For fun I am reading a book on cognitive psychology and it implications (Anderson, 2010).  The book was discussing the differences between semantics and syntax.  The book generated a random series of words I thought was actually quite poetic:

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

I completely agree.  How many green, nascent, ideas still slumber inside our heads waiting for their moment to burst out and be acted upon.  Until I give my ideas color and substance they are colorless abstracts.  The second gem of random creation was:

Sincerity frightened the cat.

I can't help but thinking what happened to the unsuspecting cat the last time the scientist (or toddler) showed a look of sincerity.  I think the cat found itself in a deadly box or some such.

A well named movie theatre

So the other day I went on a date with a cougar Felis concolour. Actually my Mom and I caught a movie. The place was a Mega-Plex. And boy they really lived up to their name. There were actually 1 million screens in the Mega-Plex.

FYI-In Time is a conceptually interesting movie. The acting is a little cheesy, the drama is a little predictable, but overall its worth seeing simply for the ideas expressed.

The Implications of Being Mormon

So today I was listening to the classic news station and they had a bit about a pro-life bill being passed in Mississippi where life is being defined as starting at conception. [This contrasts quite sharply with Dave Barry's notion that abortions are legal until age 21.] Also mulling about in my thoughts were the implications of the semminal court case on the matter Roe v. Wade. But I think the best answer to when does life begin is offered by the Mormons. Given a pre-mortal existence, life actually begins BEFORE conception! Which of course means that, it is a sin and you are a murderer if you even THINK about not having kids.

Dog Do Dilema

Today, as some of you may have guessed was the LDS general conference. Today one of the talks made the point that so many people can't define a moral dilema. I can.

I like to walk my dog at night. Its cooler and the walk seems more like an adventure. My pretty puppy went potty, but in picking up the poo-poo the situation presented a perfect philosophical problem. I am cold and cannot find the world's worst dolmathe left by my dog. Here is the dilema: Do I continue searching in the dark for puppy's "lost treasure" though I am cold and getting colder or do I consider my own needs and leave "puppy suprize" for some poor soul to find in the morning? The central question is whose needs should trump? Do my needs outweigh another's or should others be a priority in life?

In first aid, and on airplanes they say to treat yourself first and to place your own oxygen mask on before helping another. In business and evolution it often seems to be a me first, self survival ethos. But this isn't the only school of thought. Scouting says to help other people at all times. The Order of the Arrow praises those who thought least of themselves. Christianity says to help your fellow man and to put others first.

Do I think of only myself call it good that I searched for as long as I could, go inside and get warm leaving a mess for someone else to clean up or possibly step in? Or do I think of others bear the cold and keep searching until I find that "hidden landmine?" Is the gesture of offering an action enough, or does an action need to be carried to completion to count?

I think ultimately, in the end, it doesn't matter what I did, but what will you do do?

Close Encounters

Almost Overheard:
...
Parapsychologist: Fine! How do you define a close encounter?

Mathematician: When object UFO comes within dr of the parameter space of the orthonormal projection of object YOU that is a close encounter.

Parapsychologist: ...

Quote of THE day!

For what follows, I am not even jesting in the least. Today's quote comes to you all directly from my mathematical modeling class. The assignment is to calculate how a flamingo's leg length will change with an increase in mass.

And now for the quote of the day, brought to you directly from my homework problem:

"Perhaps the best method would be to solve the problem of letting 20 lbs=∫ρ(Flamingo) dFlamingo Evaluated from 0 to flamingo. Where rho(flamingo) is the density function of the flamingo. Having found this function, and another similar one evaluated at 100 lbs it should be no trouble finding a limb generating function by comparing the ratio of the two."

And for your viewing pleasure here's the sequel, also from my assignment:
"...assume a spherical flamingo..."

May I just say...

COMPUTERS ARE STUPID!!! Now that that is out I feel much better. So for 4 days now I have been trying to solve a problem. I finally gave up and went to the professor. Whereas it failed for 4 days consecutively, the second that I get the teacher it decides to work. Yay for Irony!

Today's Three "What the?s" and a Zap Brought to you by....

This Guy!

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Please Note...

This is NOT how you change a tire!