Ceci n’est pas votre science!

There is no reason to believe that we would have a common point of discussion about science or mathematics with intelligent extra-terrestrial life-forms. Or so says André Kukla in his now not-so-recent (I started writing this a while back) BJPS article, worth reading in full if you’ve access through your institution or someone else’s, & [...]

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Questions

What do think of replacing the current author list (links to brief summaries of the individuals involved; presently at top of sidebar) with a similar looking list of names that instead link to a page with the posts by that author, perhaps with a couple of recent posts displayed in the bar too (like the [...]

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Vishy Anand: Still the Best

Concluding today was the unified World Chess Championship, with the Russian not winning. I’m delighted to see Anand victorious in what must be the most important match of a career noted for inventive play; his is a style I would particularly enjoy emulating, though it is doubtful that my play would not be more greatly [...]

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Pointless

Thirty-second iTunes samples for hour-long minimalist compositions. Thanks, chumps.
Music With Changing Parts
Later on, that is.

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Things learned during an economic crisis

Ah, McSweeney’s:
This brings us to the housing crisis, for which you and you alone, Pamela, are responsible. When you choose a Chance card and Rich Uncle Pennybags orders you to pay taxes on your houses, then, damn it, Pamela, you pay taxes. Instead, you decide you’re not going to pay, because you only have $7 [...]

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Reich-bait

Via O. X. Dive comes the following short feature:

Splendid!
I saw Ligeti’s Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes a little while back at the Steve Reich Evening dance performance at the Edinburgh Festival. Another intriguing offering was used as an opener: a drum speaker is placed face up in the centre of the [...]

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In which I do not agree, for now.

In his sardonically-titled First Person Plural, Paul Bloom (h/t Sullivan) draws my attention to an interesting current in applied identity metaphysics (a.k.a. psychology):
But what’s more exciting, I think, is the emergence of a different perspective on happiness itself. We used to think that the hard part of the question “How can I be happy?” had [...]

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Ringtones

So I am thinking that Steve Reich’s Electric Guitar Phase would be a great mobile ringtone, especially if you’re the sort of person who doesn’t answer their phone without it ringing for about fifteen minutes.
Electric Guitar Phase Fragment I
No, seriously, what I actually mean is that it would make a good ringtone if the phone [...]

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Diagramm der Nacht

Mind you, it doesn’t have much competition because I’ve spent an hour-and-a-half writing its m-script.

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The Cost of Motorcycling

When I decided to get my motorbike licence a few years ago, one of the reasons for doing so was the cost. Bikes (new or used) are cheaper than cars and use less petrol. Being on an APA at the time, price was a compelling issue. Other advantages include sexiness, fun, less environmental impact (relative [...]

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