Monthly Archives: July 2014

Tony Bates on Learning theories(via Stephen Downes)

This set of OneTab shared tabs collects some recent blog activity on the measurement process in Quantum Mechanics. This reminds me of the fact that once as a graduate student (in the ’70s), on hearing once too often that the … Continue reading →

GMO advocate Keith Kloor has recently been reporting (in his blog at  DiscoverMagazine.com) about the activities of a particularly insane anti-GMO activist whom I will not stoop to identify or link to.  Such vitriol does need to be called out (at least … Continue reading →

Apparently, as one of the winners in Matt Briggs’  Rename “Global Warming” Contest, I have the option of writing an essay on “What I learned from Global Warming”. This is a bit of a challenge since it presumes the existence of something … Continue reading →

Recent events in Vancouver civic politics echo similar stories from four and thirty years ago!

At Templeton’s BQO site, Alfred Mele asks What Are the Implications of the Free Will Debate for Individuals and Society? But before looking at the content, let me comment on that title. Sometimes titles are imposed by editors, but the chance that … Continue reading →

On Monday I attended the Math Ed Ph.D. defense of my former colleague Veda Roodal Persad, but although I had had some earlier discussions with Veda I have to admit that I hadn’t actually seen and read the full thesis, … Continue reading →

There is a plague upon the  Earth! Every day of our lives your blood and mine is being sucked by a growing army of parasitic drones. You may barely notice their effect right now, but if the drones are not … Continue reading →

I never felt comfortable with “Born This Way” as I had no objection to people being gay by choice. So even though I have no actual skin in the game, I am happy to read Brandon Ambrosino in the New … Continue reading →

I don’t know if I should be called an atheist so I’m certainly not an atheistocrat but I’m sure as hell against all forms of theocracy so I’m happy to identify as an atheocrat. I had thought all  loyal citizens … Continue reading →

A math major talks about fear – YouTube A commenter objected to the statement that “math is hard” and I had to respond as follows. Some math is hard is and some is not. Memorizing 3+4=7 is not hard, but … Continue reading →

3quarksdaily points to this bit of nonsense about Richard Feynman (which in turn re-opens a number of earlier versions of the same “news”). What a pile of crap! Feynman was certainly “guilty” of occasional meanness, and of self-mythologizing to an almost absurdly … Continue reading →

Howard Knopf is right of course in his objection at EXCESS COPYRIGHT: Just Say No to Copyright Term Extension – Why More is Less: My Views on #TPP. But I would go further. No copyright on any work should ever be … Continue reading →

Are the Authoritarians Winning? by Michael Ignatieff | The New York Review of Books is a disappointingly vapid piece by Michael Ignatieff in which he reviews a number of recent books about the global situation. Authority is just a matter of … Continue reading →