Category: Technology

Does Philosophy Make You a Better Scientist?

Cosmic Variance

Does Philosophy Make You a Better Scientist?

It’s probably true that the post-WWII generations of leading physicists were less broadly educated than their pre-war counterparts (although there are certainly counterexamples such as Murray Gell-Mann and Steven Weinberg). The simplest explanation for this phenomenon would be that the center of gravity of scientific research switched from Europe to America after the war, and the value of a broad-based education (and philosophy in particular) has always been less in America.

via blogs.discovermagazine.com

Fascinating post on whether or not philosophy aids one in the pursuit of scientific studies.

As a self-professed “liberal arts” educated person, I feel there’s a great need to have a broad education beyond just one’s field. As a result, I see the current professional and pigeon-holed view of science education as damaging to the discipline’s overall goals of human enlightenment and understanding.

Evening 1.5 Mile Run Up the Beverly Hills

I look like such a weakling with this 11 mi/h run, but this is a particularly hilly section of the neighborhood (at least it feels that way after an earlier run and 6 mi bike)!

OK, I’m just a weakling.

But I’m getting there.

Oh, and we live in the mountains, so I’m sure the altitude makes it more difficult!

Right? Right?

Sigh.

http://www.runkeeper.com/pub/act/SufcczKiedD3mBQPt3Hc/map

Radiolab: My New Favorite Podcast

This hour, Radiolab examines Stochasticity, which is just a wonderfully slippery and smarty-pants word for randomness. How big a role does randomness play in our lives? Do we live in a world of magic and meaning or … is it all just chance and happenstance? To tackle this question, we look at the role chance and randomness play in sports, lottery tickets, and even the cells in our own body. Along the way, we talk to a woman suddenly consumed by a frenzied gambling addiction, two friends whose meeting seems purely providential, and some very noisy bacteria.

Download MP3

via blogs.wnyc.org

Fantastic podcast.

This particular episode is really a must listen if you’re a thinking human (or even if you’re not).

Ah, me. Ah, life.

GMail as My Web Nervous System

When I read that GMail was updating its label structure to allow for drag/drop and hiding, I really wasn't sure if this was going to be much of an "upgrade" for my email client (and central web nervous system) since April of 2004.

However, I was wrong.  I have a number of alias' set up around my main GMail account (which can be done simply by just using the format of username+alias@gmail.com). With these alias' I can keep track of things such as my 2Do lists, my daily journals, triathlon training, etc by routing the alias' to specified labels using GMail's filtering tools… it's really become the way I operate.  However, I don't necessarily need all of those labels displayed at all times since I'm using quite a few of them and they were taking up a good deal of precious real estate in my GMail sidebar. 

So, here's what things look like after the update and with my hiding of labels:

The labels I access the most (as well as default settings such as Starred) are still there. However, I've saved a ton of space and made room for my fav gadgets "above the fold" in my inbox.  It might only save me a few seconds by not having to scroll down to reach my Google Calendar or Docs gadget, but it makes a world of difference for me. 

GMail continues to impress me and make me glad that it's become my web nervous system (and now my blogwriter since I'm composing this post within GMail!).  I'll do a more in-depth post about how much I really rely on GMail to get things done as well as process incoming and outgoing work/personal flows soon.