I was introduced to Montaigne when I was 18. I hope to sometime run into the man who introduced me to this work. He sold the stories very well to me, and I devoured the book. He comments in his essays about the absolute range of human endeavour, from frienship, to torture, to sex, to…… Continue reading Montaigne
Month: April 2011
Is Democracy the right answer?
It is as I think Orwell observed worrying if we see democracy as ‘the’ answer. how voters decide. Indeed, voters constantly complain that initiatives are too complicated. Two out of three told the PPIC poll in December that the wording of the initiatives was confusing. But over-complex language is only one worry in a process…… Continue reading Is Democracy the right answer?
He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense
The above slogan came to my attention once again from the excellent Cosma Shalizi comments on Krugmans book ‘Pop Internationalism’. In the book review The great Computer Scientist has a slogan which Shalizi extends from merely arithmetic to algebra. This short essay will be looking at this issue. It is often said by politicians for…… Continue reading He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense
Procepts in Mathematics education
Todays blog post is a bit different to some of my views on politics, or current affairs. Its back closer to my student life as a Mathematics Masters student. Inevitably when one enjoy mathematics and physics one gets involved in giving tutorial classes or helping friends and family. Mathematics is something that we all agree…… Continue reading Procepts in Mathematics education
Online currencies
While I interned in Shanghai, I did a lot of research on how mathematics (specifically graph theory) could be used in things like recommendation engines. A recommendation engine is simply some sort of addition to a social network which ‘recommends’ people, products or anything really. An example we’ve all seen is one in Facebook, the…… Continue reading Online currencies
How to become an Astronaut or a Rhodes Scholar
I’m a fan of Cal Newport’s blog. He reverse-engineers student success and also more recently looks at what constitutes professional success. His recent article on Rhodes Scholars is very interesting. When reading some of these bios, one can be overwhelmed. Yet Cal once again reminds us that these aren’t parallel achievements. A friend of mine…… Continue reading How to become an Astronaut or a Rhodes Scholar
