John McCarthy: A commentary on important events of the 20th century and expected events of the next was solicited by the San Jose Mercury and published on 1999 June 24.
The State of Evidence on the God Question
By the way I’m an atheist. I don’t claim to have a proof that God cannot exist. It’s just that I consider the state of the evidence on the God question to be similar to that on the werewolf question.
Extensions to Logic for Common Sense
From some John McCarthy lecture slides on extensions to logic for common sense.
Problem
Find the height of a building using a barometer.
Intended answer
Multiply the difference in pressures by the ratio of densities of mercury and air.
Unintended common sense answers
- Drop the barometer from the top of the building and measure the time before it hits the ground.
- Measure the height and length of the shadow of the barometer and the shadow of the building.
- Rappel down the building with the barometer as a yardstick.
- Lower the barometer on a string till it reaches the ground and measure the string.
- Sit on the barometer and multiply the stories by ten feet.
- Tell the janitor, “I’ll give you this fine barometer if you’ll tell me the height of the building.”
- Sell the barometer and buy a GPS.
Amy Chua > Dr. Spock
Here’s a photo of some of the students who scored 800 on sections or subject tests of the SAT at Wilson High School in Hacienda Heights.
What do they have in common? Does anything jump out at you?
Either Asian kids are just genetically superior with regard to intelligence, or Amy Chua should replace Dr. Spock on the parenting bookshelf . . .
The Problems That You Have
Anyone who thinks they are special is on the road to hell. Because feeling special is just a way to avoid doing the things that most people do to fix the problems that you have.
Herman Cain’s 9-9-9
By slashing the income tax rate, effectively, in half, he makes it that much more worthwhile to get up in the morning, take risks, work hard, take chances, and invest in progress. By eliminating the capital gains tax, he rewards investment and ownership and makes it possible for people to move up the economic ladder, not through phony teaser Fannie Mae mortgages, but by smart purchases and skillful investment. . . .
Herman Cain would establish America as a beacon for investors, entrepreneurs, inventors, creative business people, and all manner of upwardly mobile, ambitious men and women. He would give the U.S. the lowest personal and corporate tax rates in the world, and the only place where investment earnings are tax free. In the process, he and his plan would kindle decades of robust economic growth. He would make the next few decades a continuation of the American Century.
Aside
Jeff Sutherland: Scrum: Why Story Points Are Better Than Hours
Growing a System
Some years ago, Harlan Mills proposed that any software system should be grown by incremental development. That is, the system first be made to run, even though it does nothing useful except call the proper set of dummy subprograms. Then, bit by bit, it is fleshed out, with the subprograms in turn being developed into actions or calls to empty stubs in the level below. . . .
Nothing in the past decade has so radically changed my own practice, and its effectiveness. . . .
One always has, at every stage, in the process, a working system. I find that teams can grow much more complex entities in four months than they can build.
Aside
Scott Hanselman: Brain, Bytes, Back, Buns – The Programmer’s Priorities
The Essence of Scrum
Good short article by Tobias Mayer on the principles of empiricism, emergence and self-organization, and the mechanisms of prioritization and timeboxing.
Living in the Digital World
A 2011 study by telecommunications giant Ericsson found that 35% of iPhone and Android users check their email or Facebook account before getting out of bed in the morning.
Alone Together
We are lonely but fearful of intimacy. Constant connectivity offers the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship. We can’t get enough of each other if we can have each other at a distance and in amounts we can control.
The Rich Get Poorer
Here is a fact that you might not have heard from the Occupy Wall Street crowd: The incomes at the top of the income distribution have fallen substantially over the past few years.
According to the most recent IRS data, between 2007 and 2009, the 99th percentile income (AGI, not inflation-adjusted) fell from $410,096 to $343,927. The 99.9th percentile income fell from $2,155,365 to $1,432,890. During the same period, median income fell from $32,879 to $32,396.
These recent numbers illustrate the broader phenomenon, discussed in this paper, that high-income households have riskier-than-average incomes.
Aside
Disclaimer: EppsNet is produced without benefit of focus groups, town-hall meetings, phone polls, or, in fact, any input from the public at all.
Don’t Make Me Laugh
A new study says that men are funnier than women — but just barely.
Men are a lot funnier on average, a few women are very funny, and women who have a reputation of being funny, like Lucille Ball or Carol Burnett, are usually not funny at all.
From the Notre Dame Photo Album
This is either the 2011 version of the Four Horsemen or an Irish production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
No Photos, Please, of Obama’s L.A. Fundraisers
The White House wants you to see President Obama bash the rich, and everyone in the press corps is invited to cover the various rallies and speeches where he claims average people can’t get a break and the wealthy aren’t paying their fair share of taxes.
What the White House doesn’t want you to see is Obama schmoozing the rich so that he can pocket some of their money for his campaign.
So not surprisingly, news photographers were barred from both of Obama’s L.A. fundraisers Monday. . . .
Tickets cost $35,800 per person.
Actor Will Smith, looking dapper in a three piece suit . . . Magic Johnson sat at a table to the president’s right . . . imposing Spanish-style mansion of Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith . . . POTUS entered with Eva Longoria.
Meanwhile, news photographers were welcomed earlier in the day when Obama made an unscheduled stop at Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘n Waffles in West L.A., where he ordered the No. 9, “Country Boy” – 3 wings with choice of waffle, potato salad or French fries for $8.90.
Unhappiness is Good for You
As a society, we are not actually all that interested in happiness. If we were, people would stop relocating for jobs, people would stop eating french fries, and people would stop scheduling their kids for activities that happen close to dinnertime. If anything, I think people are focused on hiding the fact that they desperately want more money and more passion in their lives even though it’s not fashionable to admit it.
USC Football – UNFILTERED – Notre Dame
USC 31, Notre Dame 17
Notre Dame came into the game at 5-2, USC at 5-1, both unranked, but for some reason Notre Dame was a 9-point favorite.
The Trojans dominated on offense and defense, gave up a touchdown on a kickoff return, and left some points on the field at the end of the game when they let the clock run out on the Notre Dame 2-yard line.
Looking ahead, the Irish played a lot of juniors and seniors, while the Trojans were playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores.
I don’t know why the Irish, trailing by 14, let the Trojans run out the last four minutes of the game without ever calling a timeout to try to get the ball back.
FIGHT ON!