Tag: Tenure
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Revelation, not reveal
Looking up something about analog computers, ran into this NASA publication on the history of fly-by-wire. The really interesting part of the book is NOT the computing part; it’s the basic history of flying with wings. Each profession and skill has its own internal history and base assumptions, which are rarely understood by outsiders. Sometimes…
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Started later there
Worth reading! A detailed history from a former British government official in charge of science grants. Briefly: Until 1997, Britain made grants the right way, providing an annual ‘block grant’ to each lab or university to use however they wanted. In 1997 the Major admin adopted the US system of single grants awarded competitively for…
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Who fucking cares?
Via MindMatters, math profs are trying to use ChatGPT to disprove theoretical conjectures. So fucking what? Mathematical conjectures and theorems are meaningless noise, like the pro wrestling of “congress”. Theorems never solve real problems. A different sort of theory (not same as theorem) arises from real experimenters solving real problems, and occasionally provides a useful…
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Virus = voices
This isn’t the worst example by any means but it’s the available example at the moment. A local bridge has been out of service for four years during maintenance and upgrading. = = = = = START DEVIL: “It’s been a long four years. You know, a couple those years of construction was during COVID,”…
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News for ya, bud.
Fareed Zakaria claims to be puzzled by the unrest on college campuses, and says that colleges are not the nice COMMUNITIES that they once were. More students are lonely and depressed. Got news for you, asshole. Colleges were NEVER a community for unpopular people. Colleges were DESIGNED to be a community for aristocrats. In the…
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Bandwagon
Luskin at EvoNews points to a new paper by establishment biologists who acknowledge that the standard theory of evolution is flawed. They propose, without actually doing it, that AI might help to sort out the question. Unfortunately they miss the basic problem with LLMs. In current parlance, the term AI means systems like ChatGPT. If…
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Jeffrey gets Booker T
Jeffery Tucker of Brownstone is a complicated figure. He has some Libertarian genes that occasionally pop out, possibly without full intentions. His deep anger at the SHIT we endured drives him to PROTEST! Be like MLK! Be like Assange! Get imprisoned and assassinated so you can’t influence anyone at all! He’s moving quickly toward the…
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Punching half was so much fun…
In the ’60s colleges expelled and arrested “leftist” protesters. Since then, colleges have been expelling and arresting “right-wing” protesters while supinely obeying “leftist” protesters. Now they’re arresting leftist protesters again, and nobody seems to notice the reversal. Pro-Palestine has been a leftist issue for 60 years. I tried to join the SDS in ’68 but…
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Branch farts
From previous item: = = = = = START REPRINT: In fact NSA and CIA don’t use “laws” and “courts” at all. Even ordinary police are not restricted by “warrants”. All police spy on everything** they find interesting, then apply for a “warrant” when they’ve finished spying. After the “warrant” is AUTOMATICALLY ISSUED by a…
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No, wait
As usual I was doomscrolling, noting that many colleges are dropping “humanities” courses, which really means torturer training courses. I was pissed because all the online writeups were bemoaning the loss, blaming Deplorables. No, wait! WHY AM I PISSED? THE ACTUAL TREND IS MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. The bitching from well-paid devils is a…
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Reprint on elite influence
From last year. Linked in previous, worth a reprint. = = = = = START REPRINT: Most of our institutions are stuck in a Parkinsonian positive feedback loop, often without any real reason. Corporations and universities and media channels keep punching and torturing and strangling their customers, and then they wonder why their customers are…
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Prophecy about prophets
Bumped into this when looking for something else I’d written about the null hypothesis. It’s an observation about prophets, and turned out to be prophetic. = = = = = REPRINT FROM 2012: Found an interesting snippet from a speech by George Romney in 1959, showing that his prophetic vision was larger than just the…
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Goddamn right.
Goddamn right. Good work by Jeffrey Funk. On the dot in every way. It’s refreshing to see a “conservative” writer who states accurately why universities are permanently useless. Most “conservatives” start with the bizarre delusional myth that universities were meant to be havens of “open debate” and “critical thinking”, but were ruined by Current President…
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That’s not the purpose.
Pointed by Denyse as usual, this article discusses the problem with meta-analysis studies. It says that meta-analyses are designed to combat misinformation but too often do the opposite. No. A meta-analysis may happen to weed out bad studies, and may happen to emphasize bad studies. Either result is irrelevant. The PURPOSE of a meta-analysis is…
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For once the admins are right
Via KREM: A group of WSU faculty is complaining about the current university president, saying that he needs to bring in more money. They want a new admin that will: = = = = = START FACULTY: Will implement effective strategies that bolster the academic and research excellence of WSU, along with its associated reputation…
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