A popular but discredited story is that the Eskimo language contains many times, even multiple times, more words for snow than English. The story is that Eskimos have words for different kinds and states of snow that we don't have: where we might say "falling snow" they supposedly have a single word. At first blush … Continue reading The Myth of Eskimos Having Many More Words for Snow
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Werner Heinsenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle is a famous quantum mechanics principle made by the Nobel Price winning physicist Werner Heisenberg. Written as a mathematics equation, the most common word translation is that it is impossible to determine both the position and the momentum of a subatomic particle (an atom's electron, proton or neutron). The more accurately … Continue reading Werner Heinsenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
From Isaac Newton to The Shining: Notes on the Philosophy of Time
(This post offers assorted notes on the philosophy of time, time travel and related.) (1) A longtime debate has been whether time, at least as we humans conceptualize it, is an actual, absolute thing independent to us, or is it merely a human conception. Isaac Newton believed that time as we commonly think of it as … Continue reading From Isaac Newton to The Shining: Notes on the Philosophy of Time
Short Video: Quick Antique Photos Authentication Tip
Clocking in at under two minutes, the below a very short video I made for an authentication tips column I write for Sports Collectors Daily. It shows a simple way to identify many black and white photographs as old. This is important if you’re at an antique store or estate sale and want to be confident that expensive, … Continue reading Short Video: Quick Antique Photos Authentication Tip
Narrative and the Perception of Still Information
Narrative is an integral part of how humans perceive, identify and judge information. A narrative is the conscious and non-conscious story we see or tell about our lives, attach to observed situations and still objects. Narrative includes perception of time, plotting, mood, point of view, emphasis (what is important. what is not), character motives, etc. … Continue reading Narrative and the Perception of Still Information
When does 1 + 1 not equal 2?
Is a bag of potato chips one thing? Many? Both? Neither? Other? Depends on how you look at it. A basic part of mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, economics and daily life is counting. Counting is popularly considered to be an objective activity. In the field, however, it involves subjectivity. Not over whether 1 + 1 … Continue reading When does 1 + 1 not equal 2?
The Fiction in Science
"All models are wrong, but some are useful"-- statistician George E. P. Box Scientific representations are different than the things they represent. A representation, model or description is a limited view of the subject, made for a specific purpose, edited by the scientist and translated into a form the scientific audience can understand and … Continue reading The Fiction in Science
Logic Versus Art in Communicating Advanced Ideas
Two lovers were cursed, he to be a wolf at night and she to be a hawk during day. They could not be human together.Humans view, interpret and mentally explore their world on many levels. Humans experience things rationally, irrationally, consciously, subconsciously, emotionally, intuitively, directly, indirectly, aesthetically-- in a varying combination of these and more … Continue reading Logic Versus Art in Communicating Advanced Ideas
The ambiguity of language, and the answer to history’s most famous philosophic riddle
Our daily language is ambiguous and can be interpreted in different ways. Words have multiple meanings, definitions change and multiply over time, phrases are interpreted differently by different people and differently by the same person in different situations. Voice intonation, pacing, grammar and facial expressions communicate meaning. The audience uses its experience, education and culture … Continue reading The ambiguity of language, and the answer to history’s most famous philosophic riddle
Connecting to the Unreal: Art Perception
(Excerpted from the book Noise Music: Cognitive Psychology, Aesthetics and Epsitemology) A complex and fascinating question is why do humans have such strong emotional reactions and human connections to unrealistic art? Why do viewers become scared, even haunted for days, by a movie monster they know doesn't exist? Why do humans become enthralled by distorted … Continue reading Connecting to the Unreal: Art Perception
Looking at Artifacts and Ideas 