First Blog

In the recent soccer match between Manchester United (MU) and Leicester,  MU won the game 3-1.  This means they get three points in the standings.  Good.  In their previous match, Leicester won 5-3, meaning MU got zero points in the standings. So you might conclude they broke even.  No gain no loss.  MU gained and average of 1.5 points for each game  BUT... MU was suppose to have won both games, based on their talent and win-loss records.  So, MU should have six points.  This gives a ratio of 6:1.5, or a factor of four.  1. Really bad math this is. Why? 2. But there is a correct mathematical interpretation of this "factor" of four.  What is it?

The brain and the mind For most chordates, the brain is a neural system of nodes firing as they will. The brain is comprised of several systems, sensory, regulatory, and otherwise, each competing for system resources. These systems create the brain state.    The mind controls, or attempts to control this system.   This is a duality, a form much discussed for millennia. Here we attempt a functional approach, with the brain and the mind each maintaining independent, though highly dependent roles one upon the other.   Of the mind and brain, we ask ·          How does it do it? ·          Why does it do it? It comes to The Task .   The task is the fundamental extraordinary function of the every single organism.   Extraordinary because the simplest organisms exists and respond to stimuli in a programmed manner.   They exist and survive or not on the basis of the programs within it.   Aside from such, all existence is centered on tasks.   This is their fundamental duty, whether

A Most Common Mistake If I make things for you just like they are for me, you will be happy, wealthy and wise. This is the mistake made by the Bush administration in Iraq. Let's democratize these people.  They will see the new institutions grant them security, and wealth, and with that will come happiness and stability just like we have. The catch was they didn't want it.  They did want peace and also their religion, but their religion was intolerant of everything unlike their religion.  Their religion allows wide latitude on maintaining its dominion over all citizens. Their religion is threatened by the distractions of wealth. Their religion demands a continuing effort toward perfection of its precepts. Their religion is the most important channel to local and national power, and those seeking power always gravitate toward the instruments of it. Zero is the once removed and diminished cousin of one. :) Strategies for the next election cycle.  The Democrats: We will continue to

If you follow posts on the Internet, you know some of those most avidly followed posts have the titles related to: The five best ways to nutrition The best seven ways to finding a new job. The ten most irritable things you can do on an interview. Twenty ways you can improve your lifestyle. Five keys to buying a house. Eight easy steps to retirement. Often the lists are far ranging.  Mostly they offer a fix to your putative "miserable" existence. Even worse are the "top ten" lists, where the order is significant.  This implies you need remember only one or two morsels of wisdom.  For some reason we live in an era where numbered lists of items have a profound attraction. It seems as though we wish to quantify in finite and even in few numbers those quick fix items that will change our lives. We want to be successful,  happy,  find love, or simply to understand the world around us.  Lists provide this in our oversimplified world.  There are no longer essays,

Abstract. In this post, we show how the MOOC can inform classroom teaching by giving exemplaries of model instruction.   Toward this end we review what the ideal classroom is, and how the MOOC (massive, open, online course) has superseded it at many institutions.   We then indicate that what the MOOC offers does have significant merits and advantages. The Ideal Classroom . The ideal classroom is what MOOC opponents imagine when they make objections to this new mode of teaching and education.   In the ideal classroom, students encounter an enlightened professor, giving inspired lectures, engaging students, teaching students, and creating a true learning community.   The class is given at desired times, in a well designed classroom, with adequate lighting and comfortable seating. The class is relatively uniform in background, age, and learning experience.   The class is small, say 10-15 students.   This allows a closer community, allows instructors to know students, allows st

The Greatest Gift With the gift giving season upon us, we offer gift ideas.  These are varied, general, specific, and relevant. Some are easy, some hard, some unusual.  Stuff... Money.  Aha!  This is what many folks you know want most of all. Give anyone a million and their eyes will alight with joy. They may tear-up.  In lieu of the million, give someone something expensive.  They may not want it, need it, or even know what to do with it, but it releases your "gift" obligation of the season. A Special Treat. If you don't have that million, there is something a special friend, a spouse, or sibling might like.  It is so special that they would feel the expense is frivolous or extravagant and will not buy it for them self.  But receiving it would resonate in their heart, and be remembered forever.  Not exactly a gift certificate to Amazon.com.  Of course, you need to know what it is and take the effort to find it. Gift Certificate.  This is like money.  It is what

The Range of a Project It has been said there are three qualities for the completion of a project. Good, Fast, and Cheap.  You can have but two of the three.  Some projects begin with no clear goal, little money, and no deadline.  Other projects enjoy a clear goal, unlimited money, and a very short deadline. The first is a project of the disinterested investigator - the academic for example.  The other is a national or industrial project desperately needed.  Others live in the middle, and often conclude with middling results.  The development of the atomic bomb during World War II found itself at both extremes of the range.  The Apollo space project during the 60's and 70's is another example. Others include the hunt for a polio vaccine in the 50's. The development of the Internet in the 90's is similar.  None of these registered low on the cheap-o-meter, and though frightfully expensive all were met in their time with near universal acclaim. Some still are. It se

Genius is one of those ephemeral items in the human inventory of gifts together with skills and talents, abilities and intelligence, proficiency and cleverness.  Hard to define, genius is both specific and contextual.  It is not generally abstract.  Genius can reveal itself everywhere, in science, business, politics, war, and literature though often along separate channels.   Some of our greatest philosophers were challenged by the concept and addressed it with notably interesting interpretations. Immanuel Kant in Part I of his Critique of Judgment tells us "Genius is a talent for producing something for which no determinate rule can be given, not a predisposition consisting of a skill for something that can be learned by following some rule or other." In his Twilight of the Idols , Nietzsche writes, "Great men, like great epochs, are explosive material in whom tremendous energy has been accumulated; their prerequisite has always been, historically and

The most powerful words in our highly political country these days are not what you'd expect. You might think, "I love you," would rank way up there. These are powerful words but personal ones. Think of other possibilities. Let everyone respect others. (4) Can't we just get along? (5) Protect our environment. (3) Death to infidels. (3) But these are old, and we are basically numb to these slogans not really believing anything will happen. However, should someone say to this or that event, cause, or circumstance, "I am deeply offended ...," action results. Judges act. Magistrates react. Advocates rejoice. Politicians jump on board. Headline news expostulate. Just be "offended" and you get results. Or so it seems these days.

Today... It is cold today and I love it.  It allows me to be cold. Morale I. Sometimes the lack of morale you see all around is a reflection of the lack of morale you have personally. II. Your sense of morale can be more infectious to your mind than any disease to your body.  Consider the maxim, "Healthy mind, healthy body." Fun...  We live in the fun environment.  Learning should be fun, educators tell us.  This is not often the case.  Learning is hard work. But when accompanied by a sense of achievement, understanding, and enhanced personal power, it is most satisfying. Reflections... I am always just 18, full of hope, full of what could be, and eager to pursue many things all at the same time.  I love to read biographies of great persons, with interest even now piqued, particularly when these heroes were young. I look to what they did do, and compare with what I’ve done.  I make a few notes. a.    Many developed a true mission in life, though not always from th