tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57152002024-03-05T00:10:09.509-08:00Z9Z99z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.comBlogger262125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-59279433561409387372021-09-07T10:40:00.000-07:002021-09-07T10:40:01.725-07:00Follow-up to the previous Collatz conjecture post After reflection, it is in fact the case that if there is a loop that begins with a number other than 1, call it z, that the sequence of operations that cause z to loop around to z will in fact converge on z regardless of the number chosen as a starting point. The number z is encoded in the sequence of operations and if that sequence is repeated any starting number will converge on z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-76904106310049464692021-09-05T14:22:00.000-07:002021-09-05T14:22:17.355-07:00Some thoughts on the Collatz conjecture Problem:
One of the unanswered questions regarding
the Collatz conjecture is whether there are any loops other than the sequence
1, 4, 2. The following argument suggests there are not.
Procedure:
Write any number in binary form, to make
the calculations easier. Now divide the binary number at some random point into
two parts; a “high” part and a low part. For z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-90872774681034670322021-08-08T15:56:00.003-07:002021-08-08T15:56:57.237-07:00COVID: Different Types of Immunity Much of the information , recommendations, observations opinions etc. regarding COVID is conflicting and confusing. One reason for this is that the certain subjects, such as immunity, are spoken of in vague and ambiguous terms. When someone speaks of immunity in one sense, such as herd immunity, it is countered by a counter-example which actually addresses a separate issue. To avoid this, z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-17204074965777079952021-08-01T10:07:00.003-07:002021-08-01T10:07:56.087-07:00What to Make of COVID Information The current state of information regarding the COVID pandemic, vaccine efficacy, Delta variant, mask mandates, etc., is nothing if not confused. Reports of "surges," breakthrough infections, booster shots and so forth leave the answers to such basic questions as "do vaccines work?" and "does mask wearing do anything?" uncertain. There appears to be either no source of reliable information z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-78832826287709837942021-07-27T12:42:00.001-07:002021-07-27T12:42:25.835-07:00A Couple of Other Vaccine Thoughts The trajectory of cases attributed to the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 suggests that the available vaccines do provide some protection against infection, but that the protection is time-dependent and wanes significantly. This observation is supported by the recent observation that anti-body levels in patients who had received the Sinovac injection are not durable. Here are a couple of z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-67868316529989981132021-07-24T13:52:00.004-07:002021-07-24T13:52:59.987-07:00About the Vaccine...The various waves of coronavirus infections provoke a great deal of dispute and angst about vaccines, vaccine hesitancy, skepticism and "science." An objective review of the available evidence suggests the following:1. Vaccines do, in fact work. The mechanism is understood, although likely not as well as vaccine advocates claim.2. The experience with the virus is unavoidably local. Environment z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-36481469303582348772021-07-22T10:19:00.002-07:002021-07-22T10:19:33.530-07:00Can Communism Work? A sentiment which is common in current political discourse is that “communism has failed every time that it has been tried.” This certainly seems like an accurate assessment given the available historical examples, but does present the question of whether this is necessarily so. Is communism incapable of succeeding, or is it that is has simply been vexed by a run of bad luck?The weaknesses z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-640726126025638352021-07-19T12:43:00.000-07:002021-07-19T12:43:17.358-07:00Coordination in MessagingNikole Hannah-Jones recently said that Cuba is "the most equal, multiracial country in our hemisphere."Previously, Ibram X. Kendi asserted that "The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-52016503840702597002021-07-17T11:48:00.007-07:002021-07-17T12:29:20.806-07:00Destruction and Spontaneity In the previously-mentioned discussion between Michel Foucault and Noam Chomsky, the former made the following assertion about Marxist revolution:"What the proletariat will achieve by expelling the class which is at present in power and by taking over power itself, is precisely the suppression of the power of class in general."This statement represents more sophism than philosophy. It z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-53070928851380341962021-07-16T15:51:00.003-07:002021-07-16T15:51:26.082-07:00Chomsky, Doctrines and Science In a 1971 academic discussion with Michel Foucault, Noam Chomsky made the following observation:“…the fundamental property of behaviorism, which is in a way suggested by the odd term behavioral science, is that it is a negation of the possibility of developing a scientific theory.”This insight is significant, especially if one infers from the specific case of behavior to the realm of z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-53126623011097210102021-07-16T12:35:00.002-07:002021-07-16T12:35:28.286-07:00Bias, Modifiers and Jargon.The objectivity of the American media is a topic of ongoing dispute. News outlets that promote themselves as "trusted," or disinterested often produce material that contains an identifiable slant. The easiest way to identify this when it occurs is to examine the copy for adverbs and adjectives. Consider for example, this fictitious report of an automobile accident:"A white pickup truck traveling z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-46698562254371956612021-07-15T16:21:00.002-07:002021-07-15T16:21:44.844-07:00Two Basic Types of Satisfaction Driving Human Behavior An earlier post noted the difference between accomplishing and experiencing. It was noted there that a significant trend in modern society is to replace actual accomplishment with experiences that may or may not accomplish anything, and which may detract from more productive activities. This distinction may have more to tell us regarding why people are motivated to pursue certain z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-91668612459235485632021-07-03T11:18:00.001-07:002021-07-03T11:18:13.051-07:00Social Media Suggestion Here is a suggestion for social media platforms:There is certainly an argument that the "moderation," "fact-checking," suspensions, shadow bans that are par to f the experience on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. are net negatives for a free society. They may, perhaps do more harm than good, and it is inevitable that they will eventually produce more corruption than they inhibit. The issue z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-74743708811177766762021-07-01T11:31:00.004-07:002021-07-01T11:31:52.686-07:00Make-Believe, Villains and Heroes Make-believe is an ingrained part of human experience. It is readily observed in the play of young children. It is observed in social conventions; it is expected that in many social interactions we are expected to behave as though something were true, even when everyone knows it is not. Make believe plays a role in how humans cope with misfortune, such as terminal diseases. Given the z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-66030072176739854322021-07-01T10:00:00.000-07:002021-07-01T10:00:38.579-07:00Election Fraud. Election fraud denies the benefit of elections to people who have the right to vote. If a person properly casts a vote for a given candidate or proposal and someone else casts an illegal vote in opposition, the legal vote is effectively canceled. There is an irreconcilable trade-off between access to voting and prevention of fraud. Constant complaints of abstract voter suppression z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-84326940798809277132021-06-29T19:32:00.003-07:002021-06-29T19:32:39.675-07:00Does Censorship work? As mentioned in an earlier post, censorship is not an effective way to prevent the dissemination of information. It can slow such dissemination and make it more inconvenient, but it cannot stop the spread of information. Phenomena such as samizdat, steganography and even double entendre can be used to circumvent censorship efforts. Censorship carries a negative connotation, evoking images z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-87645250990125136992021-06-27T13:11:00.019-07:002021-06-27T14:33:55.864-07:00Myths, Narratives and Make-Believe A previous post mentioned the role that make-believe plays in bot day-to-day human interactions as well as larger endeavors such as political movements. The hypothesis presented was that make-believe is an innate and largely useful element of how humans contend with competing socializing instincts and uncertainty associated with contemplation of the future. The post also referred to z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-39679954974270217982021-06-24T13:04:00.026-07:002021-06-24T17:50:42.488-07:00Censorship and Make-BelieveOne of the current social phenomena affecting discourse on matters of public interest is the resistance to dissemination of particular classes of views. This phenomenon includes, but is not limited to classic censorship, e.g. removing books on particular subjects, to social media companies suppressing various ideas under the euphemism "disinformation," discouraging the expression of views throughz9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-70463524813689347402021-06-18T14:08:00.006-07:002021-06-18T14:15:34.269-07:00Will There Be Inflation? A very common economic concern at the moment is whether there will be significant inflation as the result of large federal spending programs as well as the injection into the economy of vast sums of money as the result of the Federal Reserve increasing the money supply by buying government bonds. There are even concerns that the United States might experience hyperinflation. Opinions on z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-51623391507439357282021-06-17T20:33:00.004-07:002021-06-17T20:33:28.593-07:00HypothesisThe most enduring changes are in response to excess. This is because the response to excess cannot afford to be capricious. Excesses tend to highlight those things that should endure and not be sacrificed in the interest of novelty.z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-27017408318729844772021-06-13T17:20:00.005-07:002021-06-13T17:20:35.885-07:00Modern Trends There are several trends in modern life that might be expected to have significant economic and political effects. Three of the most prominent are:1. The trend toward experiencing things and away from accomplishing things. Another way to state this is that there is a trend toward entertainment and way from production. This trend is facilitated by several factors: the prominence of mass z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-75220496086416353692021-06-12T13:39:00.002-07:002021-06-12T13:39:22.330-07:00Biases and Education Seemingly lost among controversies regarding academic and corporate “equity” training programs is 1.) whether such training is the best way to accomplish its stated goal, and 2.) whether it works at all. In examining the first question, we may assume that “education” has some sort of universal application; that it possible for example to “teach” empathy, or any other emotion for that matterz9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-18447255276318425472021-06-11T15:48:00.001-07:002021-06-11T15:48:31.333-07:00Constraints on Liberty There is a new post on the LibertyZ.substack.com site regarding constraints on liberty. The purpose of the posts on that site are to present foundational arguments regarding the role of liberty in human flourishing, and why, for example, libertarianism does not require an individual right to own artillery pieces.z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-51724828634466532102021-06-11T15:44:00.003-07:002021-06-11T16:24:18.232-07:00Coronavirus: Coda Now that the number of coronavirus cases worldwide seems to be in sustained decline, one may make some final observations:1. Lockdowns did little to affect the spread of the virus or the final numbers of those infected. If one looked at the profiles of the number of daily new cases from various jurisdictions, it is impossible to tell which resorted to strict social-control policies such as z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5715200.post-76844223953708045142021-06-09T11:39:00.005-07:002021-06-09T11:39:51.647-07:00Liberty Here is the opening of a new post on liberty. The remainder of the post is on the LibertyZ.substack.com site. The next post will be on equality.In the purest sense liberty is the capacity to behave as one would wish in the complete absence of interactions with other people. This idea of liberty is not particularly useful however, lacking a real-world relevance to those situations in which z9z99http://www.blogger.com/profile/17625237265691181989noreply@blogger.com0