tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post6123578882509798130..comments2024-03-18T03:27:18.777-04:00Comments on Rabett Run: The 4 Cs of PhysicsEliRabetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-38688436956170255102018-01-18T10:24:20.048-05:002018-01-18T10:24:20.048-05:00Beauty is our consolation prize because Death.Beauty is our consolation prize because Death.Jeffrey Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17966839006518642902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-28181334206468396632018-01-13T10:33:22.671-05:002018-01-13T10:33:22.671-05:00At school, we had to learn something of the 1819 p...At school, we had to learn something of the 1819 poem by Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn". Which has the Memorable Lines:<br />" 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' – that is all<br />Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know"<br /><br />Which struck me as being rather dubious. Many years later, I read of Charles Darwin's 1856 letter to J. D. Hooker:<br />"What a book a Devil’s chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering low & horridly cruel works of nature!" <br /><br />Darwin worked hard at consilience, explaining all related facts regardless of beauty. Good call by Zappa. davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05472098969204011008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-26151491006454778462018-01-11T16:40:40.796-05:002018-01-11T16:40:40.796-05:00Talk to Steve @ClimateAuditTalk to Steve @ClimateAuditEliRabetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-8038326690456362192018-01-11T11:39:37.592-05:002018-01-11T11:39:37.592-05:00This is closer to the engineering report format I ...This is closer to the engineering report format I like. <br /><br />https://docs.wind-watch.org/managing-large-scale-penetration-of-intermittent-renewables.pdf<br /><br />The last large report I supervised went in a three ring binder with a few fold out pages. It was a feasibility study for building something. Since then I've consulted and I mostly review others' reports and write critiques and suggest improvements. And I'm still a bit confused regarding what you think engineering reports are supposed to be like. Fernando Leanmehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-19041536168402187702018-01-11T10:09:23.331-05:002018-01-11T10:09:23.331-05:00Ah yes, the engineering level report that Steve Mc...Ah yes, the engineering level report that Steve McIntyre wants but can't describe. Start here for some classic giggles<br /><br />https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2016/11/f34/bhardwaj_keynote_denver2016.pdfEliRabetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-27603174290938237952018-01-11T09:41:46.454-05:002018-01-11T09:41:46.454-05:00What do you mean engineering doesn't value con...What do you mean engineering doesn't value concise, but values precise? I'm really lost, but I became a supervisor of engineers and scientists many years ago, so I may be more focused on their ability to write a report I can read when I'm taking a bath or waiting to board a plane. Fernando Leanmehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-60266767954222714342018-01-11T09:08:52.434-05:002018-01-11T09:08:52.434-05:00@JV - I think that the actual etymology is from th...@JV - I think that the actual etymology is from the PIE *deu, meaning, among other things, to do.CapitalistImperialistPighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17523405806602731435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-4333149019736117932018-01-11T08:53:13.969-05:002018-01-11T08:53:13.969-05:00Simplicity in a scientific theory is not just heur...Simplicity in a scientific theory is not just heuristic, but useful. In general, the simplest theories tend to be the most predictive. <br /><br />For statistical models, this can actually be proved mathematically, giving rise to metrics like the Akaike Information Criterion.<br /><br />The problem is that for more complex theories, consensus, consilience and even conciseness are hard to measure objectively.<br /><br />Dirac was a big advocate of "beauty" as a criterion for judging a theory. Humor has also been mooted. Pauli used to always ask, "Where's the joke?" when he wanted to get to the point and make sense of a subject. Indeed, the insight that comes when a theory dawns on you and makes sense is very like that we experience when we "get" a joke.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-85860872995834214722018-01-11T08:44:41.288-05:002018-01-11T08:44:41.288-05:00I agree with izenmeme. After all, wisdom is the d...I agree with izenmeme. After all, wisdom is the domain of the wiz, which is extinct. And beauty is a French phonetic corruption of a short cloth neck ornament, currently in resurgence.Johnny Vectorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00443676804460912826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-27134924608394477352018-01-11T04:52:22.495-05:002018-01-11T04:52:22.495-05:00The doctrine according to Zappa...
Information is...The doctrine according to Zappa...<br /><br />Information is not knowledge<br />Knowledge is not wisdom<br />Wisdom is not truth<br />Truth is not beauty<br />Beauty is not love<br />Love is not music<br />Music is the best!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-86468340122440678912018-01-11T00:49:46.895-05:002018-01-11T00:49:46.895-05:00What is the nature of beauty is one of those tough...What is the nature of beauty is one of those tough questions, of course, but to me, at least, coherence, concision, and consilience are key elements. Almost every definition of beauty would include harmony or coherence. Concision is a form of simplicity, another element. Finally consilience, or bringing together apparently disparate phenomena is a key index of the greatest theories, reminding me of Bacon's dictum that "there is no thing of excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion."CapitalistImperialistPighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17523405806602731435noreply@blogger.com