Counterintuitivity

Hypothetical

2012-02-10T00:28:00.001-06:00

You are a Doctor working for the Center for Disease Control. You are assigned to a team that is responding to a new spread of a hemorrhagic fever which kills 90% of the people it afflicts. There is a rare experimental serum which is being tested on animals. The serum shows great promise but will be very hard to manufacture in great numbers and if it is approved will only be available to a very small number of people.

You arrive home to discover your 11 year old daughter showing early signs of having this disease. As a member of the CDC team you have access to the serum. The serum is not available to give to humans and only very small amounts of it exist at this time. The long term consequences of taking this serum are unknown. Because the serum is so limited in quantity, it will be missed and an investigation will be launched if some turns up missing.

Do you steal some and try and use it to save your daughters life, or do you take her to the hospital and hope she is one of the lucky 10% which survives after being afflicted with this malady?

Useful Word

2012-02-09T07:22:00.001-06:00

edacious, adjective – to devour voraciously: gluttonous.

Light Reading

2012-02-08T07:25:00.001-06:00

In recent days I have come upon these interesting items which you might find illuminating:

This is an interesting article about the oldest living thing on Earth at a mere 200,000 years of age.
Here is a free place to play chess with an artificial intelligence: lichess.
Does Finland have the formula for successful schools for school children? You can read an article which describes their secret here.
Here is an article describing a clever and novel legal argument in defense of a copyright infringement suit, asserting that pornography is not copyrightable in the United States due to the fact that it does not, “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts,” as required by Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution.
Can you distill the essence of a subject into two simple things? This piece describes some good attempts.

Thought for the Day

2012-02-07T15:24:00.001-06:00

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”

Arthur Schopenhauer

Where I Should Be Today

2012-02-07T11:49:00.001-06:00

South Street Seaport, lower Manhattan, New York City

Pillar of Strength

2012-02-06T00:32:00.001-06:00

My mother once told me that during a particularly trying Summer day when she was a teenager she found herself contemplating her coming apparent oblivion. As she walked and wrestled with her demons, she found herself next to Central Park in New York City. She wandered into the park and found a bench to sit upon. She remembered that she happened to have a book in her bag, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, which she decided to start reading. Several hours later she found that it restored her equilibrium and she was then able to face the unbearable travails which plagued her and thus continue to fight on against the darkness. I like the idea of having a book or movie which is a ballast for a person. A place where they can return in times of need to help find themselves again.

Is there a book or movie which serves this purpose in your life?

Interesting Proposition Bet

2012-02-04T07:29:00.001-06:00

This Sunday the Super Bowl takes place in the Unites States, which serves these days as good opportunity to eat food which is bad for you in the company of friends, enemies and neighbors. Millions of dollars are spent on various commercials during the game, and there is generally a dreadful halftime show with some over the hill singing act. If you are of a betting mind, there are many possible wagers that one can make on this game. In looking over the list of proposition bets* I found one that I liked, so if you happen to find yourself in Las Vegas this weekend, you might consider a tiny wager if you are daring and do not mind losing money.

The one that I liked was:

TOTAL RUSHING YARDS BY: PATRIOTS
OVER 102.5 -110
UNDER 102.5 -110

I like the under. I would explain my reasoning but it is somewhat pedestrian and my logic and perspicacity in this regard would not impress you. You can find a list of more of these type of bets here.

* A proposition bet is a bet where instead of wagering on the future of a team, the wager is made on an individual player or event generally occurring during the game.

Apt Word, Hopefully

2012-02-03T10:28:00.001-06:00

opsimath, noun – a person who becomes a student or who acquires knowledge late in life.

Pick Me Up

2012-02-02T07:16:00.001-06:00

I was listening on the internet to a radio broadcast from ABC radio in New South Wales and came across this drink which turned out to be quite tasty (I have changed it a bit but the spirit is the same). Thus from our friends in Australia, here is something to make your week better:

Kate’s Strawberry Cocktail

6 ounces of vodka
5 limes
Fresh strawberries
12 ounces of Ginger Beer
ice

Imagine yourself in a deck chair in sunny Australia. You are wearing a fine hat to protect your sacred head. You are thirsty though, so you find your blender and squeeze the five limes into it. Then you toss in the strawberries and add the vodka and ginger beer. Fill the the rest of the blender with ice. Blend until smooth. Pour into a tall glass. Consume. Repeat as needed.

Learning a Little Poker

2012-02-02T07:07:00.001-06:00

Will Ma is teaching a course on poker at MIT. He has put a lot of the materials online here, and has created a YouTube channel with videos of the lectures here. They are quite good and worth watching if you would like to learn how to play poker better.

Sichuan Boiled Beef

2012-02-01T00:47:00.001-06:00

From Spring World in Chinatown

Thought for the Day

2012-01-31T00:10:00.001-06:00

“Therefore, since the world has still
Much good, but much less good than ill,
And while the sun and moon endure
Luck's a chance, but trouble's sure,
I'd face it as a wise man would,
And train for ill and not for good.”

A. E. Houseman from his poem “Terrance This is Stupid Stuff,” from A Shropshire Lad

Alien Nation

2012-01-30T07:36:00.001-06:00

Now that I am no longer intelligent I must find my diversions in lesser places, so I was reading the New York Daily News this morning when I came upon this headline, “Fran Drescher: I was abducted by aliens and they implanted a chip in my hand.”

Because my brain is deficient I immediately thought, “well that happens I am sure.” It did cause me to wonder though, of all the people to kidnap in the world, how did they know that Fran Drescher was the finest human specimen in the world? Studying her brain of course will produce amazing benefits for the aliens. They will get to see the top of human potential and when they colonize the Earth no doubt they will install her as the leader of the humans. Fran apparently believes that the aliens left a chip in her hand, although she does not speculate as to why they did such a nefarious thing. Coincidentally she also believes the same experience all happened separately to her ex-husband. He too is apparently saddled with the alien chip of doom.

I guess I should check my own hand to see if the telltale scar is there as well. Wait a moment while I go and see. (Long horrifying pause: cue the sinister music.)

I would tell you the results of my examination but they would not let me. Here is my tip of the day: sometimes it is better not to know.

Full of Noxious Illness

2012-01-29T00:10:00.001-06:00

I seem to have come down with a particularly unattractive head cold so I have been hiding under the covers and reading truly ghastly fiction in my bed. Both of the cats are fighting to sit on my head so it is at least it has been a pretty good day for them. Hopefully I will have something interesting to say tomorrow.

Useful Word

2012-01-27T07:37:00.001-06:00

peregrine, adjective – 1) foreign or alien; 2) roving or migratory.

Cityscape

2012-01-26T07:11:00.000-06:00

I miss the summer!

Cycle of Life

2012-01-25T00:42:00.001-06:00

“All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.”
Winston Churchill

In our dreams we all have a script to follow. We are the hero in a complicated and epic drama, filled with twists and turns and daring deeds. There are obstacles to be faced, battles to be fought, hearts to be won. There will be moments where we doubt our own courage and where we are forced to question the things that are dear to us. We will not bow or yield though. We will rise to fight for what is right, to do honor to our convictions and embrace our dreams. Honor will be restored and our bloodied head can be held high.

And then we wake up and open our eyes and become who we really are.

“…I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.”

T. S. Eliot from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

Warming the Soul

2012-01-24T09:33:00.001-06:00

"You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever,
But you rode upon a steamer to the violence of the sun."
From "Tales of Brave Ulysses" by Eric Clapton and Martin Sharp

My soul is feeling cold today as we face another January day. Undaunted I am making hot toddies. You can join me in the following defrosting recipe if you dare:

Hot Buttered Rum

4 ounces of dark rum
2 teaspoons honey
2 pats of butter
small bit of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
hot water

Boil some water. Combine the rum, cinnamon, honey and butter in a warmed mug. Add the boiling water and gently stir while sprinkling nutmeg on top. Drink with gusto. Repeat if necessary. Turn on the television, you need the injection of mindless drivel. After a suitable period of time go for a jog, some suffering is mandated for all of us.

Proper Incentives

2012-01-23T10:01:00.001-06:00

Long ago, when my father taught me to play poker, he also imparted to me one of the cardinal rules connected with casino going, “never loan anyone in the casino money.” This of course is a strong rule, but eventually he told me there was an important codicil which he liked to call the “incentivize the bum strategy.” Because I like you, I will now teach it to you. It applies in all settings really and works pretty well.

Let us say there is this truly ghastly loser in your life. They attempt to suck you dry in many ways by taking your time, your energy and your money. My father said the best way to deal with such a person, especially in the casino or poker room setting, is that when they ask to borrow money you tell them of course you will loan them some, but you note mournfully that you only have a small amount with you on that day, say $ 20.00. You give them that sum and get them to agree to pay you back in a short time period, say a day. The bum wants more of course, but he will not be able to help himself, so he takes the twenty. Because he is a bum, he will not want to pay you back. Hence forth he will mostly avoid you in the future, often even going out of his way not to encounter you because he does not want to pay you back this money. If he does not avoid you, you simply ask for the money back. He will make his excuses, look around shiftily and slink off.

Thus for the small sum of twenty dollars, you have incentivized him to not encounter or interact with you anymore. A small price to pay for the peace and serenity of removing a blood sucking bum from your life.

Thought for the Day

2012-01-21T07:39:00.001-06:00

“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”

Winston Churchill

Let There Be Snow

2012-01-20T16:47:00.001-06:00

Snow Day

2012-01-20T07:23:00.001-06:00

It is funny how your perspective changes as you get older. When I was a boy my mother would attempt to get me to take a nap and I would scoff and refuse to sleep. I had things to do! Of course when I grew older I began to look forward to stealing away for a nap and eventually nap time became a rare and wonderful treat.

A similar thing has happened in regard to snow days as well. During my childhood they would cancel school if the snow began falling at just the right time and if it accumulated in a large enough amount. So on an evening where a storm was forecast, you would listen carefully to the forecast, looking desperately for signs that the snow might have started already or evaluating the strength of the first falling flakes. You would then gamble on the fact that school would be cancelled and thinking positively, you would then not do your homework. The next morning you would turn on the radio and listen to the list of school closings, smiling broadly when your school’s name was amongst the lucky ones. Now as an adult you sigh and think to yourself, “Oh God, snow. I will have a much harder commute now. There will be lame shoveling, slipping and falling. Sigh.”

Ok, I would like to return to childhood please.

Uncommon Breakfast

2012-01-19T07:35:00.001-06:00

Monikers

2012-01-18T01:09:00.001-06:00

I am riding on the dreaded red line. It is very early in the morning. The sun has not yet risen. Most of the seats are occupied by the dissolute or the homeless. Morons are playing tinny and dreadful music out loud on their terrible cell phones while idiots express their opinions and I die a little inside.

A young woman is sitting in a seat in front of me scrolling through her phone looking at entrees of people who have called her recently. Over her shoulder I can see that she has received calls from Mary, Karen & unknown number. She scrolls down and I see another entry, “the antichrist.”

Now what must it be like to go through life with a nickname like the antichrist? I imagine that she comes home from school and her mom casually says, “oh your friend, the antichrist, stopped by while you were out.” Or those pesky messages at the office. The antichrist called and needs a response by tomorrow. Or the inevitable, “let’s meet the antichrist at happy hour!” But I have said too much. Hopefully the antichrist won’t read this and hunt me down. Oh wait, I see it is too late …

Light Reading

2012-01-17T09:49:00.001-06:00

Here are a couple of things that are worth reading on this snowy morning in Chicago:

This is a pleasing little gem from the Atlantic about a crow that likes to sled.
Here is a good little article about the early sit in movement in Chicago in the 1940s.
Do you own too much stuff? Here is a blog posting from a tech entrepreneur who claims to own only 15 things.
Finally, this is an amusing piece entitled, “Everything I need to know about startups, I learned from a crime boss,” from Donald DeSantis on GigaOm.com