No one really knows how the most advanced algorithms do what they do. That could be a problem. Could be? It definitely is. I've thought about this problem for a long time, ever since it turned up in my private meditations on Cybernetic Intelligence years ago (back when I was inventing ideas like the […]
Metformin AKA Goat's Rue, Ancient Remedy for the Plague, Extends Life
Really didn't expect this. Apparently this medication derived from an herb, known since ancient days to help with diabetes symptoms, has an effect which improves quality and quantity of life. Pretty safe, too, minimal side effects for most people. A Google search of this life-extending aspect of […]
On the 'why' of things not just the 'how' of things
We do love when our own internal thought processes get confirmed by others. Aside from the shared joy of discovery, it tends to validate other related ideas which haven't been put into words yet. So I'm happy to see this idea coming from someone with Russell's reputation. I had made the observation […]
Parableizer Engine coming together
When I was first thinking about artificial intelligence years ago, I came up with this idea I called Parableizer Engine. Lately I'm starting to see the first elements of this idea being implemented. What is relational reasoning? It’s a form of thinking that makes use of logic to connect and […]
Language alters our experience of time
Not only does this article talk about one of my favorite subjects, the Aymara language, and how it is different from other languages, but it's loaded with gems like this: But Spanish-Swedish bilinguals are flexible. When prompted with the Swedish word for duration (tid), they estimated time using […]
Comparing Asterisk vs FreeSWITCH: a Meta-analysis
Overall, the two systems are roughly equal, both are well supported and both are well documented for the needs of anyone with basic PBX needs. For most purposes, either way you go, you're going to be fine. However, most likely, if you're asking "Asterisk or FreeSWITCH" you have little […]
Hebrew vs. Greek Thought
So we've been looking at binary vs ternary, intuitive vs logical, now here's Hebrew vs Greek thought: https://vimeo.com/227703921/3272b49eb6 Hebrew and Greek are two totally different ways of seeing things. Greek is more abstract, linear. Hebrew is more intimate, concrete. Several distinct […]
How can I install Perl CPAN locally as a non-root user?
Every now and then we encounter a Stack Overflow answer that cuts through hours of searching and aborted attempts at fixes with a few lines of elegance. Here's one I just deployed, figured I would point others to it as well in case Google brings you here... The easiest method I have found so far is […]
The three logical systems of Lesniewski
This guy was a student of Lukasiewicz, who famously established ternary (and then later, multivalued) logic as an alternative to the binary which prevailed since Aristotle's time. I didn't know about the three logical systems here, though, and they bear further study: The distinctive and original […]
Clifford Algebra combines geometry and algebra intuitively
I always just assumed the link between algebra and geometry was pretty solid, but actually it's two different worlds, similar to Poincare's distinction between logical and intuitive that I've discussed elsewhere (and so has Terence Tao). So it's nice to find that someone found an elegant synthesis […]
note to self on trivalence topic
This blog talks about trivalence with several posts I want to read more and maybe respond to someday when I have a little time to spare. Looking at Kratzer’s lumping problem, or the ill fit of the material conditional with natural language, I get the impression that logic is in its infancy. […]
In which I discover Barfield's Final Participation and am delighted
Barfield calls the early peoples' common sense "original participation," in that with their sense perceptions there was an extra-sensory participation with the object being sensed. While it is difficult to know what original participation is "like," there are some indications of […]
The world presented by perception is nothing like reality
This is interesting. On one side you’ll find researchers scratching their chins raw trying to understand how a three-pound lump of gray matter obeying nothing more than the ordinary laws of physics can give rise to first-person conscious experience. This is the aptly named "hard problem." […]
In Game Theory, No Clear Path to Equilibrium
While Myerson has called Nash’s vision of game theory “one of the outstanding intellectual advances of the 20th century,” he sees correlated equilibrium as perhaps an even more natural concept than Nash equilibrium. He has opined on numerous occasions that “if there is intelligent life on other […]
Natural Language Understanding Systems do not have to be in the cloud
Well this is a nice find. One of the best NLUs out there does NOT run in the cloud. They're quite pleased with this, because there is no need to expose your data to the liabilities of trusting cloud services. It achieves comparable outcomes than Alexa or Siri, while running fully on device, and […]
Neural net methodology leads to brain study's ability to read minds
This is interesting, arising out of the sort of recursive study of brains using neural net methodologies. In short, we're finding the building blocks -- common across cultures and not word-based -- of complex thoughts. The end of this journey is definitely the ability of a computer to read minds. […]
Recognizing when someone approaches math intuitively
Since it took me years to figure out that I learn math intuitively, not rationally as most mathematicians do, I find the distinction between the two methods fascinating. Once I figured that point out, everything became much easier because I finally knew where I was standing. I knew that my approach […]
Beginner's Cross Platform App Development Notes: Coding
In the previous post, we installed two virtual machines, one for Windows and one for Mac. Here, we install Xamarin and Visual Studio on each environment, and jump right into a code tutorial or two. It's pretty straightforward to install Xamarin, but the installer does take a long time. In each dev […]
Beginner's Cross Platform App Development Notes: Getting Started
I am a long time C# developer and have worked with Visual Studio extensively for server and client side development, but have not developed any Apps yet. I have a few friends who are interested in App development, so I'm starting a thread here on this blog to cover some of the material that we'll be […]
Getting to Angular elements from JQuery or JavaScript to trigger validation
I currently know almost nothing about Angular, but it does look interesting enough for when I have time to look closer. I had to integrate an authentication sequence with AngularJS recently and found that it can create some barriers to a simple approach until you spend time learning about how it […]