Almost Christmas time so time for another Christmas collab. Details in the video.
In the video I make it sound like I only am asking for videos from people in Japan, but I am thinking "Christmas in the World" might be more fun, so wherever you are from, feel free to participate...
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Japan fun with mental math
Drives me nuts!!
This is the third time this has happened. I am at the grocery store. The bill is, say, 735 yen, so I lay down 1235 yen so I can get back a 500 yen coin - less change in the change purse.
Well once again the cashier reacts with impressed surprise, praising me for my ability to do math in my head and concluding with a remark something to the effect that "I didn't think gaijin can do that!"
Like I said, third time I've heard that remark. Apparently the "Asians are good at math" stereotype runs both ways....
This is the third time this has happened. I am at the grocery store. The bill is, say, 735 yen, so I lay down 1235 yen so I can get back a 500 yen coin - less change in the change purse.
Well once again the cashier reacts with impressed surprise, praising me for my ability to do math in my head and concluding with a remark something to the effect that "I didn't think gaijin can do that!"
Like I said, third time I've heard that remark. Apparently the "Asians are good at math" stereotype runs both ways....
Monday, November 9, 2009
Schrodinger's Cat
One thing that has to be said when reading about the world of theoretical physics - it gets weirder than a lot of science fiction. And the current problem is that much of the theory is entirely divorced from any experimental verification - but it must be this way, because the ideas that the theories are dealing with are just not testable with current technology.
Schrodinger's Cat and the Copenhagen School are kind of like that. You have to read it through a few times to really believe that our best scientists are serious about this; that at the highest levels of science things become so very counter-intuitive and just generally Star Trek-y. Apparently Gene Rodenberry had his finger carefully on the pulse of modern physics. But at some points some of the theories that Kaku deals with enter so heavily into the realm of conjecture that you tend to start rolling your eyes a little. I know it's speculation based on current theory, but it starts to feel like just so much guesswork. One wonders how any physicist can look down his or her nose at a theologian!
Anyway, an attempt at a simple explanation (if there is such a thing):
The Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment deals with a problem caused by quantum physics that radically changes how we think about reality. With Newton and classical physics, for example, a tree is a tree. It exists whether you look at it or not. But at the smallest levels of reality, quantum physicists found experimentally that this wasn't the case. An electron before being measured, or observed, was only a wave function", essentially existing in many places at once. It could only be spoken of in terms of probability. However, when observed, the wave function would "collapse" and the electron would become the one existing and concrete thing of classical physics. But for existence, it requires an observer, an interaction with consciousness.
More quotes about it later, but the thing is, subsequent experimentation proved that Einstein was wrong. Reality may really be that weird.
Schrodinger's Cat and the Copenhagen School are kind of like that. You have to read it through a few times to really believe that our best scientists are serious about this; that at the highest levels of science things become so very counter-intuitive and just generally Star Trek-y. Apparently Gene Rodenberry had his finger carefully on the pulse of modern physics. But at some points some of the theories that Kaku deals with enter so heavily into the realm of conjecture that you tend to start rolling your eyes a little. I know it's speculation based on current theory, but it starts to feel like just so much guesswork. One wonders how any physicist can look down his or her nose at a theologian!
Anyway, an attempt at a simple explanation (if there is such a thing):
The Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment deals with a problem caused by quantum physics that radically changes how we think about reality. With Newton and classical physics, for example, a tree is a tree. It exists whether you look at it or not. But at the smallest levels of reality, quantum physicists found experimentally that this wasn't the case. An electron before being measured, or observed, was only a wave function", essentially existing in many places at once. It could only be spoken of in terms of probability. However, when observed, the wave function would "collapse" and the electron would become the one existing and concrete thing of classical physics. But for existence, it requires an observer, an interaction with consciousness.
To resolve the discrepancy between waves of probability and our commonsense notion of existence, Bohr and Heisenberg assumed that after a measurement is made by an outside observer, the wave function magically “collapses,” and the electron falls into a definite state—that is, after looking at the tree, we see that it is truly standing. In other words, the process of observation determines the final state of the electron. Observation is vital to existence. (Kaku, Loc. 2206-10)Here's Kaku's explanation of the actual thought experiment. Einstein could see this was the logical end of the quantum theory, but he thought it must be nonsense:
[Schrodinger] confessed to Bohr that he regretted ever proposing the wave concept if it introduced the concept of probability into physics. To demolish the idea of probabilities, he proposed an experiment. Imagine a cat sealed in a box. Inside the box, there is a bottle of poison gas, connected to a hammer, which in turn is connected to a Geiger counter placed near a piece of uranium. No one disputes that the radioactive decay of the uranium atom is purely a quantum event that cannot be predicted ahead of time. Let’s say there is a 50 percent chance that a uranium atom will decay in the next second. But if a uranium atom decays, it sets off the Geiger counter, which sets off the hammer that breaks the glass, killing the cat. Before you open the box, it is impossible to tell whether the cat is dead or alive. In fact, in order to describe the cat, physicists add the wave function of the live cat and the dead cat—that is, we put the cat in a nether world of being 50 percent dead and 50 percent alive simultaneously. Now open the box. Once we peer into the box, an observation is made, the wave function collapses, and we see that the cat is, say, alive. To Schrödinger, this was silly. How can a cat be both dead and alive at the same time, just because we haven’t looked at it? Does it suddenly spring into existence as soon as we observe it? Einstein was also displeased with this interpretation. Whenever guests came over to his house, he would say: look at the moon. Does it suddenly spring into existence when a mouse looks at it? Einstein believed the answer was no. But in some sense, the answer might be yes. (Loc. 2288-98)
More quotes about it later, but the thing is, subsequent experimentation proved that Einstein was wrong. Reality may really be that weird.
Michio Kaku - Parallel Worlds
So here is the first book I want to focus in on: Michio Kaku - Parallel Worlds. Kaku is, as quoted from his Wikipedia page, "an American theoretical physicist specializing in string field theory, and a futurist." He holds a chair and professorship in theoretical physics at CCNY, so basically, he knows what he is talking about.
I got reading this book as a break from all the C.S. Lewis I have been reading for next year's thesis. In fact, science reading was suggested to me by Lewis himself. I can't remember which book it was in, but Lewis makes note that it is vital to keep informed on scientific thinking and advancements, so I thought I'd follow his advice.
The thing that impresses me about Kaku is just how even he is when dealing with the big questions. The book is primarily about cosmology, and in dealing with the "biggest" questions of or origins, reality, and God, he is meticulous about presenting both or all sides of a given issue. In fact, he keeps you guessing as to what his own views are until the final chapter of the book, where he makes his own beliefs plain, but until that point it is impossible to guess what he thinks from an obvious bias in the book. That is impressive in this age of polarized fundamentalists of both theist and atheist stripe condescending to one another from very safe distances.
Much of what outlines in the book is the two emerging schools of thought in physics regarding the nature of reality itself. He deals a lot with the "Schroedinger's cat" problem, which I'll find a quote for, because I can hardly explain it myself. But in subsequent posts, I'll try to deal in more detail and with a lot more clarity about this main theme:
I got reading this book as a break from all the C.S. Lewis I have been reading for next year's thesis. In fact, science reading was suggested to me by Lewis himself. I can't remember which book it was in, but Lewis makes note that it is vital to keep informed on scientific thinking and advancements, so I thought I'd follow his advice.
The thing that impresses me about Kaku is just how even he is when dealing with the big questions. The book is primarily about cosmology, and in dealing with the "biggest" questions of or origins, reality, and God, he is meticulous about presenting both or all sides of a given issue. In fact, he keeps you guessing as to what his own views are until the final chapter of the book, where he makes his own beliefs plain, but until that point it is impossible to guess what he thinks from an obvious bias in the book. That is impressive in this age of polarized fundamentalists of both theist and atheist stripe condescending to one another from very safe distances.
Much of what outlines in the book is the two emerging schools of thought in physics regarding the nature of reality itself. He deals a lot with the "Schroedinger's cat" problem, which I'll find a quote for, because I can hardly explain it myself. But in subsequent posts, I'll try to deal in more detail and with a lot more clarity about this main theme:
... this paradox goes to perhaps the deepest question in the quantum theory: how can a cat be dead and alive at the same time? To answer this question, physicists have been forced to entertain two outrageous solutions: either there is a cosmic consciousness that watches over us all, or else there are an infinite number of quantum universes. (Loc. 2107-9)More coming soon.
Kindle My Clippings
I've been doing lots of Kindle reading lately, and it's certainly growing on me. Far and away the best feature is proving to be My Clippings, as I have always been a heavy underliner, but whenever I wanted to share the best passages on a blog, it required a lot of tedious typing to transfer the quote. Not so with My Clippings. Whatever you underline, or whatever note you make, goes straight to a txt file that you can cut and paste from.
The upshot of this is that there will probably be a lot more long quotes on this blog coming up, and a lot more commentary on stuff that I am reading. It's just become a lot easier.
The upshot of this is that there will probably be a lot more long quotes on this blog coming up, and a lot more commentary on stuff that I am reading. It's just become a lot easier.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Amazon Kindle International Edition
Ok, I've had it for a week so I am sure that there is a lot more to uncover, but here are the first impressions. I will say the convenience and excitement of the new gadget has had me "buried in books" this week, and I can see that with a Kindle you could get to place of having too many books on the go at once.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Michio Kaku the Super Science 'Splainer
A while back I read Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku. Well, truth is I listened to it, because I drive a lot and audiobooks are much more interesting than radio.
The point is, Kaku is a quantum physicist who does a brilliant job of explaining the most difficult - and most current - scientific theories in layman's terms. In Physics he goes through a bunch of science-fiction-y ideas, like pre-cognition, teleportation, hyperspace travel, etc, and talks about whether or not these are possible or impossible according to current scientific thinking. It's a fascinating read.
Physics of the Impossible
And I just noticed that he has a new one out in audiobook format called Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmo. Also looks very good.
The point is, Kaku is a quantum physicist who does a brilliant job of explaining the most difficult - and most current - scientific theories in layman's terms. In Physics he goes through a bunch of science-fiction-y ideas, like pre-cognition, teleportation, hyperspace travel, etc, and talks about whether or not these are possible or impossible according to current scientific thinking. It's a fascinating read.
Physics of the Impossible
And I just noticed that he has a new one out in audiobook format called Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmo. Also looks very good.
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