math
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On translation and quantum mechanics.
We have so many ways to depict the world – they’re not all equally good for all ideas.
3 body problems, 3-body problem, base ten numbering, Beyond Weird, Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park, Chinese, Dance Your Ph.D., Dance Your PhD, decimal notation, describing photographs, Diane Arbus, does God play dice, Eliot Weinberger, God does not play dice, God is a gambler, God is an inveterate gambler, grain size of the universe, Hugh Everette, infinite precision, infinite series, irrational numbers, language, math, math is language of universe, mathematics, meaning of quantum mechanics, metaphoric language, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ninetween Ways of Looking at Wang Wei, Perry Link, Philip Ball, physics, pi, pixelation of physical space, precision, quantum mechanics, quantum physics, Richard Feynman, Science Olympiad, Stephen Hawking, three body problem, translating, translating mathematics into words, translating poetry, Translation, voxelation, what does quantum mechanics mean, Write It Do It, writing
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On suboptimal optimization.
If you’re hoping that self-driving cars will prevent traffic jams, think again. They might be designed to make traffic worse.
Adam Millard-Ball, AI, artificial intelligence, atomic weapons, automation, capitalism, carbon costs, carbon emissions, carbon emissions from driving, carbon tax, climate change, cost benefit analysis, cost to park, did Heisenberg know linear algebra, driving, economics, finite, finite mathematics, general education requirements, global warming, graffiti that confuses self-driving cars, Heisenberg, Heisenberg and linear algebra, Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, intentionally causing traffic jams, linear algebra, linear optimization, math, math panic, matrices, matrix, maximizing utility, minimizing costs, negative externalities, nuclear weapons, parking, parking fees, parking in cities, philosophy, pollution, pollution is free, pricing carbon, pricing externalities, public utility, quantum mechanics, robot cars, robot drivers, self-driving car, self-driving cars causing traffic jams, taxing carbon, taxing emissions, taxing pollution, teaching math, traffic, traffic laws, traffic patterns, trolley problem, university degree, university policies, university policy, usage fees, Werner Heisenberg, why didn’t Germany have atomic weapons, why is it free to pollute, why isn’t pollution taxed
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On Vaughan & Staples’s ‘Saga’ and parenting metaphors.
‘Saga’ beautifully depicts the trials of parenting … like the risk of plunging into a black hole and never seeing your friends again.
A. Zee, astronomy, astrophysics, babies, big stuff, black hole, blame, Brian Vaughan, child abuse, children, comics, curved space, event horizon, fatherhood, Fiona Staples, graphic novel, gravity, Hawking radiation, interplanetary travel, Interstellar, Lying Cat, math, numeracy, On Gravity, overcoming sexual abuse, overcoming trauma, parenting, physics, PTSD, relativity, saga, shame, space fetus, the universe, time suck, timesuck, trauma
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On uncertainty (with cartoon ending).
I solved equations Robert Johnson crossroads style, except I had a Texas Instruments graphing calculator instead of a guitar.
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On undeserved forgiveness and global warming.
I wish there were more essays focused on philosophy in Freeman Dyson’s collection Dreams of Earth and Sky. I thought all his remarks on morals and philosophy were nuanced and compelling. His essay “Rocket Man,” for instance, is very powerful. This essay discusses Wernher von Braun, a German scientist who helped develop Nazi weaponry during…
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On talking to students about school, particularly high schoolers.
Oscar Fernandez (find him @EverydayCalc) recently wrote a charming little article about how to talk to your high-school-aged kids about math. Well worth the quick read, if you’re a parent, or might someday be a parent, or happen to interact with other people’s kids. He has some great tips, and provides a lucid description of why it’s…
coaching, cross country, hating school, high school, How to Talk to Your Kids About Math, math, math with babies, math with toddlers, mathematics, Oscar Fernandez, Out-of-breath conversations about mathematics, parenting, running, school, sullen teenagers, track, volunteering, What was your best class today
Frank Brown Cloud 