Thoughts

Science, the public, and university

2009-12-03T15:38:33Z

I just read this article, and started reading through the comments on it. A surprising number of them were reasoned and well-written. In general I didn't agree with the article, but it's a little bit thick to pick apart right now.

I wonder if academia has the monopoly on the pursuit of knowledge? Don't get me wrong, as far as quality control processes go I think peer-review is pretty good. But is it the case that anyone can submit an article to a scientific journal, even if they don't have scientific credentials? The reason I'm wondering this is because if it's the case, then it's easy to see where the elitism charge comes from - either you have a science degree, and you're in, or you don't, and you're a "lay-person". Again, don't get me wrong. I don't think that anybody should be allowed to submit anything they want. But if they did a study off their own bat, and did it well, and it would pass peer-review if they were a scientist, then shouldn't it be given the same chance at getting into the journal? I'm not at all sure if this would currently happen or not.

I'm wondering this because I strongly believe that anyone interested in science should be allowed and encouraged to do it. At present, to do so requires a certain amount of sacrifice; spending years living on a student's salary and shunning other employment and training opportunities. The world then gets divided into the people willing to make these sacrifices and the people not willing to make these sacrifices - as time goes on, scientists and lay-people.

This is where a lot of the difficulty lies - lay-people are all too aware of the divide. The systems and processes of the other side are opaque. Even if they are not deliberately opaque, the necessary jargon used by scientists ensures that they are. This breeds a feeling of being left out, and then, distrust.

You might say "Get over it", and with good reason! However, I think that, in the current model, this problem would be less if the lay-person understood that they weren't excluded from the process, that they actually chose not to be involved. This is where the question of 'smarts' comes into it. Anybody can do science, there isn't an IQ threshold or a 'type of brain' needed. The question is whether the person is committed enough to put in the hours of work and mental effort needed to understand the underlying principles of science and the work that has been done so far. And most (not all) people who don't do science haven't understood that they can, if they want to. Therefore it feels to them like exclusion instead of a choice.

There's another problem here, and that's the person who wants to do science but whose marks weren't good enough to get into uni. And I suspect that this is where the "I'm not smart enough" fallacy starts from - the fact that some people are rejected based on their "intelligence". So, I suppose, this is what my problem is with the current establishment. I want a system where anybody who wants to do science is accepted into the programs, and taught and encouraged to think scientifically. Obviously this system would have to include some quality control for the people who are interested in the results of science but don't want to make the effort to think scientifically.

Any suggestions?

Ireland - Dublin

2009-12-01T09:37:20Z

I've been saving some posts. These are from a couple of months ago, so apologies for the present tense.

I was so charmed by Dublin (mostly thanks to the taxi driver, who, once he found out I'd never been here but always wanted to come, but otherwise unbidden, pointed out various landmarks, gave me advice about the trains and hotels, and recommended a hotel which I am certain to recommend to anyone else, and above all, treated me to the true untempered Irish accent, which I did not fully understand but I did fully appreciate) that I decided to stay another day and spend some time looking around. Once I got to my room I was certain I had made the right decision. It was 40eu a night (this is slightly cheaper than the place I stayed in London, which was 40 quid) and far from being a tiny lumpy bed stuck in a closet-sized but pleasant room, and having to trek down the hall to find a shower that worked properly, this place is large, with a full queen-sized bed (which is heaven to lie on), large ensuite, tea and coffee facilities, and a dresser. Everything is dark-stained wood panelled with gold trimmings.

And, to top it all off, it tops off a true blue (heh) Irish pub, with live traditional Irish folk music (and every now and again they throw in an American one. Apparently Johnny Cash lived in Galway for a while. Don't know why they sang the Rolling Stones though). The music was great. I bought a CD. They finished the night with Wild Rover (no, nay, never; no nay never no more) and then Folsom Prison Blues. It felt like coming home. I am in such a buzzy mood right now, I could stay up for sing alongs and dances for hours. Unfortunately no-one at the bar was dancing, and the band have packed up. Maybe next time.

I love Ireland, I love Dublin, and I'm planning to love Galway as well.

Barrière linguistique

2009-11-30T08:27:00Z

Last night I went to a restaurant and asked for what I thought was an English menu. I got a white coffee.

I'm looking forward to Friday.

Conversations with drunk people

2009-11-29T01:13:41Z

I'm really starting to get sick of having to defend my career when it comes up in conversation.

I was talking to a Canadian guy tonight who was, I guess, trying to convince me of why maths was worth his hatred. The thing was, he's really into music and started the conversation by mentioning the parallels that have been drawn between maths and music. I readily agreed, telling him that the same thought processes I have when I play a piece of music, I also have when I'm working on a maths problem.

Then he tried to tell me what maths was about. While, at the same time, I was trying to tell him what maths was about, because he had asked me.

Now, I understand that a lot of people hate maths during high school. Fair enough. I hated history in high school. That doesn't mean that I have to argue with somebody who has chosen to study history for a living. I perfectly understand why somebody would be interested in it, and that the reason I hated it was mostly due to the teacher and the curriculum, and not history itself.

What makes maths different? Why do people think they have a worthwhile opinion on it simple because they hated it in high school? Is it because they think that most people agree with them, and therefore it's a defensible position?

What pisses me off most is that he wouldn't even take the time to seriously find out why I have chosen to devote the best years of my life to it. Instead, he wanted to convince me that he was right in hating it.

No, Mr Canadian, it's not just numbers and logic. It's also intuition and pattern picking, same as music. Seeings as I'm the only one in this conversation who actually does maths on a regular basis, I think you can trust me on this. And logic itself is not something that should inspire hatred, after all, every argument you get into relies to some extent on it.

Most of all, where the fuck do you get off telling me that you hate (not dislike, or not much care for, but actually hate) the very thing which I love so much that I have chosen to devote myself to it? Where the fuck do you get off trying to convince me that you have good reasons for this opinion, without trying to listen to my reasons for the opposite? Frankly, it's insulting.

I think I would get less grief if I said I was unemployed.

Nerds

2009-11-20T16:31:43Z

This is a great video. I love the places that the crowd cheers.

Nostalgia

2009-11-20T09:13:52Z

Sparked by an opinion piece by christheblogger, here is an assortment of memories.

More can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/80scartoons.

3D Light Projection

2009-11-19T11:57:21Z

Technology of the future.

Nagging Doubts

2009-11-18T15:18:19Z

I'm beginning to understand how scientists can allow themselves to publish flawed work, or to attach themselves to a theory without giving appropriate consideration to the evidence against it.

I'm trying to write up some stuff for a paper. We're trying to argue that we can fix a polynomial of degree d by finding the value at d+1 independent points of one of the variables. The problem is that I'm not sure we have d+1 independent points. We seem to, but I keep on finding problems with some of the equations, and then for one reason or another Jan tells me my worries are unfounded. I've just found another potential problem. I'm really starting to get tired of it. It's become a rollercoaster.

It would be easier on my nerves to just ignore the problems I keep on seeing and fudge it. After all, so far they've turned out to not be problems. Right? right?

Intellectual honesty is exhausting.

Rowr!

2009-11-18T09:04:42Z

The Jacko noise is for you, Chris.

This:
arxiv:0911.3311v1 - pdf
arxiv:0911.3311v1 - abs
just goes to show you should be careful what you publish. You could get a backlash from this guy.

Hey Dave,

2009-11-16T20:31:43Z

Can you give me a better translation of this:

Reste le côté ludique : l'informatique l'est, assurément pour le laboratoire de recherche en informatique ; la chimie aussi d'après l'institut de chimie moléculaire et des matériaux d'Orsay capable de transformer les plus jeunes visiteurs en petits Harry Potter en blouse blanche.

Than this?

Rest of the playful side: the computer is certainly the laboratory for research in computer science, chemistry, also from the Institute of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Orsay capable of transforming the youngest visitors in small Harry Potter in white coats.

Listen up, fools!

2009-11-11T20:16:18Z

On the 21st we arrive in Brisbane at 8am, and leave for Gympie at 5pm. Who has the day free and somewhere to stash suitcases for a couple of hours?

Ok, you North Americans -

2009-11-06T16:48:48Z

I know you guys luurve saying math instead of maths. You want to marry that word. Fine. But what about physic? Do you say that as well? huh? HUH?

I didn't think so.

Monkeys in Hats

2009-10-29T16:13:10Z

I have always thought of the expression "I'll eat my hat" as meaning something like "I'll shut up about it", even though I know it's on par with "I'll be a monkey's uncle".

Today I heard it used in a way that made me think the guy might actually eat his hat.

Book Review

2009-10-27T15:12:08Z

The following links to a review by Norman J. Levitt of "Science: A Four Thousand Year History" by Patricia Fara. Levitt passed away five days ago, which is how I heard of him. He was a mathematician and a science populariser, but what mostly caused me to read his review was the title of it.

From "Science: A Four Hundred Page Hissy-Fit":
Let’s face it: in terms of power and value to a modern industrial state, the natural sciences tower over all other forms of intellectual activity. This is an unhappy fact for humanists to face; some do so gracefully, but, to the surprise of no student of human nature, many find their way into some rationale for disparaging or dismissing science. Nowadays, this resentment is conjoined with a reflexively egalitarian world-view that disdains the idea that some rare individuals are creative or insightful through faculties that we ordinary mortals simply don’t share. Also in play is a more explicitly political doctrine grounded in shame and regret for what western society has inflicted on myriad other cultures in the course of establishing its world-girdling dominion, a process in which science and technology had a crucial role.

This view of science is one I have heard from a number of corners, and it is one I have grappled with. The scientific method does seem to be primarily a western phenomenon, but does that mean that it is biased of westerners to think of it as superior? Did western society bring about the scientific method as their own way of looking at the universe, or was it the scientific method and all the achievements it brought about that caused western society to prosper and 'girdle the world', in Levitt's words?

In my opinion, a bit of prosperity allowed certain thinkers the freedom to step back from their problem and try and view it with an unbiased perspective (ie, a perspective not based on their cultural or religious ideas). Once this method proved fruitful, the society benefited from it and prospered even more. The freedom to disregard the ideas which are ingrained into a society is precisely the freedom needed to do science, and it is precisely the freedom which many non-western societies deny their children. Certainly many western people also deny their children this, but the society as a whole does not. That, I believe, is why western society has prospered, and it is also why the scientific method is in such widespread use.

As to why so many westerners rail against the idea of science being a superior worldview, I can only surmise. Guilt at being part of the prosperous society? A desire not to be seen as bigoted? The grass is greener?

I suppose the main point to make to people who hold this is that science is not closed-minded. It seeks natural explanations, and it takes all possibilities into account. If one seems by far more likely, then that is held as the standard. It's just common sense, really.

itunes podcast headaches

2009-10-25T08:25:53Z

mp3 files which I manually label as podcasts go into a special group called 'x' (Note: This is not my doing). Another file which I manually labelled as a podcast went into a special group called '' (Note: I wanted it in the same group as the others). I have found no way to change this, but I guess it's ok.

But when I move it to the ipod, it goes into a completely different podcast which it is definitely not part of, seemingly chosen at random. I had to search to find it.

Fuck you, itunes. Start making sense.

Is Unknown Force In Universe Acting On Dark Matter?

2009-10-23T08:32:21Z

I think the only answer to that is "I don't know"...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022154644.htm, for later reading.

I can't remember if I've seen this before

2009-10-21T17:15:26Z

But it's pretty funny:
http://qntm.org/?board

What a Beautiful Experiment

2009-10-20T08:06:09Z

I've heard of this research before, but now there's a nice news article on it.

40 000 generations! Wow. Obviously it's still quite short in terms of the sort of evolution that humans have undergone, but still, enough to see some definite changes.

Kittie's got the munchies

2009-10-16T16:42:53Z

I've been looking for somewhere to stay for a week in Amsterdam. I found this place. I really want to stay there.

The Weather

2009-10-13T07:25:50Z

Paris has started to cool down

Haha Oh my God Why can't I stop laughing

2009-10-11T17:11:06Z

Opinions

2009-10-06T16:37:37Z

I've often noticed, especially on the internet, that people's opinions change frequently. On the internet this can sometimes be hard to follow because you may read someone's piece from three months ago and not come across the update to their opinion. I think it would be helpful if there was some database of everyone and the opinions they currently hold. Fully searchable through history, of course, but with some way to make it extremely easy to find out what this person thinks about that issue at this particular moment, so you can argue with their present self, and not their past opinions.

I guess we'll need brains plugged into the internet for that. Fingers crossed.

I usually laugh at funny things and then move on...

2009-10-01T14:06:33Z

But this one I couldn't pass up.

I, Rowboat

Villa

2009-09-29T12:51:37Z

As it turns out, there are two similar train stations in the south of Paris - Orsay-ville and Orly-ville. There's a difference of train lines, a few ks, and a ticketing zone. I needed to go to Orsay-ville. Guess which one I ended up at.

I didn't figure it out until I noticed the complete lack of a university with the second largest campus in Europe, or so I'm told.

Oh well, it only cost me an extra 2.20, three hours and some dignity. A lesson learned, as they say. I can't remember the rest of it.

Retraction

2009-09-27T08:50:54Z

Since I lost my ipod, The time I spend walking around is usually spent reflecting on all the disgusting and surprising things I see on Paris streets. Usually I plan what I'm going to write in a future entry.

But upon reflection, it has become clear to me that I simply can't be bothered to post bitter ramblings. As of now, Paris, bloody Paris is no longer a project of mine. (Let it just be said that the original inspiration for this work was the fact that I had the perfect heading and many ideas for the first chapter - "Sidewalks are for people, jerks".)

So instead, let me shower you with beautiful images of the sights I see every day on my way to school - The Seine, Notre Dame de Paris, and the Eiffel Tower, all in one beautiful view.

What? Can't see the tower? I'm sure it was there when I took the photo. Hang on, let me help you out...

There you go. See it now?

I'm waiting for a clear day so I can show you where it should be.