Book Review: Conceptual Breakthroughs in the Evolutionary Biology of Aging
The reductionist scientists have promised that we can cure aging by studying molecular pathways (nutrient sensing, hormonal signalling, IGF-1), searching for small molecules having large effects on metabolism (semaglutide, rapamycin, etc), and genes with large effects (daf-2 in doubles nematode…
Notes: The Social Contract
These are my notes from reading Rousseau’s The Social Contract for a libertarian book club meeting. ============================== Book 1. —————————— Preamble. :quote: Born as I was, the citizen of a free state and member of its sovereign body, the very…
Philosophy of Computer Science: Naming
For a very long time, western culture has had a strong undercurrent about naming. Conceptually, it starts with the recognition that the ability to name a thing gives you power over it. This is reflected in many deep and ancient…
Dymaxion mapping.
Ok, so I’ve been away awhile. I visited the Maker Faire, and San Deigo Amphib Base (twice). Two days ago I read Benford’s Cosm, start to finish. And learned that the nucleus of heavier elements are ellipsoidal rather than spherical….
Fortune is Fated — a short story
Once a long time ago (2003) I took an English course to satisfy UCLA’s bureaucratic notions that I should have a ‘well-rounded’ education. As part of this course we read short stories, and were required to write a mini-essay each…
Linguistics and SciFi
Ok, It’s been more than a week since I last wrote down any of my thoughts. I recently went on travel for work, and gave a presentation of the software that I’ve been working on. I was received well, and…
Self-Conception
I was reading Hofstadter’s latest book, I am a Strange Loop, and encountered some rather provocative statements. Hofstadter is one of the only authors that I’ve read that is not afraid of explaining in great detail why materialism is both…
True Names
Today I read TRUE NAMES by Vernor Vinge, as recommended by Andreessen. It really is a a good novella. I’m am shocked and amazed that it was written in 1984, as it has elements not seen until much later in…
Math and Occam’s Razor
In discussion with Ben about Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I concluded that the success of mathematical elegance in solutions is a physical manifestation of Occam’s Razor. Indeed, mathematical elegance is to be held above normal logic. As…
Topological Fantasy
There should be a short story or mathematical fantasy book about people that can perform topological transforms on their world simply by thinking through the math. They could fight in topological wars, where quickly finding the inverse is essential to…