Filthy’s busy

My favorite film critic is currently busy.

craziness warning: violet

Miracles

What is a miracle?
I would say something that cannot be explained by natural causes. I was arguing with a friend, saying that unlikely or statistically improbable is not miraculous. I will agree with John Stewart, we use the term too lightly. (He was referring to a Canadian plane crash.)

Religious warning: Gold

saddness

Hey sports fans,
I usually try to be positive and uplifting here (unless of course I give a stoopid movie its due review) but today will be slightly different.

Different warning : cobalt blue

Incompleteness

Let me just start by saying that I am not smart enough or educated enough to be intelligently talking about the logician Kurt Gödel. I just finished Incompleteness, which discusses Gödel and his famous Incompleteness Theorem. Once again, I basically enjoyed the story of the people in the book, but when it came down to the explanations, I kinda had to skip some stuff.

A famous story of this math recluse was that when he became a United States citizen, he was asked about his Austrian citizenship. The judge made a flippant remark that America couldn’t become a fascist state. Gödel, who had spent weeks studying the Constitution, replied “on the contrary, I know precisely how it can happen here,” and started to explain an internal contradiction he had found in the Constitution that could be used to turn American into a tyranny. (No one knows the particular flaw Gödel found with the Constitution.) pgs 232-234

The other famous anecdote would be that Einstein said he went to work (at the Institute of Advanced Study) to have the privilege of walking home with Gödel.

Some interesting and funny quotes by Gödel:
“Who ever became more intelligent by reading Voltaire’s writings?” pg 247
“I don’t believe in natural science.” Pg 31
“You know Stalin didn’t believe in evolution either, and he was a very intelligent man.” Pg 32

Vain amateur attempt to explain “Incompleteness Theorem” warning: Red
Silly ideas of my own warning: bright red

what I learned Friday

It was a good day. I learned two things.

Trivia warning: purple

I can run again

for some reason I believe that if your pace is faster than 8 minutes per mile you are running. Greater than that is jogging. I don’t know the speed difference between jogging and walking…gee I hope that I actually jogged the Portland Marathon a few years back. (And yes, my knees are still slightly grumpy with me about it. Or maybe I just need new shoes.)

running stats warning: mauve