Although in actuality we agree on more than we disagree, the topic has been a hard one emotionally in the past, so it had been a while. While we were talking, Dad said, “I just wish they’d work together to get something done. Isn’t that what its about?” I couldn’t have said it better myself. I think most people, where ever they find themselves on the political spectrum feel the same way. We wish that there was less fighting, and less ideological posturing, and more getting done for the good of…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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\r\n \"tax<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n A Tax On The Brain<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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Salty or tough characters like to quote the adage: “There are only two things certain in life: death and taxes.” Notice that these two inevitable things are distinctly unpleasant, but also — from a certain point of view — completely necessary. Leaving death aside, let’s talk about taxes because, well, it’s tax season, and I’ve got to do mine. I have to do it, because that’s the law. I also kinda want to do so I can get back my refund. But neither of these motivations get anywhere near the reality at the heart of taxes: namely that governments collect…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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\r\n Where Are The Standard Deviants?<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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For the next couple of Science Tuesdays, I’d like to explore standard deviation — an important concept in statistics, and therefore an important idea for science and thinking about systems. I started explaining that, in a random system where all things are equal, the normal distribution expects things to spread out according to a bell-shaped curve. This can be shown by a Galton Board, a.k.a. Bean Machine: Standard deviation is how much an actual group of things varies in its distribution from the normal distribution. The higher the standard deviation, the larger the difference from the normal distribution expected. I…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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\r\n \"artificial<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n Brain Hacking: Procrastination<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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We’ve had a lot of talk about procrastination: the problem of low-energy and putting things off. It seems to show up as at least two problems: We have a list of things we could get done, but we spend our time doing easier, entertaining\/distracting things instead. We start doing something we’re excited about, but as we work on it, at some point it becomes clear how much work its going to take, and that creates a feeling of intimidation that sends us to easier, entertaining distractions. Let’s do some research on procrastination. The reason I add “brain hacking” to this…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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\r\n \"\"<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n Zoning In and Zoning Out<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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We’re working on creating a real estate and property system for New City in SparkQuest on the E-land SparkQuest STF map in Minecraft right now. In the real world, governments control the where and what of real estate through zoning laws. Zoning laws say who can build what where and what particular codes apply (there are literally tons of these). Read this good guide on zoning laws: CityLab University: Zoning Codes by Bloomberg. If you want a really in-depth example of a high-tech ultra-modern zoing system, see the one that’s being designed in Los Angeles California. I’ve started working on…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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\r\n \"\"<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n 2 Responses<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n Them Scapegoats!<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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It’s a pretty easy thing to blame your problems on some one else. After all, who wants to think that they’re responsible for all their own problems? The shear amount of work implied by that, if it were true, feels like a mountain crushing down on even the strongest mind. But blaming others can go some to some pretty dark places, especially if we do it as a group. This is a growing problem as our country and world becomes more polarized. Different groups get blamed for hurting the economy, taking jobs, spreading disease, starting wars, polluting, increasing crime, and…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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\r\n \"\"<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n 1 Response<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n Oops! He Fell Into a Black Whole<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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The other day, Etcetera and I were talking about black holes (again). He was talking about the effects at the event horizon and how something like a Dyson-sphere of mirrors could be used to construct a black hole bomb. I was talking about how black holes are so dense, they represent a place in the universe where space-time kind of unravels. Later, I ran across a great article that illustrates this point: “The strange fate of a person falling into a black hole” by Amanda Gefter of BBC Earth. Gefter does a great job of clearing up some of the…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>","max_pages":5}