http://plw.vox.com/library/posts/page/1/ Mathematics, science, and thinking in general en Vox Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:47:54 +1200 Copyright 2007 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/moving-to-wordpress.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/moving-to-wordpress.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/moving-to-wordpress.html?_c=feed-rss Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:47:54 +1200 This blog is moving to WordPress! Find it at ReallyHardSums.wordpress.com <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/moving-to-wordpress.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e398a85e630003?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> http://plw.vox.com/library/post/creativity-in-mathematics-and-science.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/creativity-in-mathematics-and-science.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/creativity-in-mathematics-and-science.html?_c=feed-rss Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:44:23 +1200 <p class="enclosed-assets" style="margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/photo/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e398a782bb0003.html?_c=feed-rss" style="float:left; margin-right:6px;"><img src="http://a3.vox.com/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e398a782bb0003-50si" alt="Eins5" /></a> <br style="clear:both;" /> </p> The video in my last post, and Christopher Richards's blog from which I nicked it, have really got me thinking about creativity, inspiration, and analytical thinking. My own creativity is woeful and worsening. Is this a common feeling amongst adul... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/creativity-in-mathematics-and-science.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e398a76e760002?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> mathematics creativity slow http://plw.vox.com/library/post/creativity.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/creativity.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/creativity.html?_c=feed-rss Mon, 03 Sep 2007 13:07:14 +1200 <p class="enclosed-assets" style="margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/video/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e398a43b6b0002.html?_c=feed-rss" style="float:left; margin-right:6px;"><img src="http://a3.vox.com/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e398a43b6b0002-50si" alt="Do schools today kill creativity? (Ken Robinson, TEDTalks)" /></a> <br style="clear:both;" /> </p> One of the most wonderful and stirring short speeches you are ever likely to hear on the subject of reforming our flawed educational systems in favour of rewarding creativity was given by Sir Ken Robinson at a TED conference. I came across this vi... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/creativity.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e398a449330003?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> creativity slow innovation robinson http://plw.vox.com/library/post/rational-atheism-at-scientific-american.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/rational-atheism-at-scientific-american.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/rational-atheism-at-scientific-american.html?_c=feed-rss Wed, 22 Aug 2007 11:43:20 +1200 Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine writes an open letter to Messrs Dawkins, Dennett, Harris and Hitchens in the Skeptic column of Scientific American. He argues that we should avoid defining ourselves as anti-religion, instead outlining what we s... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/rational-atheism-at-scientific-american.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e3989ffad70002?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> dawkins bright scientific american harris dennett freethought hitchens shermer http://plw.vox.com/library/post/could-alien-life-be-dna-dust.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/could-alien-life-be-dna-dust.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/could-alien-life-be-dna-dust.html?_c=feed-rss Mon, 20 Aug 2007 10:58:29 +1200 <p class="enclosed-assets" style="margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/photo/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e3989f5cab0003.html?_c=feed-rss" style="float:left; margin-right:6px;"><img src="http://a3.vox.com/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e3989f5cab0003-50si" alt="Spirals" /></a> <br style="clear:both;" /> </p> A recent amazing series of computer simulations performed by a team of physicists from Russia, Germany and Australia reveals that dust clouds in space can harbour spiral structures capable of reproducing - and being selected - in the same way as t... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/could-alien-life-be-dna-dust.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e3989f5d1c0003?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> dna life physics big picture fqxi http://plw.vox.com/library/post/guiding-the-godless.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/guiding-the-godless.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/guiding-the-godless.html?_c=feed-rss Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:51:22 +1200 I really should have mentioned this before, but so slowly am I reading the thought-provoking free ebook "A Guide for the Godless" by the philosopher Andrew Kernohan that I would like to bring your attention to it now, and perhaps we can get some d... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/guiding-the-godless.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e3989defc70005?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> bright secular http://plw.vox.com/library/post/hoping-we-are-alone-in-the-universe.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/hoping-we-are-alone-in-the-universe.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/hoping-we-are-alone-in-the-universe.html?_c=feed-rss Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:47:47 +1200 The ever-wonderful Nick Bostrom, who to my knowledge was the first to argue scientifically that we are overwhelmingly more likely to be living in a computer simulation than otherwise, has a short essay on his hope that we are alone in the universe... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/hoping-we-are-alone-in-the-universe.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e3989deca10005?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> aliens big picture posthuman http://plw.vox.com/library/post/future-histories---a-short-story.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/future-histories---a-short-story.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/future-histories---a-short-story.html?_c=feed-rss Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:02:33 +1200 While sorting through my oh-too-many pdfs with the brilliant Yep, I came across the following story I wrote about a year ago, imagining a realistic dystopian future. Comments are welcome! -_-_-_-_- “To your right. No, your other right.” Folks, ... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/future-histories---a-short-story.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e3989d371a0004?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> future short story http://plw.vox.com/library/post/alien-awareness.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/alien-awareness.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/alien-awareness.html?_c=feed-rss Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:55:57 +1200 Are we too parochial in our search for alien life? Can we define life, can we set limits on where it can or cannot exist, on what chemicals and in what environments it can and cannot persist? I'm put in mind of the engineers who believed train tra... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/alien-awareness.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e3989d11040001?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> science life aliens big picture http://plw.vox.com/library/post/toddlers-vocabulary-explosion.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/toddlers-vocabulary-explosion.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/toddlers-vocabulary-explosion.html?_c=feed-rss Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:01:17 +1200 Here is an article from Scientific American which struck a chord with me for two reasons. Firstly, it explains the rapid increase in the vocabulary of toddlers, a breathtaking phase my son is currently blossoming through. Secondly, it does so with... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/toddlers-vocabulary-explosion.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e3989c03f00005?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> language mathematics linguistics statistics scientific american toddlers developmental psychology bell curve