http://www.sellingwaves.com/ A graduate student in mathematics and a philosophy major take on politics and culture with the following aspirational motto: ‘Deregulate your mind.’ en-us shonk@sellingwaves.com 2005-03-18T02:30:06-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/03/18/rss_feed_moved/index.html Special to RSS readers: the selling waves feed has moved. (36 words) 596@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Blogging 2005-03-18T02:30:06-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/03/11/winning_arguments/index.html Don't underestimate the importance of winning arguments, but don't overestimate it either (plus more Wittgenstein!). (842 words) 594@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Language 2005-03-11T19:35:04-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/03/01/comments_dead/index.html All my recent posts seem to be about death (figurative, in this case). (123 words) 590@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Blogging 2005-03-01T23:24:46-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/02/26/benthams_mummified_corpse_like_lenins_remains_fresh_in_appearance/index.html It’s almost comforting that such invidious fluffy-minded sludge as this is floating around, as it seems, like religion, to keep the middle-brows hypnotized by “beautiful sentiments” which are so vague as to keep them from actually getting together and doing... (1629 words) 589@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Geek Talk 2005-02-26T08:27:40-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/02/22/the_doctor_is_out/index.html Saying goodbye to Doctor Gonzo (44 words) 587@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Ramblings 2005-02-22T22:00:59-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/02/13/math_pictures/index.html Math is hard, but if you have the right picture in mind, it's slightly easier. (2097 words) 584@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Geek Talk 2005-02-13T04:37:18-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/02/12/but_what_about_the_antiquarians/index.html "Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them." This is good advice, especially for democracies, which tend (as even Plato and Thucydides noted) to have short-term attention spans. But we shouldn't forget... (132 words) 583@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Words of Wisdom 2005-02-12T07:44:35-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/02/10/superstring_cultiststough_luck/index.html At the conjunction of this critique of reductionism in physics and this interview with Benoit Mandelbrot I think one sees the same basic dynamic at work: a devaluation of simplicity and generalization in math and science, what I suppose Mandelbrot... (537 words) 582@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Science 2005-02-10T08:37:18-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/02/05/private_property/index.html Why Curt is wrong. (145 words) 579@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Economics 2005-02-05T02:19:38-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/02/01/the_abuse_of_a_college_education/index.html “Perhaps you’re familiar with “the tragedy of the commons,” a social dilemma outlined by the late biologist Garrett Hardin in a famous 1968 essay of the same name. The dilemma is that when individuals pursue personal gain, the net result... (528 words) 577@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Economics 2005-02-01T19:25:38-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/01/30/so_much_for_the_end_of_history/index.html Just some cheerful words to chew on while our politicians wear their enamels off congratulating themselves about the Iraqi election: “The collapse of the rival giant [the Soviet Union] has exaggerated America’s apparent strength because it has so much more... (231 words) 576@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Politics 2005-01-30T19:05:39-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/01/28/the_anthropomorphism_of_religion/index.html I might deduce one final consequence of a skepticism in regards to temporality and causality. If our only experience of the world is of an existent reality, such that something uncreated or destroyed is literally unimaginable, the superfluity of religion... (104 words) 575@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Geek Talk 2005-01-28T16:07:33-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/01/26/and_prospero_broke_his_soap_box/index.html I may have bored everyone to death about this topic, but I have my last exam tomorrow, so here is my final thought about what distinguishes science. Most of the descriptions of science that I know of don’t really explain... (1410 words) 574@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Science 2005-01-26T16:26:50-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/01/22/einstein_and_goedel_at_the_koenigsberg_cafe/index.html About a month ago I wrote this entry which was, I think, somewhat misunderstood, at least by the one confirmed reader of it. In it I tried to argue that there are some fundamental problems involved in conceptualizing time which,... (729 words) 572@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Science 2005-01-22T16:38:04-05:00 http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/01/06/philosophical_investigations/index.html ...not my own, of course. (989 words) 562@http://www.sellingwaves.com/ Ramblings 2005-01-06T19:47:23-05:00