Sunday, January 28, 2007
Oops
I will try in the future to shorten these posts. I seem to have a lot of hot air that I need to get out this weekend though. So my election year promise: MORE CONCISE AND LESS RAMBLING POSTS!
A Pattern Language or The 60 Minutes Inspired Tirade
On 60 Minutes tonight they did a story on a savant (which of course was much more interesting than Andy Rooney's usual, bitter, senile rant on whatever small, worthless topic has turned him into an angry old man) who showed no signs of social disability (as is popular with the view of savants since the making of the movie Rain Man).
What interested me was not the possible research on brain damage's link to savantism, or his numerical tricks which in all honesty could be learned in a matter of years or months to a clever mathematician (not to disparage the mysterious wonder that is his brain; after all it takes him moments to do what many mathematicians train years for), but how he interpreted numbers.
He said that he saw numbers as colors and shapes, landscapes, and spaces. They were ugly (289 for example) or beautiful and "chubby" (333). They had a character to them that most people have dismissed since the rejection of numerology.
Perhaps we've thrown the baby out with bath water in that sense. When I saw his "water color" interpretation of pi, I was astounded. It was symmetrical, colorful... awe inspiring really. To be able to see pi as a shape, as a solid object is... confounding and exciting. I am curious what his interpretation of e and the square-root of two are.
To complicate matters, he was able to learn Icelandic at a proficient level in 7 days as a challenge. Again I'm amazed at the pervasiveness of numbers in what we do, and who we are. Whatever part of the brain is functioning for his numerical gift also functions for language. So to those who say they excel at language but not math (and vice versa), I say you are not trying hard enough in one or the other. Language after all, is a formula for communication. Grammar is the operator (+ - / *), and vocabulary is the variable (Jean went to the store: x + y = z).
I've seen how that part of the brain also functions for music in the people I've met who play instruments and study math are almost always better at math than those who have never picked one up in their life (this is counting those who just played tuba for two years in middle school). That's not to say all the musicians I've met are math whizzes, but every math whiz I've met has played an instrument. Bach for example is one of the most studied musicians for his math, for his style, and for his passion. Every piece is so precise, so regulated, but at the same time, so open to interpretation. Bach can be played and understood in more than one way despite the supposed mathematical and formal "straight jacket" that accompany his music. Phillip Glass however is a mystery to everyone who isn't Phillip Glass (that one's for you mom).
You can see the numbers in art as well from the golden ration to the Fibonacci Sequence. I have heard people deny the mathematics in art, who then used these two mathematical principles as inspiration for a project. Even if the artists are unaware of their math (as most artists I've met are -to the point of loathing that which makes their art amazing-) in symmetries, in patterns, in rules, limits, and of course, the lack of limits.
The Pythagoreans jealously guarded their math secrets from the masses, so much to the point that supposedly they executed a member who was teaching a proof to sailors (see the supposed killer proof here -gotta love the square root of 2-). As the great Professor El-Hodiri would say, "Never teach proofs to the peasants!" (in a joking manner of course) Numbers are even important symbolic messages in the Bible which people use to (rightly or wrongly) support their interpretations, such as the meanings of six, seven, and forty (however I completely reject the "Bible Code" that claims a secret message in the pattern of words. Give me enough time, and the right mathematical tools, and I can find messages about the end of the world in Dr. Seuss. Yurtle the Turtle is espescially apocalyptic. Oh, the places you'll go... on shrooms). The Mayans, who achieved the concept of zero long before the Europeans stole it from the Arabs (who stole it from the Indians, according to every Indian grad student in my department... hmm... "love of country" much?), used the math of astronomy to determine the future, the past, and the present. The world cycled along on a never ending path of destruction and creation, in a system that was slightly more accurate than the calendar that we use today.
To cap off the importance of mathematics, think of it in an architecture or engineering sense, to give it a solid vision that music and art lack (only in concrete terms). Those buildings that do not adhere to certain principles, fail. Miserably. They fall into the dust. Those that reflect, uphold, and accentuate the mathematical principles they were built upon, have survived earthquakes, floods, wars, and famine. If you doubt me, go to Egypt, Italy, France, China, Japan, Mexico, Peru, or Puebla.
Math is the perfect paradise model of the world, created to describe it, to manipulate it, to further it, to drag it down, to recreate it, and to destroy it. Numbers have no meaning without context, but those patterns within the numbers permeate our life in everything we do. They are so self-evident, so awe-inspiring, and so ubiquitous (I've used that word twice today) that we can no longer separate the math from the reality.
I am not advocating a return to numerology, which has religious implications that I think are on par with the guys in the street with "the End is Nye*!" signs on their backs. But I am advocating a re-enforcement of why numbers are so important to us. Why we have to learn a^2 + b^2 = c^2, or that every number multiplied by five ends with the digit five or zero. If we neglect the math in what we do, we miss out on an integral part of the system. Of the world. Of our own humanity. Because Math, as a system, is at its core human. We have a need for this world within us. We have a need for this interpretation, this language, this pattern... it makes this confusing world somehow more manageable.
I leave with one of my favorite quotes about a man who looked for God in the numbers, and managed to define the finite and infinite (and whose work is found in all fields indebted to higher math: economics, physics, astronomy, statistics, etc.): "No one shall expel us from the Paradise that Cantor has created."
... of course, Cantor was also institutionalized, and believed he could mathematically prove that Shakespeare didn't write his own material. Hey... nobody's perfect.
*Bill Nye the Science Guy? Yes. I misspelled Nigh. Sue me.
What interested me was not the possible research on brain damage's link to savantism, or his numerical tricks which in all honesty could be learned in a matter of years or months to a clever mathematician (not to disparage the mysterious wonder that is his brain; after all it takes him moments to do what many mathematicians train years for), but how he interpreted numbers.
He said that he saw numbers as colors and shapes, landscapes, and spaces. They were ugly (289 for example) or beautiful and "chubby" (333). They had a character to them that most people have dismissed since the rejection of numerology.
Perhaps we've thrown the baby out with bath water in that sense. When I saw his "water color" interpretation of pi, I was astounded. It was symmetrical, colorful... awe inspiring really. To be able to see pi as a shape, as a solid object is... confounding and exciting. I am curious what his interpretation of e and the square-root of two are.
To complicate matters, he was able to learn Icelandic at a proficient level in 7 days as a challenge. Again I'm amazed at the pervasiveness of numbers in what we do, and who we are. Whatever part of the brain is functioning for his numerical gift also functions for language. So to those who say they excel at language but not math (and vice versa), I say you are not trying hard enough in one or the other. Language after all, is a formula for communication. Grammar is the operator (+ - / *), and vocabulary is the variable (Jean went to the store: x + y = z).
I've seen how that part of the brain also functions for music in the people I've met who play instruments and study math are almost always better at math than those who have never picked one up in their life (this is counting those who just played tuba for two years in middle school). That's not to say all the musicians I've met are math whizzes, but every math whiz I've met has played an instrument. Bach for example is one of the most studied musicians for his math, for his style, and for his passion. Every piece is so precise, so regulated, but at the same time, so open to interpretation. Bach can be played and understood in more than one way despite the supposed mathematical and formal "straight jacket" that accompany his music. Phillip Glass however is a mystery to everyone who isn't Phillip Glass (that one's for you mom).
You can see the numbers in art as well from the golden ration to the Fibonacci Sequence. I have heard people deny the mathematics in art, who then used these two mathematical principles as inspiration for a project. Even if the artists are unaware of their math (as most artists I've met are -to the point of loathing that which makes their art amazing-) in symmetries, in patterns, in rules, limits, and of course, the lack of limits.
The Pythagoreans jealously guarded their math secrets from the masses, so much to the point that supposedly they executed a member who was teaching a proof to sailors (see the supposed killer proof here -gotta love the square root of 2-). As the great Professor El-Hodiri would say, "Never teach proofs to the peasants!" (in a joking manner of course) Numbers are even important symbolic messages in the Bible which people use to (rightly or wrongly) support their interpretations, such as the meanings of six, seven, and forty (however I completely reject the "Bible Code" that claims a secret message in the pattern of words. Give me enough time, and the right mathematical tools, and I can find messages about the end of the world in Dr. Seuss. Yurtle the Turtle is espescially apocalyptic. Oh, the places you'll go... on shrooms). The Mayans, who achieved the concept of zero long before the Europeans stole it from the Arabs (who stole it from the Indians, according to every Indian grad student in my department... hmm... "love of country" much?), used the math of astronomy to determine the future, the past, and the present. The world cycled along on a never ending path of destruction and creation, in a system that was slightly more accurate than the calendar that we use today.
To cap off the importance of mathematics, think of it in an architecture or engineering sense, to give it a solid vision that music and art lack (only in concrete terms). Those buildings that do not adhere to certain principles, fail. Miserably. They fall into the dust. Those that reflect, uphold, and accentuate the mathematical principles they were built upon, have survived earthquakes, floods, wars, and famine. If you doubt me, go to Egypt, Italy, France, China, Japan, Mexico, Peru, or Puebla.
Math is the perfect paradise model of the world, created to describe it, to manipulate it, to further it, to drag it down, to recreate it, and to destroy it. Numbers have no meaning without context, but those patterns within the numbers permeate our life in everything we do. They are so self-evident, so awe-inspiring, and so ubiquitous (I've used that word twice today) that we can no longer separate the math from the reality.
I am not advocating a return to numerology, which has religious implications that I think are on par with the guys in the street with "the End is Nye*!" signs on their backs. But I am advocating a re-enforcement of why numbers are so important to us. Why we have to learn a^2 + b^2 = c^2, or that every number multiplied by five ends with the digit five or zero. If we neglect the math in what we do, we miss out on an integral part of the system. Of the world. Of our own humanity. Because Math, as a system, is at its core human. We have a need for this world within us. We have a need for this interpretation, this language, this pattern... it makes this confusing world somehow more manageable.
I leave with one of my favorite quotes about a man who looked for God in the numbers, and managed to define the finite and infinite (and whose work is found in all fields indebted to higher math: economics, physics, astronomy, statistics, etc.): "No one shall expel us from the Paradise that Cantor has created."
... of course, Cantor was also institutionalized, and believed he could mathematically prove that Shakespeare didn't write his own material. Hey... nobody's perfect.
*Bill Nye the Science Guy? Yes. I misspelled Nigh. Sue me.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
What's in a Degree?
So I went to my first job market seminar. There have been 3 so far this year, and a healthy rumbling amongst the students and faculty that those who are presenting are better than those last year (see the post with the picture of "Saturn Devouring His Children").
A lot of the departmental students were excited to see an Ivy League(ish) graduate defend a well written paper, and I was excited to ask a few questions about the paper myself (questions that I thought were not very good at first).
Well we were all disappointed. Or maybe just... underwhelmed.
My questions were asked, but the professors got there first. Now, there's supposed to be a time when the students can meet and greet with the candidate, and shoot the breeze, and ask questions. She gave no solid response to any of the questions I had in my margins. In fact she ducked them. Each and every one. That was dis-heartening in that it showed some of the lack of preparation in her paper, the hidden (but now glaring) problems in her paper's assumptions, and the lack on her part to give a straight answer. M didn't like the way she ducked the questions either. K just didn't like her sample size and how she managed to cut a nation-wide survey down to only 3000 observations, and did not seem to know WHICH REGION those observations fell into (migration in Mexico after all is heavily correlated to region. For example, residents of Chihuahua do not tend to migrate as heavly as residents of Oaxaca). This... is... vexing. It's a survey. Odds are, they have some kind of data or question that tells you at least WHERE the person is. But this was just one of the assumptions and econometric blurbs that sat like an Arby's roast sandwhich in the stomachs of the audience (... not well for those of you unfamiliar with Arby's).
My excitement over the fact that she reached an interesting conclusion that went against the literature I'd researched the semester before, evaporated in a few minutes. I could not, despite how nice the paper looked, and how... acceptable (in some regards) the presentation was credibly look at the paper anymore.
I was disappointed. More should have been done, or at least explained. So I'll stick by my first MA paper. All in all, she might get the job. But apparently the three before her were rather good. But most of the students, and I believe some of the faculty were not convinced. This is not to say she was not a well spoken presenter (despite saying "uh" every sixth word, and the dodging of questions as if she was that kid from Ed, in Dodgeball), but she just was not convincing.
Went to the doctor for my back problems and got some iso-metric exercises to do. He said the running probably wasn't a problem since I didn't do it very heavily before the pain started, and that I could start again on a "listen to the pain" basis. In other words, if I hurt: stop. Got some medicine which I took last night, and for the first thirty minutes though "dang this isn't doing jack squat." Thirty minutes later the only thing I could think of was sleep. That was about... 11ish? 12ish? Maybe earlier... I don't remember. I just woke up 30 minutes ago (10 AM). Goooooood sleep.
Congrats to Raoul on his MA defense! Way to go!
La Ardilla will be here soon! Yay! ... I suppose I should get some work done now.
A lot of the departmental students were excited to see an Ivy League(ish) graduate defend a well written paper, and I was excited to ask a few questions about the paper myself (questions that I thought were not very good at first).
Well we were all disappointed. Or maybe just... underwhelmed.
My questions were asked, but the professors got there first. Now, there's supposed to be a time when the students can meet and greet with the candidate, and shoot the breeze, and ask questions. She gave no solid response to any of the questions I had in my margins. In fact she ducked them. Each and every one. That was dis-heartening in that it showed some of the lack of preparation in her paper, the hidden (but now glaring) problems in her paper's assumptions, and the lack on her part to give a straight answer. M didn't like the way she ducked the questions either. K just didn't like her sample size and how she managed to cut a nation-wide survey down to only 3000 observations, and did not seem to know WHICH REGION those observations fell into (migration in Mexico after all is heavily correlated to region. For example, residents of Chihuahua do not tend to migrate as heavly as residents of Oaxaca). This... is... vexing. It's a survey. Odds are, they have some kind of data or question that tells you at least WHERE the person is. But this was just one of the assumptions and econometric blurbs that sat like an Arby's roast sandwhich in the stomachs of the audience (... not well for those of you unfamiliar with Arby's).
My excitement over the fact that she reached an interesting conclusion that went against the literature I'd researched the semester before, evaporated in a few minutes. I could not, despite how nice the paper looked, and how... acceptable (in some regards) the presentation was credibly look at the paper anymore.
I was disappointed. More should have been done, or at least explained. So I'll stick by my first MA paper. All in all, she might get the job. But apparently the three before her were rather good. But most of the students, and I believe some of the faculty were not convinced. This is not to say she was not a well spoken presenter (despite saying "uh" every sixth word, and the dodging of questions as if she was that kid from Ed, in Dodgeball), but she just was not convincing.
Went to the doctor for my back problems and got some iso-metric exercises to do. He said the running probably wasn't a problem since I didn't do it very heavily before the pain started, and that I could start again on a "listen to the pain" basis. In other words, if I hurt: stop. Got some medicine which I took last night, and for the first thirty minutes though "dang this isn't doing jack squat." Thirty minutes later the only thing I could think of was sleep. That was about... 11ish? 12ish? Maybe earlier... I don't remember. I just woke up 30 minutes ago (10 AM). Goooooood sleep.
Congrats to Raoul on his MA defense! Way to go!
La Ardilla will be here soon! Yay! ... I suppose I should get some work done now.
Friday, January 19, 2007
It's Hitting the Fan
Alright, let's face it: we all saw this one coming. An entire government handing over special powers to a strong executive leader with dictatorial tendencies for 18 months. I smell constitutional reform on the number of terms a president can serve. Smells like quiche.
Here's a fun game: how many dictators can y'all name who rose to power with such special and "limited" decrees? Please leave a comment.
I'm going to start you all out with Pinochet (idealistically opposed to Chavez, but these days I think the two of them would see eye to eye on many things).
Five points for Latin American dictators, seven points for European, 3 points for Asian, and 20 points for Australian (I don't know if there is one, but if you know the guy's name, you my friend are a history god).
Bonus question: have any American presidents gotten away with this? (10 points. 15 if you can name the circumstances surrounding it).
As a side note: -20 points if you even mention Star Wars.
In more serious terms: how the heck is this guy getting away with all this? ... oh yeah... the opposing party decided to make an ideological argument and boycott the national elections.
-30 points if you're thinking of making an "ideological argument" or "symbolic gesture" anytime in the future. If you're going to fight windmills, you might as well hit them head on.
The winner at the end of the week gets a cookie.
Here's a fun game: how many dictators can y'all name who rose to power with such special and "limited" decrees? Please leave a comment.
I'm going to start you all out with Pinochet (idealistically opposed to Chavez, but these days I think the two of them would see eye to eye on many things).
Five points for Latin American dictators, seven points for European, 3 points for Asian, and 20 points for Australian (I don't know if there is one, but if you know the guy's name, you my friend are a history god).
Bonus question: have any American presidents gotten away with this? (10 points. 15 if you can name the circumstances surrounding it).
As a side note: -20 points if you even mention Star Wars.
In more serious terms: how the heck is this guy getting away with all this? ... oh yeah... the opposing party decided to make an ideological argument and boycott the national elections.
-30 points if you're thinking of making an "ideological argument" or "symbolic gesture" anytime in the future. If you're going to fight windmills, you might as well hit them head on.
The winner at the end of the week gets a cookie.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Here, there, everywhere
So after many an eventful trip to Tulsa, to Juarez, back to Tulsa, the wrangling with the airlines over 6 hour delays, lost luggage, and a "wing and a prayer" landing in a tornado wracked Dallas Love Field, I have survived my "Christmas Vacation." Henceforth to be known as "Suckmas 2006."
The trip to Juarez was a great vacation away from my "vacation" though :D. Much thanks to the family Ardilla for their hospitality. I almost made it through the entire trip without getting sick. But then something bad got in my system, and that last night I had to take a little magic pill to sleep and then get on the plane in the morning. I do miss the squirrel though. Would be nice if she could stop by sometime soon. But the repsonsibilities of school are calling.
Classes have started, and I have but one strange story (of the many, myriad strange ones around campus) to share with you. This one comes from my labor professor. I will relate it as best I can.
We were discussing general topics after our lecture had ended and some one brought up the book Freakonomics. What followed was the funniest "I know the guy who wrote Freakonomics" story I've heard so far (and I've heard quite a few).
Labor Prof:
"You know I haven't actually read Freakonomics yet -general schocked mumbling among the class-. Well I gave it to my wife, because she was interested in reading it. She got past the introduction, then threw the book at me, saying that it was boring. 'Jeez, this whole introduction is just the reporter and the economist professing their undying man-crush for each other.' Well I thought this was a pretty funny story, and the next week I was out of town at a conference. I was telling this to a friend of mine at the hotel bar, and about when I got to the man-crush part, he said, 'Uh... you do realize Levitt is eating right behind us?'"
That is perhaps the best "I Met the Freakonomics Guy" story I have heard so far. Funny also because, despite enjoying the book, his wife is right. The whole introduction sounds like these guys do have a serious man-crush for each other.
Next Fun Topic:
The United Methodist Church vs. Southern Methodist University.
Years of debauchery, drunkenness, scandal, and other general university fun, and the Methodists get pissed and start passing around petitions because they don't want the Bush Library associated with the name "Methodist" that happens to be in "Southern Methodist University." Yes. That is a good reason to deprive a university of 8 years of historical documents and a multi-million dollar research center, benefiting the student body at SMU. That my friend is the very definition of "using your head."
Sorry UMC, I think SMU was already associated with Bush when the "Laura Bush Garden" was planted outside Fondren. They really should just stop making a fuss about this, unless they want SMU to be renamed "Laura Bush University." That would probably disassociate the Methodists from Bush. And of course disassociate them from a highly respected institution with some of the best graduate schools in the country (I suppose there's always ORU whose credits are recognized by... uh... nobody). So please... UMC... for all of us... just let it go.
The trip to Juarez was a great vacation away from my "vacation" though :D. Much thanks to the family Ardilla for their hospitality. I almost made it through the entire trip without getting sick. But then something bad got in my system, and that last night I had to take a little magic pill to sleep and then get on the plane in the morning. I do miss the squirrel though. Would be nice if she could stop by sometime soon. But the repsonsibilities of school are calling.
Classes have started, and I have but one strange story (of the many, myriad strange ones around campus) to share with you. This one comes from my labor professor. I will relate it as best I can.
We were discussing general topics after our lecture had ended and some one brought up the book Freakonomics. What followed was the funniest "I know the guy who wrote Freakonomics" story I've heard so far (and I've heard quite a few).
Labor Prof:
"You know I haven't actually read Freakonomics yet -general schocked mumbling among the class-. Well I gave it to my wife, because she was interested in reading it. She got past the introduction, then threw the book at me, saying that it was boring. 'Jeez, this whole introduction is just the reporter and the economist professing their undying man-crush for each other.' Well I thought this was a pretty funny story, and the next week I was out of town at a conference. I was telling this to a friend of mine at the hotel bar, and about when I got to the man-crush part, he said, 'Uh... you do realize Levitt is eating right behind us?'"
That is perhaps the best "I Met the Freakonomics Guy" story I have heard so far. Funny also because, despite enjoying the book, his wife is right. The whole introduction sounds like these guys do have a serious man-crush for each other.
Next Fun Topic:
The United Methodist Church vs. Southern Methodist University.
Years of debauchery, drunkenness, scandal, and other general university fun, and the Methodists get pissed and start passing around petitions because they don't want the Bush Library associated with the name "Methodist" that happens to be in "Southern Methodist University." Yes. That is a good reason to deprive a university of 8 years of historical documents and a multi-million dollar research center, benefiting the student body at SMU. That my friend is the very definition of "using your head."
Sorry UMC, I think SMU was already associated with Bush when the "Laura Bush Garden" was planted outside Fondren. They really should just stop making a fuss about this, unless they want SMU to be renamed "Laura Bush University." That would probably disassociate the Methodists from Bush. And of course disassociate them from a highly respected institution with some of the best graduate schools in the country (I suppose there's always ORU whose credits are recognized by... uh... nobody). So please... UMC... for all of us... just let it go.
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