It’s never been one of my strengths. I always liked math and physics because they didn’t require much memorization — I could just rederive formulas on the fly. One of the reasons that I never seriously considered being a doctor was the amount of memorization required. And I think that for that profession in particular, memory is important, and apparently more so than intelligence or processing capability, because I’ve met doctors who I didn’t think were all that smart, and I don’t intrinsically respect them just because they’re doctors. At least not as much as they and society thinks I’m supposed to.
Category Archives: Mathematics
Self-Referential
…sentences. My favorite in the self-defeating genre is one (perhaps apocryphally) attributed to von Braun: “You can’t make something fool proof, because fools are too ingenious.”
Also, how Buzz Lightyear made a child self-aware.
[Both links via Geek Press]
Non-Intuitive
A few years ago, on a Delta flight, I noticed that the airline was boarding people in the middle first. I asked the flight attendant about it, and he said that studies had shown that it was faster than back to front, which surprised me, because the latter had always been conventional wisdom and industry practice. Now, American claims that, based on simulations, random boarding is better yet. I’d be interested to see a plausible explanation for this, if true.
Revolutionizing Education
…with the Khan Academy.
Down With The Tau Deniers
The Derb reports on a serious controversy in the world of mathematics.
What Counts As Science?
Some thoughts from Claire Berlinsky’s father.
I’m not sure that I believe that all men are mortal.
This was interesting today, because I was thinking about writing a piece about Michele Bachmann and Marxists. I’ll let you figure out the relevance.
[Update a couple minutes later]
I imagine on some blogs, it would make more sense to say that Claire is David’s daughter.
Recursion
…and other Escheresque images.
It’s Funnier If You’re German
Schrödinger’s humor.
How Big Is The National Debt?
This big. Scary.
Writing Unmaintainable Code
An extensive guide. He clearly put a lot of work into it.
[Via (who else?) Geek Press]