Solomon's Cairn

“And on the pedestal these words appear Time Now: 10:10 End Time: 10:25 Look upon thy work ye students And despair”

While waiting to have lunch with my local Effective Altruism chapter today, I had a run-in with a close friend, a mathematician, with whom I speak frankly and openly (hi Aaron!).  We scarcely had time to talk, but he breathlessly encouraged me to check out the NYT piece 'Bad Art Friend' which he summarized as a writer donating her kidney as an Effective Altruist cause, while actually wanting attention.  I don't read articles from the octopus as a rule, but I made an exception for a friend. I won't link the article here. If you're the terminally-online sort who's followed the story, you don't need me telling you about it, and if you aren't, you won't get anything from the Times coverage.  (I would, however, pay good money for a linguist to explain why 'bad art friend' and similar terms have such a distinct woke/coastal American sense to them) In summary: An author named Dorland donated her kidney and made sure everyone knew about it. She wa...

The current draft of the new California Mathematics Framework emphasizes the importance of word problems which maintain and reproduce equitable structures and represent real-life uses of mathematics. Seeing that previously available mathematics textbooks entirely exclude the lived experiences of marginalized people and do not address the daily needs of Californians, I humbly submit the following word problems for consideration.  Word problems! My favorite! 1. During their 5-year-old child Ostrich's gender reveal party, Theo, Lennie and Dash light an out of control fire. If 50 folx attended, 12% are killed, 34% are non-fatally injured, and 54% escape, how many Hallmark cards will the throuple have to send? 2. Lori weighs herself on several different scales, with different units, including lbs, kgs, stones, and carats. Discuss how dimensional quantities allow people of size to take control of their identities and effect change in the world.  3. 20 undocumented prospective resi...

Over the course of the pandemic, I've been slowly convincing my parents to adopt rigorous epistemological standards, mostly around speech, but also with betting. Just this week, my mother and I made a weight loss bet, precommitting to pay $25 to our least favorite politicians if we fail to meet prescribed goals. It's a slow process, and I record this anecdote to demonstrate.  A scant few minutes ago, my father commented on the lost reputation of pandemic-period darlings, namely Andrew Cuomo and Anthony Fauci.  Dad: I guarantee that Fauci is going to lose his position in the next twelve months. Me (ears perking up at the sound of a 1.0 probability ): You guarantee? Dad (knowing how this conversation goes): I have a 99% certainty that Fauci will be fired or leave his position in the next twelve months. Me: What position? Dad: Whatever the hell position it is. Me: Alright, let's bet, 1:99 odds.  Dad: What? No! Me: You said you were 99% sure, so you should be willing to bet t...