Most advice is calibration. Eat less (because you’re inclined to overeat). Study more (because you’ll probably wait too long and cram right before the exam). Procrastinate less (because you’ll probably spend days stressing about trying to do the thing that if you just did it now, it wouldn’t be all that bad). I try to […]
Chaos, Ignorance and Newton’s Great Puzzle
This is chaos: Chaos theory is an investigation into mathematical and physical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions. The simulated three-pendulum systems above only differ in the tiniest way from each other, yet, after a few seconds, they are all wildly divergent in their movements. I’ve grown to prefer the word “chaos” to […]
First, See the Circle
I really enjoyed the first season of HBO’s Westworld. I’m a fan of the robots-who-might-be-conscious-vs-exploitative-humans trope in all its many incarnations, but I felt this show did a particularly good job. The reason I liked it most was the constant uncanny valley between spontaneous and scripted behavior. Without spoiling anything, the show does a masterful […]
What if This Were Your Only Chance?
I’ve traveled to a lot of cities. I’ve also lived for more than a few months in several of them. It would seem obvious that the places I know best be the ones that I spent the most time in. But strangely, this often isn’t the case. I did far more sightseeing and tourist activities […]