Embracing Chaos

Callin’ out to all the Mudders in the audience. Ever take math class from Dr. Benjamin? I did. Sophomore year I think. Real Analysis maybe? It bent my brain sideways. Fun class. Got an A. I felt like I was starting to “get math” after that class. He does this trick where he multiplies 5 digit numbers together in his head. He was a nationally ranked backgammon player in his spare time. #40 or so in the US at the time IIRC. It turns out that serious backgammon is all about estimating your fractional odds of winning at any given…

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One of the reasons I chose not to pursue a career in science was a feeling that all the interesting problems of physics have been solved. In a sense I still believe this — I don’t see the current line of pursuit bearing much fruit. But I do see two really important questions that physics hasn’t answered. What makes them especially interesting is that most of the scientific establishment doesn’t even recognize them as valid questions. Ever since Maxwell unified the theories of electricity and magnetism in 1864, physicists have been working towards a single model that can explain all…

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