Just the other day I was listening to EconTalk on this: https://www.econtalk.org/a-mind-blowing-way-of-looking-at-ma...
Thank you for posting! - I was not aware of this.
Readit NewsMrDrDr commented on Mathematics is hard for mathematicians to understand too science.org/doi/10.1126/s... · Posted by u/mmaaz
MrDrDr commented on Mathematics is hard for mathematicians to understand too science.org/doi/10.1126/s... · Posted by u/mmaaz
I think this would be extremely valuable:
“We need to focus far more energy on understanding and explaining the basic mental infrastructure of mathematics—with consequently less energy on the most recent results.”
I’ve long thought that more of us could devout time to serious maths problems if they were written in a language we all understood.
A little off topic perhaps, but out of curiosity - how many of us here have an interest in recreational mathematics? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recreational_mathematics]
MrDrDr commented on How can England possibly be running out of water? theguardian.com/news/ng-i... · Posted by u/xrayarx
Not like Quangos - Statutory Boards at least in Singapore are a part of a ministry, but they are given full autonomy [0] to recruit, administer, and manage within their remit as legislated.
Quangos are a half assed attempted at doing something similar while trying to include some "inclusion", but with none of the checks and balances.
The reality is, not every Tom, Dick, and Harry should have a say on water management or R&D prioritization.
[0] - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutory_boards_of_the_Sing...
Was not aware of these - thank you for sharing. But I’d be concerned that such organisations will not stand the test of time, from say a sustained period of governmental (on in this case institutional) incompetence. I’d like to see some mechanism (competition perhaps) that would allow the system to self correct - when the group responsible fail for a sustained period of time. Not saying I have any answers.
MrDrDr commented on How can England possibly be running out of water? theguardian.com/news/ng-i... · Posted by u/xrayarx
This highlights one of the big problems with liberal democracies - how do you provide efficient (and even innovative) public services? There is no free market for many public services like water (and where there is I’m all for privatisation). But the people (I am in the UK) do not tend to elect a government on its ability to manage these types of services. I do wonder if there some other structure that blends a not for profit ethos with employee ownership and just enough competition…
I think it would be better to describe this as an ‘organelle’ transplant as it would be easier for people to understand and discuss. Yes there is a donor (egg) and yes the new child will pass on the mitochondria to her children. But calling it a 3 person baby is unhelpful and misleading as IMO mitochondria DNA is of a different category to chromosomal DNA.
Fun fact:
Robert Hooke was rather short of stature. His great rival, Isaac Newton, was petty and vindictive. So when Newton said:
"if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
Rather than being humble, he may have actually been having a sly dig at Hooke.
Newton also (allegedly) lost Hooke’s portrait when the Royal Society moved. The two did not get on.
I found the following paper helpful in understanding the evolutionary pressures on a species (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abg5391). It's possible for two different genetic ancestries to arrive at the same phenotype independently where there environment is virtually identical. The example here, cichlid fish in lakes like Tanganyika and Victoria, evolved similar traits independently from different genetic lineages.
One could imagine (climate change not withstanding) that different geographic human populations would always tend to evolve to the same phenotype over time.
MrDrDr commented on If you are useful, it doesn't mean you are valued betterthanrandom.substack... · Posted by u/weltview
“ I distinguish four types. There are clever, hardworking, stupid, and lazy officers. Usually two characteristics are combined. Some are clever and hardworking; their place is the General Staff. The next ones are stupid and lazy; they make up 90 percent of every army and are suited to routine duties. Anyone who is both clever and lazy is qualified for the highest leadership duties, because he possesses the mental clarity and strength of nerve necessary for difficult decisions. One must beware of anyone who is both stupid and hardworking; he must not be entrusted with any responsibility because he will always only cause damage.“ - General and Commander-in-Chief Weimar Republic https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_von_Hammerstein-Equord
Thank you for posting this. Someone had told me this and attributed it to Clausewitz - so I've never been able to track it down. I've used it to make the case that laziness is not always a bad thing - i.e. lazy people find it easier to delegate.
>The people have the power.
What do you picture will happen because of protests, exactly? That the administration realizes the error of its ways? Because it seems more likely to me that they would use it as an excuse to implement more autocratic measures.
I do agree that most management books read like parenting books - but I’d add that whats more important than the method is consistency in whatever approach you believe in. I’m not sure that managers/leaders will ever do that well relying on a book or a special ‘way’ they have read. They really need to have worked this out for themselves.