Intelligent design (ID) is the position that life must have been designed by an intelligent creator and thus could not have evolved naturalistically. Setting aside all the positive evidence for naturalistic evolution, there is a glaring problem with the very idea of ID itself. Arguments for ID often take the form of comparing human-engineered mechanisms…
The work ethic of algorithms
In computer science, an algorithm might be classified as either lazy or eager. A lazy algorithm delays carrying out computations until the last minute, while an eager algorithm attempts to perform computations as soon as possible. Both approaches save time in different ways, and are appropriate in different situations. For example, if a program tends…
The problem with college sports
The benefits First, let’s consider the pros. There are benefits for the athletes (scholarships, character building, career opportunities, etc.), benefits for the fans (entertainment), benefits for the university (income, prestige, etc.), and benefits for the community (economic stimulation, bringing the community together, etc.). These things are not to be disregarded. As we proceed to consider…
Stories in the history of written language (part 6)
Writing systems in fiction Back in part 2, we looked at some writing systems that were invented rather than developing naturally over a long time. There are many more invented writing systems, namely those invented for fictional languages. J. R. R. Tolkien was a pioneer of fictional languages, being a real-world language expert himself. His…
The MSG renaissance
Monosodium glutamate or MSG has seen a surge in popularity in recent years. MSG is a naturally occurring salt used as a food enhancer, adding umami or “savory” flavor. Americans have a strong association of MSG with Chinese food and Chinese restaurant syndrome (CRS), which includes MSG headaches and other symptoms. Now MSG is widely…
More evidence against flat earth: star trails
This is a follow-up to my post How we can know the earth is a ball without relying on modern science or traveling long distances?. It is well-known and easily observable by the naked eye (even by a single individual if they use modern travel) that the stars appear to rotate counterclockwise in the Northern…
What I love about Morrowind
I recently beat Morrowind again. It’s one of those games that I come back to every couple years or so, and in fact Morrowind might be my favorite game of all time. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is an open world RPG developed by Bethesda and released in 2002, when I was 10 years old….
Livestreaming as a form of mass improv
Over the past decade or so, livestreaming on sites like Twitch and YouTube has become a major form of entertainment. There are many different kinds of streamers, but many of them incorporate humor and viewer interaction. Many of the funniest jokes and memes come from the chat. This is a form of improv comedy in…
Metric space
We take for granted that we can measure distances. Most people take for granted that we can represent physical space mathematically and calculate distances between pairs of points. We generally think of ourselves as living in R3, or 3D Euclidean space. Since this is how we represent physical space, it’s generally the most useful (though…
The natural-artificial and natural-supernatural dichotomies
Humans often see ourselves as being separate from nature, but we’re not. Since humans are animals, anything humans do to the environment is a natural process. Skyscrapers and beaver dams differ fundamentally in their scale, material, and function, but not in their nature. Things that are artificial are still natural. The true dichotomy, then, is…
thoughts on mind 