What, Why & How do we Know ?
How not to get behind in the 21st century. Interesting summary from Leonid Ototsky of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (via Danny’s Blog) of technical directions in e-style information integration. Not surprisingly Leonid makes reference to his adopting the EPISTLE information model, as well as numerous references to his recently deceased inspiration – Stafford Beer. … Continue reading “How not to get behind in the 21st century”
10 Reasons the Internet is a “Happy Accident”. By Dan Gillmor out of SiliconValley via Cape Science WebLog.[Must add Cape Science to the permanent links in the side-bar. – Already done !]
Struggled with the penultimate chapter of Foucault – He name drops every philosopher since 18C that I’ve heard of (except Wittgenstein), but I don’t get what this chapter is about – the concept of Man. Fortunately the final chapter on Human Sciences is much clearer – the balance between science and anthropology / behaviour / … Continue reading “Man and His Doubles”
Everything Is Obsolete Except Ideas. (Forbes via Ron Lusk) [Quote] Standing in line can’t be improved upon is because it is all idea. There is literally no material to improve. [Unquote]Also Technology Past Its Prime
The Quotations Page (via Adam Curry)QuoteYou can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.Unquote, Plato
From NYT via Adam Curry. The 10 most elegant experimental demonstrations as voted by physicists. Chronologically … Eratosthenes’ measurement of the Earth’s circumference. (7th) Galileo’s objects falling with constant gravitational acceleration. (2nd) Galileo’s balls rolling down inclined planes also under gravity. (8th) Newton’s decomposition of sunlight with a prism. (4th) Cavendish’s weighing the Earth / … Continue reading “10 Most Beautiful Experiments”
Lies and Statistics. (From National Post via The Bottom of the Barrell). Frightening stats about rising “murder” rates being disguised by rising assault victim recovery rates in casualty / emergency rooms / paramedic services etc.
Almost finished Foucault’s The Order of Things. The powerful chapter on Labour, Life and Language attempts to build fundamental levels of existence based on processes of creation and change (as opposed to being and exchange) in contrast to models based on taxonomies of representation. Labour – Ricardo building fundamental value on Adam Smith, arriving at … Continue reading “Foucault meets Moby Dick”