Things that were not immediately obvious to me

The scientific method was a great discovery (or invention – your choice) and has done much to advance knowledge and facilitate the creation of wealth. That said, its abilities are limited, and it’s all too easy for charlatans to advance debatable agendas by wrapping them in the language of science.

Continue reading →

Last week, I found myself looking at the box pictured below. I knew, more or less, what the product contained in the box was (a gelatin, or pudding, or custard, or mousse – something like that), but found it surprisingly difficult to determine what exactly it was.

Continue reading →

It seems to me that “the end” is largely a creature of fiction. In life, more often than not, things just stop. This distinction is important, because an unrealistic expectation of “closure” can prevent one from moving on with one’s life. Even worse, an unrealistic expectation of finality can result in unpleasant surprises from the real world.

Continue reading →

One of my favorite movies is “The Last Days of Disco”, and one of my favorite lines from that movie goes like this:

You know that Shakespearean admonition, ‘To thine own self be true’? It’s premised on the idea that ‘thine own self’ is something pretty good, being true to which is commendable. But what if ‘thine own self’ is not so good? What if it’s pretty bad? Would it be better, in that case, not to be true to thine own self?

Continue reading →

I don’t read any social news sites (i.e. sites dominated by user-submitted and user-moderated content). I don’t read Reddit, Digg, or their ilk. That fact isn’t all that interesting, but I’d like to talk a little about why I don’t read them.

Continue reading →

Scott Adams has a post up on his blog entitled “What’s Wrong With the Economy“. It’s not bad, but it rather misses the point. Please go read it, and when you return, I’ll explain why.

Continue reading →

Let’s play a little politics. The U.S. Congress is currently considering a large (~USD$900B) debt and spending plan designed to re-invigorate the U.S. economy. What can a gimlet-eyed, game-theoretical approach tell us about the plan’s prospects in the Congress?

Continue reading →

Inspired by Lore Sjoberg’s “January is the Updatiest Month“, I’ve decided to try updating this blog every day in February. (Because, of course, February is the shortest month of the year, and therefore the easiest month in which to try this.) This would be too much work if every post adhered to the “original content” rules I’ve been applying to this site, so here’s what you can expect for the next month:

• On Fridays, a meaty, original post of the kind you’ve come to know and, well, read
• The other six days of the week, the same sort of random pontificating you might find anywhere else

Continue reading →