Micro Softy 67: Three Switches and a Song
A mind‑twisting challenge for curious thinkersThe other two switches turn outside lights off and on. Wide Clyde can’t see outside, so he can’t determine which switches control the lights.
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Micro Softy 62: The Ordeal of Sisyphus Fats
A hill, a bowling ball, and the mathematics of persistenceSisyphus Fats, exercises by pushing a giant bowling ball up a 100 foot hill. Every minute, he pushes the ball three feet closer to the top and then the bowling ball slides two feet back.
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Monday Micro Softy 61: Take Five
Crack the beat: a logic puzzle in rhythm and timeThe western scale is based on natural acoustic harmonics from the physics of vibrating strings and resonant acoustics from sound columns.
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Marvin Minsky Asks: Can GPT4 Hack Itself?
Will AI of the future be able to count the number of objects in an image?Creativity and understanding, properly defined, lie beyond the capability of the computers of today and tomorrow.
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Beauty is Non-Computable
Taking some time to reflect on the beautiful things in the world can lead to genuine thanksgiving.Gratitude expert Robert Emmons writes that it’s impossible to be grateful to oneself.
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Antiracism In Math Promotes Racism and Bad Math
If you are scratching your head over how math might be racist, you are not aloneRecently, a conglomeration of California education associations got together to work on a series of resources for mathematics teachers. The goal? Eliminate racism in mathematics classes by promoting Equitable Math. If you are struggling to imagine how mathematics could be racist, you are not alone. I am certain there exist racist teachers, and probably teachers who exhibit racist expectations of their students. I would support any reasonable action to get rid of or reform such teachers. But that is not the primary goal of these resources. The website, equitablemath.org, instead believes that the very way that mathematics is commonly taught is not just racist, but is specifically white supremacist. While I consider myself to be somewhat of a mathematics reformer Read More ›