For most of human history, the age of the earth was unknown. Many believed it was created at some point in the past by supernatural forces, and others hypothesized that the earth always existed. Within the Abrahamic tradition, genealogical lists have been used to trace back to Adam and the date of creation as described…
Author: Kenneth
Cat owner, educator, learner
The geometry of body plans
Let’s talk about evolution. All living organisms require a way to acquire and metabolize food, a way to respirate, and a way to reproduce. Many single-cell organisms like bacteria can eat by engulfing food within their cell, a process called phagocytosis. Algae and plants are autotrophic, meaning they produce their own food. Some simple animals,…
Stories in ludology & narratology (part 1)
Ludology and narratology are the two sides of the coin that is the study of games (in the non-mathematical sense). Ludology is the study of game mechanics and rules, and narratology is the study of story and setting. Ludology is closer to math, while narratology is closer to literary analysis. Narratology of games is particularly…
Being misgendered as a cis person
I am a white cisgender heterosexual man. Between the ages of around 12 to 15 years old, I grew out my hair; by the time I cut it, it was past my shoulders. During this time I was also skinny and had no facial hair. There were a few times when I was misgendered by…
“AI ‘art’ is bad” is a bad argument
There are many good reasons to oppose AI generated images being disseminated or put forward as art. Nevertheless, one argument I see with surprising frequency is that the images generated by AI look bad. The biggest reason I think this is a bad argument is because it’s contingent upon current technological limitations. AI image generation…
A plea to teach sig figs in math class
Measurement is an essential part of math. Quantities encountered in the real world are usually one of two things: a count or a measurement. Counting is what we learn first about math, before doing anything else with numbers. Counting is a way of measuring a quantity of discrete objects, but it is different from other…
Existential nihilism and despair in three songs and three philosophers
What is moving will be still What is gathered will disperse What has been built up will collapse These lyrics are an adapted quote from Lama Sogyal Rinpoche’s Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Impermanence (aniccā in Pali) is an important idea in many forms of Buddhism. It is one of the three marks of…
The paradox of incentive
If something is incentivized too strongly, it becomes disincentivized. Extrinsic motivation has important social utility. It can both drive prosocial behavior and inhibit antisocial behavior. In many cases, extrinsic rewards are natural. Praise is a natural response to someone doing something we want them to do, for example, as is expressing anger towards someone for…
On learning by mimicry
Consider sports, music, and foreign language. Most people grow up being exposed to what these things are, and in particular often observe experts in action: professional athletes and musicians and native speakers of foreign languages. People also often have opportunities to engage in learning these things from a young age, and their education or training…
Feelin’ the vibes (literally)
Has this ever happened to you? You’re driving your car and pull up to a stoplight, and another car pulls up beside you absolutely blasting the bass from their sound system. That’s got to be an aftermarket subwoofer, you think to yourself. Even though the sound is muffled and you can’t hear a melody, the…
thoughts on mind 