Thinking, Fast and Slow

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman A kid did not score well in the first exam. The parent scolded the kid. The kid had a much better score in the second exam. The parent praised the kid. Then the kid had a worse score on the third try. Scores on exam always fluctuate, but …

Traveler’s Dilemma

An airline loses two suitcases belonging to two different travelers. Both suitcases happen to be identical and contain identical antiques. An airline manager tasked to settle the claims of both travelers explains that the airline is liable for a maximum of $100 per suitcase—he is unable to find out directly the price of the antiques. …

Uncanny Valley

In aesthetics, the uncanny valley is a hypothesized relationship between the degree of an object's resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to such an object. Still objects industrial robot 0% stuffed animal 30% corpse -30% prosthetic leg -5% Moving objects industrial robot 0% humanoid 40% zombie -70% healthy person 100% Theoretical basis …

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence?

The absence of evidence is the lack of any kind of evidence. Evidence of absence refers to actively looking for any kind of evidence and such evidence can be used to infer or deduce the non-existence of something. For example, if a doctor cannot find malignant cells in a patient, this null result is the …

Simulation Theory

From Pong to the Sims to 3D simulation and we are already stepping toward a simulated world. Imagine in the very far future: We, human, somehow are destructed due to the great filter before we could run a simulation. We somehow live but we don't run simulations because it's wrong. We are living in a …

The Great Filter

Life steps: the dead chemistry that needs to assemble itself to support self-replicating, stability, resiliency, changing and evolving complex organism and use energy more efficiently multicellular beings with further complexity species with brain species now become the dominant force of our society and being able to change it according to needs Species always look out …

The Minority Game

You have participated in a game with the other 21 participants. You will all be asked a question with Yes/No answers. All answers will be anonymous. You can advance into the next round if you are sided with the minority answer. If there are an equal amount of answers, another question will be asked instead. If …

Common Knowledge

A group of people with assorted eye colors live on an island. There are 100 of them, and they are all perfect logicians. 95 of them have blue eyes, and 5 of them have red eyes. They can see the colors of everyone's except for themselves. Once they realize that they have red eyes, they …

Creationism vs Evolutionism

Evolutionism may not be true, but by believing in it, the world just becomes easier to understand. Ancient dinosaur fossils, radioactivity, distant stars, and deep time can explain the world around us. By ignoring that, the world will become crazy, untenable and inconsistent. Science is not the ultimate truth; it has the least assumptions we …

Philosophy 101

Studies that had strong empirical elements came to be considered science; A way of thinking about questions came to be philosophy. There are three branches of philosophical themes: metaphysics - the nature of reality What is the nature of reality? Is it composed of matters and energy? If so, where are they from? epistemology -  …