GroupThinkTank
Revolutionizing the world, one "I agree" at a time
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
X-Pub, 7:19 PM:
California: We Kick Ass
Putting legal issues aside, I'm really happy that UC refuses to accept courses with a narrow Christian viewpoint as fulfilling core course requirements, mostly creationist biology texts but also "Christianity's Influence in American History," "Christianity and Morality in American Literature" and "Special Providence: American Government" and books published by Bob Jones University Press and A Beka Books.
I hope they're doing this responsibly, and letting books that teach [insert subject] conprehnsively with an added bit of Christian viewpoint get by. But I am happy to see academics putting a line in the sand and saying "this is science, this is not."
Link.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
stephen, 11:36 AM:
Devestating, Interesting, Devestating
Devestating:
Economist on Uzbekistan
Be A Witness on Darfur
Interesting:
Economist on Statistical Jurisprudence
Science on Forensic Science. Sorry, no link. But here's the money, I think: "Changes in the law pertaining to the admissibility of expert evidence in court, together with the emergence of DNA typing as a model for a scientifically defensible approach to questions of shared identity, are driving the older forensic sciences toward a new scientific paradigm... Figure 1 also indicates that forensic scientists are the witnesses most likely to present misleading or fraudulent testimony. Deceitful forensic scientists are a minor sidelight to this paper, but a sidelight that underscores cultural differences between normal science and forensic science (12, 13). In normal science, academically gifted students receive four or more years of doctoral training where much of the socialization into the culture of science takes place. This culture emphasizes methodological rigor, openness, and cautious interpretation of data. In forensic science, 96% of positions are held by persons with bachelor's degrees (or less), 3% master's degrees, and 1% Ph.D.s (14). When individuals who are not steeped in the culture of science work in an adversarial, crime-fighting culture, there is a substantial risk that a different set of norms will prevail. As one former forensic scientist noted, this pressure-packed environment can lead to data fudging and fabrication: 'All [forensic science] experts are tempted, many times in their careers, to report positive results when their inquiries come up inconclusive, or indeed to report a negative result as positive' [(15), p. 17]." -Science, Vol 309, Issue 5736, 892-895 , 5 August 2005
Science on Elections. Again no link; sorry. But interesting: Popular judgments of how 'competent' a politician looks are accurate predictors of whether or not he'll win an election. "We show that inferences of competence based solely on facial appearance predicted the outcomes of U.S. congressional elections better than chance (e.g., 68.8% of the Senate races in 2004) and also were linearly related to the margin of victory. These inferences were specific to competence and occurred within a 1-second exposure to the faces of the candidates. The findings suggest that rapid, unreflective trait inferences can contribute to voting choices, which are widely assumed to be based primarily on rational and deliberative considerations." -Science, Vol 308, Issue 5728, 1623-1626 , 10 June 2005
And, of course: We'll miss you, New Orleans... it's been fun.
stephen
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
David Bernat, 2:31 PM:
Monday, August 15, 2005
David Bernat, 3:27 PM:
The Hierarchy of Interest
It feels good, today, to be back on a college campus. Granted, it's also a beautiful summer day and I'm relaxing inside using my first available internet access in a week. That just about sums it up, doesn't it?
Cornell is a true University, say my parents. And my office mates thus far have been more fun than Tech at its peak, but again, it's summer, and that's not a mark against Techers.
I'm remembering and experiencing the giddy thrill of signing up for classes. This has been particularly exciting having been out for so long (you don't learn a damn thing in the real world), and the fact that I hadn't looked at the course listings raised the bar.
My office mates are taking French. "Oh, I'll take French," I say. After all, sharing an office with classmates is prime for learning, and when it's an introductory language class there are sure to be some great conversations (what's french for "cheap wine?")
But, no, I don't really want to take French and I've only got one freebie class to take. I'll take a guitar class. I like playing the guitar and I never practice as much as I'd like. Yeah, I'll take a real guitar class. My officemates have a penchant for getting drunk and jamming on the second floor of their house (I can play drums, who knew?!) and it'd be hella cool to be riffing with another instrument.
But, no, I'm here at an academic university: pedagogy, pedagogy, pedagogy. After moving from New York City to Ithaca (before remembering that its the same internet I browse), and reading cosmology in a basement lab (without the accompaniment of collegues or bosses), I feel out of touch with the real world. I'll take a law class. Law, yeah. Constitutional Law. Sort of an upgrade from American History, like when you collect the four stones in Final Fantasy and upgrade from the Red Fighter to the Red Knight. Or Lawyering.
Did I just make a Final Fantasy reference? Cripes, I'm a dork. A computer dork. Do they have a class on Swarm Intelligence here? That'd be awesome (echoing aural hallucinations of the tapping keys of a distant mad computer scientist). Maybe that's too much programming.
Finally, I get to two serious considerations. They're hard, do I have time for them? Do I want to work that hard? Are they worth taking? I don't know, but they could be damn interesting: Introduction to Controlled Fusion: Principles and Technology and Spacecraft Engineering. Both are intended for undergraduate seniors.
Well, we'll see.
Sunday, August 07, 2005
David Bernat, 4:11 PM:
David Bernat, 4:07 PM:
As The Engine Begins To Turn
Santorum comes out against intelligent design (sorta).
I thought Santorum was going to be the Republican joke candidate of 2008. You know, the ass of the elephants to make the other elephants look more like asses.
I never get tired of a good ass pun.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Mike Russo, 8:11 PM:
Presented without comment
Link
...OK, I lied, two comments:
