complexitystudies

I posted some of my views on math on the FRIAM list - maybe also of interest to my blog readers.
Re: [FRIAM] math and the mother church
I can recommend the FRIAM list very much - always interesting discussions going on there.

Technorati Tags: mathematics, philosophy of science

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The post linked to below is actually about the safety of space shuttles, but I find another conclusion more interesting.
In the news you often hear that flying is safer than all other forms of travel, and this is true on a per kilometer basis. But not on a per hour basis (passenger hours vs. passenger [...]

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Good Math Bad Math talks about how order arises naturally out of disorder and a simple way of seeing it via Ramsey’s Theorem. He uses the Theorem as an argument against creationism. As good a refutation of creationism as one can desire, I would say, as it is really evident and nicely transferable to the [...]

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Hans Rosling’s 2007 talk on TED - his 2006 talk got me hooked to TED, and the 2007 talk is again very inspiring. I especially liked the means/goals distinction he presents at around minute fifteen of the talk. This and his previous talk should be made compulsory viewing for politicians.
TED | Talks | Hans Rosling: [...]

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At Cosmic Variance there is a funny alternative-science checklist - that is, checking if you’re alternative science is a good alternative or just crackpot ideas.
The main points are (and these are intended seriously, funny are the comments):
1. Acquire basic competency in whatever field of science your discovery belongs to.
2. Understand, and make a good-faith effort [...]

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Psychology Today has a summary of some nice findings which contradict many views which people like to hold of human nature:
Psychology Today: Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature
Here some excerpts (read the article above - recommended):

Men like blond bombshells (and women want to look like them)

Humans are naturally polygamous
Most women benefit from polygyny, while [...]

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Aubrey de Grey’s book will be out soon, am looking forward to it:
TED | TEDBlog: Defeating aging: Aubrey de Grey’s handbook

Technorati Tags: singularity

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I nearly forgot to blog this, I was at the Symposion for Modern Physics a couple of weeks ago and wrote a summary for the university online news.
Vienna Symposium on the Foundations of Modern Physics

Technorati Tags: philosophy of science, physics

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Getting cells to do interesting things might soon become a reality:
Genetic Engineering - Synthetic Biology - Genes and Heredity - Cloning - Biology - Science - New York Times

Technorati Tags: genetics, singularity

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I thought these results had already been discovered in a previous study, but no matter, you can never shout this out loudly enough: sleep patterns differ genetically, so all you early birds out there, leave us night owls alone in the morning (this means up to about lunch time in early-bird-speak
ScienceDaily: Individual Differences [...]

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